Maybe Nice Guys Don't Always Finish Last

“Joey, please tell me it’s fixable,” Mira said to her mechanic.

Mira had taken a hard fall in practice and her dirt bike wasn’t looking too good. This is just what she needed. Her first contest of the year and she breaks her bike. She came off a year of dominance and this is how this one starts. Joey didn’t answer her. He just shook his head. This made Mira’s heart sink.

“I can fix it, but I don’t know if it will be ready in time,” he said.

Mira sat down and put her head in her hands. How did this happen? It was just a simple whip. She does them all the time. This was the first time since she learned them that she’s crashed one. She slid a hoodie on while flipping the hood up over her Rockstar Energy Drink hat, put her Oakley sunglasses on, and left Joey to his work. She thought maybe by getting away it would help her frustration some. That resulted in her getting knocked to the ground after she had been walking for a while.

“Sorry, man. I wasn’t paying attention,” some guy said with an Australian accent.

Mira smiled. This guy thought she was a dude. This is typical when she goes to contests. Most people are surprised that a girl actually does freestyle motocross.

“It’s ok. It’s not like it never happens,” she said as she took her hood and sunglasses off.

Her black hair streaked with red flowed over her shoulders and her bright blue eyes sparkled. They were sparkling more than average. Seeing this guy made Mira stubble with her thoughts. He was gorgeous… from what Mira could see. His brown hair curled out from underneath his black Monster Energy Drink hat that was backwards. His eyes were hidden behind black Oakley shades that looked a lot like Mira’s, but hers were white. She also noticed what he was wearing. He had on a black and white Fox Motocross jersey with matching pants that were slightly covered with Fox boots. Mira liked what she saw.

“Are you sure? I didn’t hurt you or anything?” he asked a little more caring now that he knew she was a female.

“Yes, I’m fine. I took a harder fall in practice,” she said as she started walking again.

“Wait… so you’re Mira Cleveland?” he asked walking faster to catch up with her.

“The one and only… And you might be?” she asked resisting the urge to flip her sunglasses back down.

“Bilko,” he said.

“Bilko?” she asked shooting him a look.

“It’s just a nickname. People started calling me it when I was like five. It just kind of stuck. But my names Blake,” he said walking along with her still.

“Fascinating,” she said sarcastically.

It’s not that she didn’t want to be around him; she just wanted to be alone. Her frustration was too much for her to be around people. Who knows what she might say to same innocent person?

“Oh come on. Don’t you have a nickname?” he asked with a small smile.

“Nope. And I don’t want one,” she said a little too meanly.

“You’re being a little cold there chicka. Maybe we should start calling you Ice Box.”

“Listen, Bilko, Blake, whatever you go by. Not to be mean, but I’m kind of in a really bad spot and I’m afraid if you keep talking, I’m just going to snap on you. My bikes really messed up and I don’t even know if I can make it to qualifying. If you could just please give me a few minutes, that would be just great,” she said.

“Whoa. You got a little temper there. I’ll respect your request though,” he paused and tilted his glasses down to reveal, what Mira thought, were the most gorgeous brown eyes she has ever seen. “If you pretty little thing need assistance on your bike, you come find me,” he said with a wink and turned around and left.

Mira was frozen where she stood. Where did that come from?She kind of liked it. She kept walking to nowhere really. The further away she was from her bike, the better she thought it was… but she couldn’t stay away. What she saw when she got back to her bike surprised her.

“Hey, Ice Box. Did you get your few minutes?” Blake asked.

Mira couldn’t think. First he smacks into her, and then he follows her when she tries to get away from things, and now he’s working on her bike. What else can this guy do?

“Do you want to give her a go? See how she feels?” he asked rolling the bike over to her.

She got on the bike and gave it a kick-start. The bike came to life as if nothing had happened. She couldn’t help but smile. Her bike was fixed.

“Well, Bilko looks like you just screwed yourself,” she said as her frustration was replaced with her competiveness.

“And how is that, Ice Box?” he asked with a small smile.

“You fixed my bike and now I’m going to make it into finals and kick your ass,” she said with a teasing smile.

“Really? Looks like you need to make finals first,” he said crossing his arms confidently.

Joey brought Mira her helmet and goggles. She slipped them onto her handlebars and looked at Blake. She returned his previous wink and gunned the throttle, leaving a cloud of dust behind her. She didn’t have time for small talk. She had finals to make.