Last Chance: A Second Chances Novel (33 page)

I looked like a blubbering mess by the time I got to Luke’s race, but I didn’t want to miss a thing. I was late because I had to stay behind to answer Jason’s questions. I told him everything about the money and what Skylar had said. I had no clue what was going to happen to Grayson, but whatever it was, he deserved it. Soon enough, Summer and Evan would find out from Jason, and I would be getting a call.

The crowd screamed and cheered, as I hurried through the coliseum to get to my section. Luke’s race was starting and I didn’t want to miss him take off. That was always a crucial part in the race. Usually, there’d be a pile up at the first turn and if you got stuck behind, you were screwed.

A voice screamed my name and I saw Chance waving his hands frantically from the first row. I never realized how strange it would be to see everyone I’d forgotten now that I remembered everything. It was like I was living in a twilight zone. The first night I met Chance, he
did
flirt with me, and I could still remember the pissed off look on Luke’s face when he found us talking.

Chance kept waving and I could see the desperation on his face. I’d already been through hell. The last thing I needed was more bad news. I was breathless by the time I rushed down to him.

“Hey,” I said.

He grabbed my arm and pulled me down into the seat. “There’s something I have to tell you.”

My heart sank. “By the way you look, I don’t think I want to know.”

He scoffed. “I found out who helped Skylar. Luke already knows, but he wanted to tell you in person and not over the phone.”

I let the breath out I’d been holding and sighed. “I already know, Chance.”

Brows furrowed, he sat back. “I don’t understand. What do you know?”

My chest tightened and I could feel the tears threatening to come back, but I refused to cry again. “It was Grayson. Skylar came into the restaurant and told me everything.”

He gasped. “Holy shit. What happened after that?”

I huffed. “I went over to Grayson’s to confront him, and then the police showed up. I don’t know what’s going to happen now.”

Chance placed a hand on my shoulder, his gaze concerned. “Are you okay?”

I patted his hand and smiled. “I will be. I’m just ready for Luke to win the race so I can talk to him. There’s so much I have to say.” I wanted to tell him everything I was going to say on the night of the accident.

The riders lined up and their engines roared to life. “Don’t worry, sweetheart, Collins is going to win. He’s fired up over what happened.”

I found Luke in the line and waved so he’d know I was there. “Hopefully, it won’t make him ride sloppy.”

“It won’t. He saw you wave, he’ll be good to go.”

“What about the two-fifty race? How did you do? I’m so sorry I missed it.” I squeezed his arm.

With a wide grin, he winked. “First place, baby. I killed it.”

I threw my arms around him and laughed. “Congratulations! I’m so happy for you.”

“Thanks. Now all we need is for your boy to win and our sponsors will give us a big, fat raise.” At least there was something positive about the day.

As we refocused on the race that was about to start, time slowly trickled down and tension filled the air. The engines were so loud and thunderous I could feel the vibration through the seat.

“Here we go,” Chance shouted.

The gates dropped and the riders took off for the first turn. Luke and Troy Baker, his main competitor, were neck and neck and both made it out of the corner first, avoiding the traffic jam. I didn’t like Troy. I could tell the first time I met him, he was an arrogant prick.

The course was a series of turns, jumps, whoops, table-tops, and a massive big jump at the finish line. The whoops section was where I saw most of the accidents. It was a set of small jumps all piled together, and if you didn’t ride across it just right, you’d eat the dirt.

It was almost time for Luke to ride past us so I stood. “Come on, baby!” I shouted. Troy was so close to him, I didn’t like it. “Are they going to be on each other’s asses the entire time?” I asked Chance.

“Probably. They both want to win. Baker has always been jealous of Luke. It’s not an easy pill to swallow when you’re constantly second best.”

Grayson wanted to be better than Luke but it was a competition he couldn’t win. Maybe that was because Luke always had my heart, even when I desperately tried to give it to Grayson. The only problem was that I didn’t have it to give. I shouldn’t have kept the relationship going for as long as I did. It was my fault Grayson had false hope.

Lap after lap, Luke was only in the lead by a hair; it could still be anyone’s race. My teeth hurt from chewing my nails, but I couldn’t stop. It was the most stressful race I’d ever watched.

Chance nudged me in the side. “One more lap.”

Sitting on the edge of my seat, I held my breath. I didn’t want to miss a thing, so I kept my focus on Luke. He glanced over at Troy and it was as if something clicked in him. He pushed forward and gained another three feet. If he could keep that distance, he’d cross the finish line first.

“Keep pushing, Luke!” I shouted.

The last big jump approached and he soared over it and into the air, the flames bursting in the air from the columns on both sides of the finish line. However, everything after that seemed to move in slow motion. The noise around me deafened and I could see the problem before it even happened. Luke lifted his arms triumphantly, but Troy was right behind him in the air, edging closer and closer to him.

I grabbed Chance’s arm just as the collision happened and Luke landed hard on the ground, his body rolling with the impact. Troy crashed as well, but he was the only one who moved and got up.

