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

waved me off and smiled. “Watch the race. I know you want to.”
    “You sure?”
    She nodded. “Go. I got dinner.”
    “Thanks, sis.” I hurried over to the couch and sat beside Evan. Emma-Grace was falling asleep in his arms, so he set her down in her playpen to take a nap. On the TV, there were racers lining up at the start line. There were so many I couldn’t find Luke. “Where is he?” I asked Evan.
    Grinning from ear to ear, he pointed to a rider in blue, orange, and black racing gear. He had a number nineteen on the front of his dirt bike. “That’s him.”
    He had a helmet on, so I couldn’t see his face. “Has he ever gotten hurt?”
    “Oh yeah, several times, but he keeps coming back stronger than before. You and Kate used to come with me to his house and watch him practice. He has a whole supercross track in his backyard.”
    “Wow,” I gasped. “That’s impressive.”
    He shrugged. “He needs it to practice. I’ve gone out there many times, but he always kicks my ass.”
    “Did I ever try?” I asked.
    Summer laughed from the doorway. “Yes, and you’re lucky you didn’t get hurt. Luke had a little mini-bike you tried riding, and you ended up with a sprained wrist. You worked one-handed for six weeks.”
    Evan nudged me in the side. “Luke sat with you at the doctor’s office while they fixed you up. He felt responsible for you getting hurt.”
    “Were you and I good friends?” I asked.
    “Of course,” he said with a nod. “You and I were friends long before I started seeing Summer. It was always you, me, Kate and Luke. That is, until Kate started seeing Cooper.”
    “What about me and Luke?”
    He stared at me and pursed his lips, clearly thinking about what to say. It was looking like I wasn’t going to get any information from anyone, except from the source himself. “You two were really close friends, but you didn’t get involved with each other until much later.” Then he pointed at the TV. “They’re starting.”
    The countdown started and I fixed my gaze on Luke. Engines roared to life and it was so loud I could only imagine what it sounded like in the arena. Once the green lights lit up, they were off. During the first turn, one of the riders got in his way and blocked him. Several other riders raced ahead of him, but it wasn’t long before Luke gained his momentum.
    “How many laps do they usually do?” I wondered.
    Evan pointed to the screen. “Twenty. You’ll see the countdown there.”
    Lap after lap, Luke advanced toward the front, with only three people left to pass. That first hold up at the beginning had cost him a lot of time. There was a large jump where the riders soared about thirty feet in the air, and I held my breath every time Luke crossed it. It took a lot of courage to do something so dangerous.
    The laps steadily counted down and Luke had just two more people to pass. “That’s Chance Harris,” Evan informed me, pointing at the other rider on an orange and black KTM bike, similar to Luke’s. “He and Luke have the same sponsor. They’re good friends.”
    They battled beside each other until Luke passed him on the left, bolting away from him. There was one lap left and it was as if Luke found a second surge of energy, high-tailing it past the rider in first.
    “Wow, he’s amazing,” I said breathlessly.
    Evan held out his arms. “Like I said, he’s the best. He’s been riding ever since he could walk.”
    “That early, huh?”
    “Yeah, his parents never really paid attention to him. It was what got him out of their hair.”
    Luke sped through the last series of jumps and flew across the finish line, back flipping in the air as flames shot up through the columns.
    I couldn’t imagine anyone not paying attention to their kids. My parents were always involved with me and Summer. “That’s heartbreaking,” I said, watching Luke pump his fists in the air. He seemed to do just fine on his own, but it had to be lonely for him.
    Evan