Believe in Me (Jett #1) by Amy Sparling Read Free Book Online

section of sandbar and find a way to win her over.
    Maybe she’s right. Maybe it does bother me that she doesn’t want me. Okay, it’s not a maybe. I stare at my reflection in the mirror as I run some gel through my hair. Girls always like me. I inherited my dad’s good looks and Mom says I got her charming personality. I’m not trying to be vain here, but it is what it is. I work out, I’m tan, and I look like my dad. Older women love my dad. Jace Adams is still a big name in the motocross world even though he hasn’t raced professionally since before I was born.
    I’ve seen the looks my mom gets when other women are gawking over Dad. She always tells me that it’s okay to date around now, but when I find a girl I really like, I need to chill out and let her be the only one. Mom is really sweet like that. But she’s wrong about one thing—I may be charming but I do not have her personality.
    I don’t want to settle down. So why can’t I get Keanna off my mind?
    Is it because I can’t have her?
    Doesn’t that make me a fucking jackass in every possible sense of the word?
    Shit. My reflection grimaces at myself. I am a jackass. I saw a pretty girl at Becca’s house and when she didn’t throw herself at me, I got upset about it. I spent the last however many hours lamenting over this girl, wondering what I could have done or said to make her like me. I am definitely a jackass.
    I draw in a deep breath and let it out. Flex my wrists and roll my head to loosen my neck. Get a grip, Jett. I don’t want to be a disrespectful prick. If Keanna doesn’t like me then she doesn’t like me. It’s fine. I’ll settle for hooking up with the girls who do like me.
    It’s not like there aren’t tons of them.
    Keanna’s words reply in my head. It’s killing you that I am not falling over myself trying to hook up with you, huh? Hearing her say that had hurt, but she was right. I’ve never been rejected in my life. Guess there’s a first time for everything.
    *
     
    All the usual people are at the lake when I arrive. Most of them are older than I am, but I’ve known these guys since I was a little kid so they’re cool with letting me chill with them. Plus, they bring beer. I park my truck on the edge of the lake, right near the road in case I decide to make a quick exit tonight. I’ve already made a pact with myself that I’d stop thinking about Keanna and let myself get lost in the party vibe, but just in case it doesn’t work, I might want to bail. Nothing kills a party vibe like asking your friends to move their trucks so you can get out.
    I grab a beer and fist bump D’andre, one of my buddies from the track. He’s a senior this year and has a good chance of making it to the professional motocross circuit if he keeps winning races.
    “Hey man,” D’andre says, crunching his empty beer can and tossing it into the bed of his truck. “Are you actually alone tonight?”
    I lift my shoulders, cocky grin in full force. “Just because I always leave with a girl doesn’t mean I have to arrive with one.”
    He throws his head back and laughs. “I feel you man, I feel you.”
    We sit on his tailgate and drink and catch up on what’s been going on since summer started. He hasn’t been out at my dad’s track much lately but that’s because he’s been training over at Mixon Motocross Park, working with a professional scout. I hope I’ll be there as well when I’m a year older. All I need to do is keep working out, keep riding, and don’t get hurt. Nothing ruins a racing career like a few cracked ribs or a shattered ankle.
    “So you and Emma Clarke, eh?” D’andre says, cracking open another beer can. “She’s fine as hell.”
    “We’re not a thing,” I say, shaking my head. I almost expect her to come bouncing up to me, acting like we are a thing, because that’s just how shitty my luck is normally. I glance around just in case, but see nothing but sand and water and people doing their own thing