Clutched (Wild Riders) by Elizabeth Lee

sure she wasn't getting too caught up with Link. He wasn't a bad guy, but he wasn't good enough for her.
    “Excuse me?”
    “I saw you with him the other day,” I explained. “Is that why you want a weekend off? To be with him? You know it's a bad idea to get involved with someone during training.”
    “What I do off the track is none of your business,” she said, much more calmly than I was expecting. I was waiting for the wrath of Chayse McCade. I was waiting for her temper tantrum and for her to stomp away to end this conversation. She put on her chest protector over the black and white jersey she was wearing.
    “It is my business. I'm your coach. I'm here to make sure that you act accordingly and that your career is your first priority.”
    “My career is my only priority,” she argued. The heat was rising in her face as she pulled on her riding gloves, roughly shoving her hands inside of them. There was my girl.
    Shit. My girl? Where the hell did that come from?
    “Link and I are friends. That's it. Not that I need to justify anything to you. I want the weekend off because I need to get out of this place. I need to be somewhere away from motocross. Away from the constant pressure,” she hesitated. “Away from... you.”
    I felt like I'd just jumped a triple and cased the landing. My stomach bottomed out at her words. She wanted to be away from me? Was I really that bad of a guy that she needed a break? I wasn't going to let her off the hook so easy. I walked toward her and watched as her eyes widened.
    “Away from me? You really hate me that much?” I said, stopping a few feet in front of her. “Am I that intolerable?”
    “You can be,” she said plainly. She turned her head, avoiding eye contact with me. I watched her inhale deeply.
    “You can't even look at me now?” I couldn't help myself from closing the distance between her. I didn't want her to hate me. I didn't want her to wish for time apart. Maybe I was an asshole, but I wanted her to know that everything I was doing was for her own good. “Chayse...” I said, reaching out and placing my hand on her waist. My self-control was wearing thin. I couldn't stop myself.  I didn't want to stop myself. “Look at me.”
    “Why?” she said, finally turning her eyes on me. “So you can tell me to stay away from Link? So you can tell me to my face how much of a disappointment I am?” Her eyes were starting to gloss over and all I wanted to do was pull her into my arms. This is not what I had wanted to do to her. I wasn't trying to break her. I was trying to make her better. “So you can tell me I’m blowing your big shot and mine too?”
    “No,” I said, placing my other hand on her hip. “You're not a disappointment.” My lips were dry as I watched her swallow. The tension in her neck was inviting. I wanted to place my mouth on her skin and take it away. “Far from it.”
    “Then what do you want from me?” she asked, her voice sounded far more vulnerable than it ever had. I had her in my grasp and knew that I was holding something far more than just her body in my fingertips.
    God, what did I want from her? I wanted her to blow the competition out of the fucking water—my brother included. I wanted to see her ride the way I knew she could, to see her smile what I knew would be a radiant fucking megawatt smile after she took that victory lap.
    But right now, I wanted...
    I wanted...
    Her.
    I couldn’t voice any of that out loud. I knew for certain that I didn't want to be the reason that she was upset. I knew that I didn't want her hanging out with Link, or anyone else for that matter. I knew that I was currently in a situation that was bigger than both of our egos. And, most of all, I knew that I wanted to know what it felt like to kiss her. I leaned in slowly, watching her eyes fall shut as I neared. A single teardrop coasted down her cheek as I memorized the way she looked in that moment. Innocent. Vulnerable. Willing.
    My hand raised