Black Flag (Racing on the Edge) (65 page)

I was a champion.

 
“YEAH!
You guys are fucking awesome!” I screamed for all I
was worth.

Pounding my fists on
the steering wheel, I took the checkered flag for my twelfth victory of my
rookie season, and my
first
NASCAR Winston Cup championship.

My dad was the next on
the radio. “Fuck yeah Jameson! You’ve proven it time and time again—but you did
it today!” he choked. “I’m so proud of you!”

Then Kyle was
screaming, “I knew you could do it!”

I once again had so
many emotions running through me. Relief, excitement, anxiety
...
you name it
...
I was feeling it.

I did one badass
burnout that put all other burnouts to shame in my book. Then, I got out of the
car on the start finish line and retrieved the checkered flag from the race
official, the same official I’d threatened to shove the black flag up his ass.

He was still a little
upset about that.

The fans were screaming
my name and patting me on the back as I made my way into the stands. This was
another one of those moments I couldn’t describe. These people, these fans,
they are what make all of this possible. Without them, we wouldn’t have these
races. Without them, I wouldn’t be here, living my dream.

Right here, in this
crowd full of intense excitement, I realized my dream came true and I would
remember
this moment
, forever.

This wasn’t just
another victory. This, winning a championship, defines your career as a race
car driver. Some spend their entire careers chasing the championship dream and
never achieve it. But here I was, twenty-three years old, a champion living my
dream.

The drive down pit road
was long, as every driver and their crew stood alongside their pits and
congratulated me, one by one. Talk about emotional. It brought me right back to
the emotion I felt after winning the USAC Triple Crown, the Chili Bowl Midget
Nationals
and
the Coca-Cola 600.

I was beginning to
understand the way Sway felt when she watched
Father of the Bride
.

Once I was in victory
lane, my dad was the first to lock me into a hug. “You did it! I
...
have no words
...
just
...
you
did it!” he kept repeating as he held me against him.

“No dad,” I choked. “
We
did it.” I motioned toward him and the rest of the team. We both smiled.

Spencer was there as
well, patting me on the back.

Up until this point, I
was proud of myself for keeping my composure. But having your legendary World of
Outlaw Champion dad, tell you he’s proud of you, made my composure crumble as
did his. Fuck being a badass.

Reporters were in my
face. “Jameson
...
Jimi
...
how does it feel to win your first
championship in your first season?”

Dad spoke up first. “You
know, today, I’m not a car owner. I’m not a fellow driver. I’m just a
very
proud father.” He choked out pulled me into a hug. “I knew he had it in him.”

I was glad to know I
wasn’t the only one having some troubles controlling the emotions today.

“So Jameson,” the
reporter turned toward me. I was leaning up against the side of my car because
really, my legs were shaking so badly I needed the support. My entire body was
humming with excitement. “How does it feel for you?”

How did I feel?

My gaze took in
everything around me. The trophy I said I didn’t want looked pretty fucking
good, my team, Bobby’s and Tate’s team huddled around knowing they helped us in
many ways, the champagne, the fireworks, the screaming fans, it was all so much
more than I envisioned it would be.

I couldn’t really grasp
the meaning behind it, my mind was reeling but eventually I found my words. “I
have no idea what the hell to say
...
I’m
just beside myself in all this
...
it’s
unbelievable. I’m so proud of everyone on this race team who supports us.
Simplex, we couldn’t have done this without you. My family
...
we may not have had the best year and
though it felt like we were constantly being black-flagged we pulled through
this because of them. So thank you. Everyone, thank you so much,” I looked
directly at the camera, knowing she was watching. “Sway, honey
...
I couldn’t have done
any
of this
without you.” I blew her the kiss she requested of me. “I love you.” I winked
at the camera.

“Did you have your
doubts you could pull off the victory and the championship today?” The reporter
leaned in when the team tossed Kyle around, all thriving in the excitement of
victory lane.

“Fuck yeah I had my
doubts!” I laughed, not only had I just cursed on national television but I
earned a laugh from everyone standing around me. “I have a family and a team
that supports me. They pushed me to follow my dreams. I can’t thank them
enough.”

The crowd roared to
life as the reporter held up my arm. “Ladies and gentlemen, your NASCAR Winston
Cup Series Champion
...
Jameson Riley!”

I really had no idea
what to say but as I glanced over at my team celebrating, I thought about
everything that went into this season, it was more than just me. The one thing
I hoped for most of all from winning this championship was that everyone who
stood beside me and helped along the way, like Bucky Miers and Tate, just to
name a few. I hope they understood they are part of what I do and always will
be.

When I won a race, it
was not just for me, or my dad as the car owner, or even our sponsors.
It was for everyone and I hope they felt the same excitement
and gratifying feelings we felt with winning this championship. The guys that
busted their ass each week just to get this car to the track, they deserved
this just as much as I did. They were the ones that should have been holding
the trophy right now.

At the end of the day, when it comes down to it, when the
dream is reality, what next?

I’ll tell you what’s next
...
you keep dreaming. You keep dreaming
because without that what are we? Just a bunch of inert bastards is what we’d
be.

That’s not me, far from it. I wanted everything. With my
aggression, my desire, my determination, I didn’t know when to say when.

