Carpe Diem - Jesse 3 Read Free

him, no matter what.
    I wasn’t sure what a training camp would look like, but despite my inner thoughts of trepidation, when I stepped out of Joe’s rental car, my eyes widened at what I saw.
    “Jesse, this is amazing. It’s quite a set up. I had no idea the training camp would be so... so elaborate.”
    “Come on, I’ll show you around and introduce you to the guys. But watch out, they’re all man-whores.”
    “Jesse...” I gasped and feigned surprise.
    “Okay - okay, maybe not man-whores, but watch your ass when you walk past them, you might get swatted on the butt.”
    “Works for me,” I shot back.
    There were canopies with shiny motorcycles under them, propped up on metal stands. Some were bright red and others were blue, each one surrounded by mechanics hunched over them, tuning the engines to perfection. There were RVs and camping trailers for the guys to sleep in, and as soon as I saw them I immediately knew why a girl would be out of place in this environment. I studied the number of handsome young men milling about in various modes of protective riding gear, wearing futuristic looking helmets, with goggle hidden eyes and padded riding jackets that made them look like robotic Transformers from an alien world. And they were all hot! They looked like sweating stallions, pacing and prancing with blood red cheeks, flush from heavy breathing as they got off their bikes and slid off their helmets, rubbing their hands through their tousled helmet hair.
    “Here, watch where you’re walking, Niki. The ground is a little uneven.” Jesse took my elbow as we stepped over the soft ground toward a circle of trailers as Coach led the way. Coach introduced us to a couple of the other riders and then we moved on to the next set of tents and trailers. As we walked along, Coach turned and said, “Most of these guys are Jesse’s friends, they’ve know each other for years.”
    “Yeah, but don’t let appearances fool you, Niki, their knuckles still drag on the ground when they walk.”
    Coach snort-laughed and said, “Some of them were on the team back when Jesse was injured.”
    “Oh, I see. So everybody rides the same kind of bike as Jesse?”
    Coach shot a nervous glance over at Jesse. “Uh no, only one other guy rides in the same class as Jesse, the 450 cubic engine. The others race in the 250s.”
    Outside the next trailer, we came upon Jesse’s nemesis, Karl Eissen. He didn’t say anything when Coach introduced him to me. He didn’t have to. His blazing blue eyes nearly pierced a hole right through me when he nodded his “hello.””.
    Ice was from Germany and he was devastatingly handsome. Strong shoulders, chiseled feature, a magnetic smile, a total panty-dropping package that would be hard for any girl to resist.
    I immediately picked up on a discordant vibe between him and Jesse. Even though Jesse and Ice were on the same team, it was obvious they were enemies. Jesse had told me how much he despised him, but I hoped maybe things could be different now. After all, Jesse had changed a lot since he’d first showed up in my life.
    I nodded back towards Ice. “Nice to meet you.” I knew I should probably have kept my mouth shut, but I continued, “Do you ride the same class engine as Jesse, a 450?”
    His eyes widened. “Yes, a 450 alright. You understand bikes, I see. Beautiful and smart. Jesse, I’m impressed...and maybe a little jealous.”
    He spoke with a heavy German accent. I could easily see why he was called Ice. Between that voice and those blue eyes, his nickname fit him to a T.
    Jesse didn’t say a word but I saw the muscle in his jaw twitch.
    Coach cleared his throat and ran interference. “We should get going now, Ice. I want to introduce Jesse to the rest of the crew.”
    Ice sniffed and tossed his head back, then turned on his heels and walked away, carrying his helmet under his arm. Jesse glowered at him and Coach tugged on his arm. “Let it go, Jesse. Come on, let’s say hi to