Last Chance: A Second Chances Novel by L. P. Dover

her to say it to my face.
    “Dude, let’s go,” Chance shouted.
    Huffing, I looked over and nodded. His bike roared to life and I put mine in gear. Zane Putnam, our trainer, started the clock and we watched it count down. I tried to concentrate on my riding and the feel of the dirt bike beneath me. When I rode, it was like an extension of my body; I didn’t have to think. But lately, my concentration was lacking. Zane could see it, and he wasn’t happy.
    The lights on the countdown clock blared red and slowly moved down to the yellow. The second I saw green, I took off. Chance and I were neck and neck, grinding each other into the turns and flying through the air on the jumps. Anger coursed through my veins and I ran my bike hard. All I could think about was Lara and Grayson, and their happily ever after wedding. I hated Grayson from the very beginning. I knew he was in love with Lara long before she even thought twice about him. And of course, it had to be that ass clown who was there for her when I fucked up.
    “Faster, Collins!” Zane shouted as I raced past him.
    Chance flew past me and I pushed my bike even harder. The engine screamed and I knew I should back off, but I couldn’t let Chance win. The last and final jump approached and I headed toward it, full throttle. Chance glanced back before he soared through the jump, with me close on his heels. I revved the engine again and once I was in the air, it snapped so loud it echoed.
    “Fuck,” I growled, landing hard on the track. The bike slowly came to a halt, smoke billowing out from all sides.
    Arms raised angrily in the air, Zane rushed toward me. “Dammit, Collins, you blew the top end. Why the hell were you running it so hard?”
    Chance rode up beside me and took off his helmet. “What the fuck was that? You were sloppy as hell out there.”
    Zane snapped his fingers and I got off the bike so he could take a look at it. Shrugging, I ripped off my helmet. I wanted to tell them both to fuck off, but it wasn’t their fault. “I just didn’t have it today.”
    Zane pointed at me. “You better get your shit straight, Collins. Races start back up in a few weeks and I need you in the game. Whatever’s going on with you, get it handled, now .” Cursing under his breath, he wheeled my bike into the back of his trailer and left.
    Huffing, I marched over to the garage and grabbed a beer out of the refrigerator. I held one out to Chance.
    He nodded and reached for it. I opened mine up and guzzled it down while Chance grabbed a seat. “Wanna tell me what’s going on?”
    “Not really,” I snapped.
    He chuckled. “Ah, I see. It’s her again, isn’t it? I thought by now you’d have moved on.”
    Teeth clenched tight, I threw my bottle in the trash. “She’s getting married.” I glared over at him. “And there’s not a goddamn thing I can do.”
    Chance finished his beer and sighed. “Then you gotta move on, bro. Let her go and join the land of the living again. We need you to be at the top of your game for these races.”
    “Have I ever let our team down?” I may have been practicing like shit, but it was rare if I lost a race.
    Chance shook his head and slapped a hand on my shoulder. “No, but there’s always a first time. What you need is something to distract you. I’m having a party at my house this weekend. Why don’t you come?”
    I’d tried finding things, and women, to distract me, yet nothing worked. “Sounds good,” I said, knowing I’d have a shitty time no matter what. “I’ll be there.”
    “Hell yeah,” he exclaimed. “You’ll have a good time, I promise. But now, my ass is headed home. We’ve done enough training for today.”
    We shook hands and then he wheeled his bike into my garage before leaving. Since Chance and I were teammates, we practiced together on a regular basis. Both of us had motocross tracks in our backyards and today was the day for us to practice at mine.
    A car door slammed and it wasn’t long