Without a Doubt You're All I Dream About

I have never despised someone in my life so much before than I have Austin! I was fuming when I found out. What kind of guy hits a woman? I wanted to go beat him down. But Todd held me back. Like I would seriously go after that beastly thing anyway.

“If anyone is beating him down, it’s me,” Todd spoke up after all four of us were a tad bit calmed down in Josh’s hotel room.

“Aw, Toddie wants to protect Kirstie,” I cooed as I sat on his lap and pinched his scruffy cheeks.

“That’s just not right. He’s real manly when he beats on a woman,” Todd grumped.

“You’re so cute,” I cooed to him before I kissed his lips softly.

Once we parted, he rubbed our noses together. Our actions got a few gagging noise from the other two. It made me roll my eyes.

“Kirstie, just go be with your little hero and leave me and my man alone,” I shot at her playfully.

“Hero?” Josh questioned through a smile.

“You saved her life!” I said a little too over dramatically, making everyone let out a chuckle. “You’re not good looking like a hero though,” I had to tease.

“Hey!” he shouted back.

“You’re just saying that because Todd’s here! I mean… Josh is better looking than Todd. Anyone with eyes can see that!” Kirstie countered, making me raise an eyebrow at her.

I wanted to question her so badly! But Josh quickly changed subjects. Am I missing something here? But once the night was over I quickly forgot about it. There was so much excitement the next day. Josh won Moto X and Todd won Best Whip. There was a lot of celebrating going on.

But Sunday morning, Todd was up before I was. He said that he had to get back home for some family emergency. He assured me it wasn’t too serious though. I pouted as I watched him walk away. Now I don’t have an excuse not to show up at Tanenr’s races. To make matters worse, he texted me, inviting me to his races. URG!

I did get Kirstie to come with me though… and Josh. They kind of kept to themselves. But I couldn’t really complain. I was cut off from them a little too. I totally forgot how sexy amazing Tanner drives. I couldn’t control my mouth either! Every time he went around a corner smoothly and hit the jump perfectly, I had to shoot Kirstie a comment. She just rolled her eyes, ignoring it.

“Why the sudden interest in Tanner? Shouldn’t you be wanting Deegan to win since you’re friends with him and everything?” Josh had to ask.

“I work for Rockstar… not Metal Mulisha,” I shot back.

“So, you know Tanner?” he asked with his features wrinkled up.

“Oh, she knows him alright,” Kirstie snickered.

I reached over and smacked her arm lightly. But that just made her giggle and Josh look at me funny.

“Is there something Todd should know about?” he smirked.

“NO!” I shouted, losing it for a second. Of course this just made his eyebrow rise with a teasing look appear on his face.

After this, I did a much better job of controlling my mouth. It was hard once Tanner won both of his races. I was so happy for him! That’s awesome! I started for the pits, suddenly wanting to congratulate him. Kirstie and Josh followed though. Why wasn’t I so sure about them coming?

“I’m just going to tell him good job and then leave. If you guys want, you can head out,” I told them once I spotted that car being rolled back into its pit.

I got a look from each of them, but they agreed and walked off. Before I turned back around, I heard my name being called. My smile was already on my face before I turned around and was met with Tanner’s bright eyes.

“You won!” I grinned once I ran towards him and jumped into his arms.

“It’s because you were here,” he grinned once we pulled away from each other just a little, but I was still in his arms.

His comment brought a bright shade of red over my face. He sent me another smile before he gently put me down and went to change so we could ‘hang out’. Once he came back out in his street clothes and his two medals around his neck, he hooked an arm around my shoulders and led me to… wherever.

He actually just led me across the street to a little dairy queen. He bought me an ice cream… that was for me. It would have been so awkward if he got one to share!

“So… what’s up?” he asked once he was seated across from me.

“Why are you so cool and calm when you just won two medals at X Games?” I asked through a slight giggle. I was still buzzing from his win. That was amazing!

“Because I want to talk to you,” he smiled sweetly.

“Tanner,” I sighed.

“You said this was a friends thing. I’m not saying anything I wouldn’t say to you single or not,” he countered.

“It’s just…” I trailed off, unable to think of words to form.

“You didn’t tell your boyfriend about meeting with me?”

“No,” I sighed.

“Is there… a reason why?” he questioned.

“I don’t want him to think anything of this. I mean… like you said, we’re friends. Guys usually don’t think that,” I explained.

“Well, if you like this guy and he has the same feelings for you back, why should it matter?”

I sighed and looked down my ice cream that was melting in the bowl in front of me. I’m thinking way too much… about Tanner! I should have left with Todd! This would have made things so much easier.

“Do you… still have feelings for me?” he asked softly, unsure of each word that left his mouth.

“I don’t know anymore,” I pushed out while running my hand through my hair.

A silence fell over us then. I hated it! It gave me too much time to think about how I really feel about this guy. He’s a good guy. I’m not going to lie about that… and good looking. But I have a boyfriend who’s a great and maybe equally good looking. I just hate that… I’ll never know what Tanner and I could have been.

“I’m sorry. That was inappropriate. You’re with someone. Obviously, you have feelings for him. If you had feelings for me, you would be with me,” he pushed out.

“I’m sorry, Tanner,” I told him.

“Don’t be. As long are you’re happy,” he grinned, but it wasn’t a true Tanner grin. It was so forced. It made me feel horrible.

“Maybe after all the chaos calms down, we can hang out more,” I suggested as he walked me to my car.

“Of course. I’d love to hang out with you,” he smiled genuinely this time.

“Same here,” I replied with my own smile growing.

“I’ll give you a call,” he said as he pulled me in for a hug.

“I’m holding you to that,” I teased.

“Count on it,” he grinned before kissing my cheek gently.

We shared one more smile before I slid into my car, ready to start my drive back home. As I pulled out of the parking lot, I waved at Tanner. He had the cutest biggest smile on his face. It brought mine through too. I think I just may started some drama in my life.