I fought, I gave in, I decided fate and I can honestly say
with every fiber of my being that I gave it everything I had.

I wanted the championship, I wanted the girl and I wanted to
make her happy right now into happily ever after.

And that started with a wedding.

21.
                 
SWOL
– Jameson

SWOL – This is an
acronym you may hear on the in-car audio, referring to the electronic “Shift
without a Lift” device, which allows gearshifts without lifting off the
throttle, making the shift faster.

By the time the boys and
me reached the Olympia Airport that night, we were extremely intoxicated.

We had something to
celebrate, you know.

I actually felt bad for
Wes having to put up with us
...
especially
Spencer and Tommy who we picked up in Indiana.

It still hadn’t really sunk
in that I not only won the race, but the championship as well.

After the race, I had
four hours of press interviews to do and a shit load of pictures. I had
appearances and interviews scheduled all week long, but Alley agreed to give me
one day with Sway. I hadn’t seen her since I left for Texas and that was three
long weeks ago.

It was around four in
the morning when we finally made it to Elma and I was stumbling into Sway’s
room.

She was sleeping,
turned on her right side with her back to me. I stood there for a few moments,
watching her sleep and using the wall to hold myself upright.

Still fully clothed,
minus my shoes, I slipped into bed with her—pulling the comforter over us. Sway
was only wearing a pair of white cotton boy shorts, with her Bob Marley tank
top she loved. Her perfect ass was enough to send me over the edge when I
snuggled against her back. All I wanted in that moment was to just feel her
against me.

Sliding my hands over
her swollen belly, it was the perfect end to the day.

When the sun began to
rising over her balcony and peeked inside her room, I gathered her into my
arms. She relaxed decadently across my chest and tucked her face into the curve
of my neck with a happy sigh. I hadn’t slept much but I did get a few hours.

Glancing down, I saw a
lazy grin spread over her face.

“What?” I asked with a
smile.

“Congratulations
...
champion
.” She replied softly
snuggling closer. I squeezed her tightly and kissed her forehead.

“Thank you, honey.”

I watched her eyelashes
flutter a few times before closing them. We continued to exist in our perfect
bubble—far from everything else. My mind and body were finally relaxed and
sedated. And so it was here, in our bubble, that I would remain for as long as
time permitted.

I glanced at her alarm
clock on the nightstand beside her bed that read: 5:38 a.m. So the time
permitted, meant another two hours before I had to be up for a radio interview.

Fuck.

“I missed you.” I
whispered against the top of her head, placing another kiss against her soft
hair.

She maneuvered herself
in my arms to look up at me, her belly brushed against my stomach and I
laughed.

“You’re really showing
now.” I told her with wide excited eyes, reaching down to touch.

“Asshole,” She muttered
turning away from me.

“Hey
...
” I turned her face back to look at me.
“What’s wrong? I think it’s beautiful
...
you’re
beautiful and incredibly sexy.”

“I’m huge.” Sway
protested and tried to shimmy away from me. “You don’t have to be nice.” Her
voice began to crack and I knew the emotions that would follow.

“Honey, what’s wrong?”
I soothed rubbing my hands down her back as she trembled with sobs. “Are you
mad your ass jiggles?” I reached down taking a firm grasp, while moaning into
her ear to emphasize my point. “And by the way,” I added with a growl. “It’s
fucking hot.”

“Not helping my
emotional breakdown.” She spat getting out of bed. “It’s making it worse.”

“Where are you going?”
she threw a pillow toward me.

“To take my
fat
ass to the shower,” the door slammed behind her as she stomped down the hall to
the bathroom. I heard the bathroom door slam shut and then open again. “Get the
hell out of my bathroom!”

“Sorry!” Spencer
yelled.

I forgot to tell her
the boys crashed in the living room.

Between radio
interviews, press, photo shoots, wedding planning, Thanksgiving
...
my life had turned into a category five
cyclone. I couldn’t believe how much press and shit followed winning a
championship, it was insane and nothing like winning a track championship or
even the USAC Triple Crown. I couldn’t go anywhere these days without someone
wanting an autograph or a picture or to tell me how they felt when they saw me
win. I was beginning to feel like there wasn’t nearly enough pieces of me to go
around. That’s not to say I didn’t appreciate them but I wondered where I was
in all of it.

I had no idea what day
it was half the time but Sway was there to help me. I was relieved that she was
at least by my side now. There were times when the pressure got to me and I
felt as though I was drowning once again in the obligations but all I had to do
was take one glance into those emerald green eyes and suddenly, I could breathe
again.

Actually, that was a
lie, I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t breathe because I had the worst fucking
cold I’d ever had, more than likely from the lack of sleep these days. My
throat was sore, my nose was running like a faucet and I couldn’t stop
sneezing. It was disgusting. I hated sneezing and blowing my nose. I mean
seriously
,
where does all that mucus come from?

It was utterly
repulsive and completely unacceptable to me.

While Sway was out
getting a pedicure with Emma and Alley a few days after Thanksgiving, I decided
to go pick up Sway’s wedding band from the jewelry store in Olympia. The only
problem with this was that Logan was with me. He’d gotten in trouble earlier in
the day but I’m not sure what for. All I knew was that I was now stuck with
him. If there was ever a point in my life where I contemplated killing myself,
it was when I was left
alone
with Logan.