“Luke!” I screamed, frozen in terror as the paramedics rushed out to him. I closed my eyes, hoping it was all just a bad dream. The silence in the stadium was deafening.

“L
ara
,
” Chance said, pulling on my arm. “Let’s go
.
”

By now, there was a whole crowd around Luke and I couldn’t even see him. Chance held my hand, and since security knew who he was, they let us both out onto the track. Troy was walking away from the fray, not even bothering to see if Luke was okay. I wasn’t the only one who saw the smile on his face as he strolled past.

“You
motherfucker
,” Chance growled, letting my hand go. He charged after Troy and tackled him to the ground, fists flying.

Glad Chance was taking care of Troy, I rushed over and charged my way through the people surrounding Luke.

A man grabbed my arm and tried to pull me back. He was part of security, complete with bulging muscles and a hard-lined face, but I was prepared to fight my way through him. “Miss, you can’t be over here. I’ll need to ask you to leave.”

“Like hell I will,” I growled, jerking my arm out of his grasp. Adrenaline coursed through my veins and it felt like I was going to go crazy. “I have to get through.”

“Let her go.” Zane stepped to the man’s side and grasped my elbow. “She’s Luke’s girlfriend.”

The security man let me go and apologized, but I rushed past him to where Luke was being put on a stretcher with a brace around his neck. His eyes were closed and there was no movement.

“Luke, I’m here,” I cried, hoping he could hear me. The paramedics carried him out and I followed them to the ambulance. They put him inside and I got in, alongside one of the paramedics—a man who kept his focus on Luke. I didn’t like the way he looked. “Will he be okay?”

He peered up at me, his expression guarded. “We’ll find out more once we get him to the hospital.” I knew what that meant; he had no clue what was going to happen.

I held Luke’s hand and never once let go until we got to the hospital and they wheeled him away. There were text messages on my phone from Summer, saying that they were on their way. Apparently, they had watched it all unfold on TV. I had been so distraught, I hadn’t heard my phone go off.

There were two other people in the waiting room, both middle-aged women, and they looked just as upset as me. It made me wonder who they were waiting on. Was it someone they loved?

The door to the waiting room opened and a lady in a white coat approached. She smiled sadly at me, as if she knew the pain I was going through. “Lara Jacobs?”

I stood and shook her outstretched hand. “Yes.”

“It’s good to finally meet you. When one of my nurses said Summer was here, I thought to myself that couldn’t be right.” I let her hand go and she lifted her name badge. “I’m Dr. Angelica Scott. Your sister used to work with me while training in nursing school.”

The sound of her name sparked memories. Summer used to talk about her all the time. “Yes, I remember how much she loved working with you. It’s good to finally meet you. Would you by chance know what’s happening with Luke Collins? I came here with him, and I haven’t heard anything since arriving.”

“Yes, my dear. He took a nasty tumble, so we’re running all sorts of tests on him. The good news is, he’s awake, but definitely not happy. He was asking for you.”

I gasped. “When can I see him?”

She placed a hand soothingly on my shoulder. “Soon. I’ll let you know when we’re done.”

Breathing a sigh of relief, I sat down and closed my eyes. If he was awake, that was a good sign. If he’d broken anything, it could ruin his riding career, but at least I’d still have him in my life. Although, that must’ve been Troy’s goal . . . to take him out of the game. Hopefully, that son of a bitch would pay for what he did.

The waiting room door slammed open and Chance rushed in, his clothes covered in red dirt from the fight. “I’m sorry I’m late. Any news?”

“The doctor just left. They’re running tests, but he’s awake.”

He dropped into the seat beside me and sighed. “Thank fucking God.” His knuckles were torn open and I knew they had to hurt.

“How bad does Troy look?”

He scoffed. “Pretty damn bad, but at least there won’t be any victory pictures of him. They disqualified him from second place and took away his spot at the finals in Vegas. He tried to say it was an accident, but the higher-ups reviewed the collision. There was no way it could be ruled an accident.”

“Good. Hopefully, it ruins his career. Who knows, it might’ve ruined Luke’s as well.”

He bumped me in the shoulder. “Let’s think positive. There’s no way in hell Luke’s going to let someone like Baker take him out of the race.”

Summer and Evan barreled through the door and I rushed over and hugged them. Summer had tears in her eyes and Evan looked torn. “He’s awake,” I cried, squeezing them both. “They’re going to take X-rays and run some tests to see if anything’s broken.”

“He’ll be okay,” Evan murmured. He let me go and went straight to Chance to catch up with him.

Summer stepped back and wiped her eyes. “Just when we think no more tragedies can happen in our family, another one occurs. I swear, someone should write a novel about all of this.”

“And no one would believe a bit of it.” I laughed sadly, hugging her again. The pain in my chest was almost unbearable. “Do you know about Grayson?”

I could feel her nod. “Jason came by and told us. I think I’m still in shock. I never thought he’d be capable of such things.”

“Me either,” I said, pulling back, “but he never wanted me to get my memories back. He lied to me about so many things; especially the night of the accident, when I broke up with him.”