Page 65 of Narrow Margins
“Hey, guys! Leave each other alone now!” Nico calls out, laughing as he strides through to the kitchen.
“So, what’s so damn important that you need to interrupt our evening?” Corrie stands tall, his arms crossed over his chest, looking every inch the hardened soldier, complete with steely glare. For a moment, I see Nico look like he’s about to back down but then he grins.
“Stand down, soldier,” Ryan smiles, “we won’t keep you too long.”
“You’d better fucking not.” Corrie huffs, he is tense and I’m not quite sure why. Rubbing my hand down his back and pulling his back to my front, I feel him relax into me.
“You okay, baby?” I whisper to the back of his head and feel him nod as his hands reach behind me and hold onto my waist.
“Yeah, but all four of them never brings good news. And my brother looks like he’s chewing on a wasp.” He murmurs back to me after twisting around to face me. “Let’s get them to talk while we eat, then they can leave again.”
“Okay, you two, time to break you up. Let’s go eat and talk. We have a proposition for you, Griff.” Nico walks past the two of us and puts his hand on Corrie’s shoulder, “It’s all good, tough guy!”
We file into the kitchen and Troy and Raff start pulling out plates and silverware; of course, they know this place as if it’s their own. Which, shit, it really is! The fuckers!
Nico and Ryan grab glasses and beers and I suddenly feel like I’m in a parallel universe, one where I’m the visitor, not the occupant. “Y’know, we know where all the shit for this is, too!” My words come out as a bark, a particularly pissed off, annoyed dog bark.
“What?” It’s Ryan who speaks but I have four pairs of eyes staring at me.
“Well, none of you fucking live here anymore so, not only do you turn up with fifteen minute’s notice—which means, by the way, that you fuckers were on your way here already—but that you still treat the place like your own. You don’t live here so, sit the fuck down and wait for us to offer you a beer, you bastards!”
Our invaders turn to Corrie as if asking for, what? Permission? Guidance? Who cares, because I know damn well that Corrie is with me on this.
“You heard him. Sit the fuck down and wait to be offered a drink!” Corrie’s eyes scan around but stare the longest at his brother as if taunting him, testing to see if he will back down.
“Shit, Corrie, he’s a keeper.” Troy laughs and sits down. “I apologize, Griff, we are all so used to being in this house, we have never thought to change our habits.”
“Thank you, Troy, but, trust me, the cupboards are being switched around tomorrow.” I raise my bottle of beer to him.
“Are we actually going to eat this damn food?” Nico grumbles but sits down and gives me a nod of approval.
Minutes later, we are eating and I look around, gazing at each of them in turn. “So, please, tell us what the fuck you are doing here.”
Nico looks up as if he’s surprised by my question and must remember why they came here. “What? Oh, yeah, we want to start a race team. And we want you to be our racer.”
Troy looks over at his best friend and sighs. “Nicely put, Nico, don’t hold back.” Troy regards me. “I was called last week by Bill Simmons.”
I freeze at his words. “You knew what was going on? And you still let me go?”
Okay, every particle of oxygen has left the room. My mind is in a complete brain freeze, but I look around the table and see three excited faces and one that frowns. And Corrie, who is not looking happy.
Then my mind unlocks and I look at each of the four men, “Do you have any idea how much money it costs to run a race team? Just for the bikes? For the pit crew? For the traveling? For me?”
“Of course, we do.” Nico bites back and sighs as he runs his hands through his already scruffy hair. Calming him down, Ryan rests his hand on his shoulder. “We have more than enough money, Griff.”
“What about bikes, I’m not riding just anything.” The thought of being back in full racing mode builds inside me.
“Ducati for bikes, Griff. The guy from the track day is going to provide the motorcycles. Trust me, Griff, he is damn excited about it, too. He was watching you, did you know that your fastest lap was faster than Casey’s on the same bike?”
“Yeah, well, he’s all money and not much talent, and that can’t be compared because it’s not the same track and conditions.” I scoff then push away from my food and rest my arm over the back of Corrie’s chair, letting my fingers slide through the hair curling at the top of his neck.
“He tested here last winter, on the same actual bike you rode.” Ryan smiles. That stops me from simply brushing them off.
“Are you really serious about this, because it’s a damn hard slog, traveling from country to country, all over the world. Are you prepared to lose sometimes? “I watch as Nico grimaces at the thought of losing.
Troy nods. “We are aware of all the possibilities and dangers. Are you ready to cause some serious damage to the MotoGP scene?”
I look at Corrie, taking in his silence. “What do you think, baby?”