Forget You by Jennifer Snyder

These were all questions I knew I would
probably never have the answers to, but I could still dream.
    “I think I’m done for today. Sorry to scare
the crap out of you guys.” I flashed them a half-hearted smile, and
then moved to lift my bike up. “Y’all coming to the Keeton throw
down tonight?”
    I was sure my parents had invited both of
them. Mitch and Tim had hung around our house for so many years
with Ryker they were practically family.
    “Yeah, we’ll both be there. We just had the
same idea as you about coming here first,” Mitch answered.
    “All right, I’ll see you there.” I started
pushing my bike off the track.
    “Oh, Sawyer?” Mitch called after me.
    “Yeah?”
    “Um…we made a pack to never come here alone
since…well, since Ryker died. I think you should stick with that
rule of thumb too, especially after today, man,” Mitch said.
    Never had we done such a thing. In fact,
there were times throughout high school when it wasn’t uncommon to
come out here for a little time on the track to blow off some steam
all by my lonesome, and I would find Mitch already doing the
same.
    That was before. This was after.
    “Call either of us, or even Benny, if you
ever want someone out here with you. You know we’re all always
ready to throw down on the track whenever. Hell, even call Wes.
I’ve seen him out here a few times lately too,” Tim added.
    Wes? Out on the track? Wes was never a rider.
Sure he’d come to the motocross races whenever Ryker or I had one,
but only because he said they were the best place to pick up
chicks. He’d borrow a racing jacket or a helmet, and walk around as
if he was waiting for his race to begin while getting numbers. I’d
never seen him walk away with less than three numbers each time.
I’d also never seen him ride a damn bike before either.
    “Wes has been out here?” I asked. My face
twisted into a dumbfounded expression.
    “Not riding or anything. We all know he’s not
a rider.” Mitch chuckled. “But, yeah. I’ve seen him out here a few
times, paying his respects or something.”
    That I could see. Even though it still
surprised me he would do something so sentimental, I could still
see it. The three of us had grown up together, Wes, Ryker, and me.
Instead of being cousins, we were more along the lines of
brothers.
    “I’ll think about it,” I said. I wheeled my
bike back to the shed. I’d hired a local carpenter to build it for
me after I sold my truck and decided to drive Ryker’s car. Pushing
it up the ramp, the sounds of Mitch and Tim hitting the track again
filled my ears. At least Ryker would be happy to know that just
because he had passed away here, didn’t mean we would let the place
go unused. Maybe the guys had the same views on it as me—that Ryker
would want to see it put to use no matter what. Hell, a part of me
wondered if he hadn’t been standing there at the corner, saying, you’ll never get that corner right, you dumbass. You’ll always
have to baby it like everyone else . A small smile twisted my
lips, and I hoped so.
    After shucking off my suit as tenderly as I
could manage, I stepped out of the shed and watched Mitch and Tim
race each other around the track for a moment. Closing the door and
locking the padlock into place, I made my way to Ryker’s car, ready
to head home for a long, hot shower before going to my parents for
the celebration dinner they’d put together for me tonight.
     

CHAPTER
ELEVEN
    EVA
     
    “Does he have any tattoos? We all know that’s
a mega bonus.” Lauren popped another handful of kettle corn in her
mouth, and eyed me.
    Did Sawyer have tattoos? I flashed back to
the mental images of him running through Gareth’s Park, shirtless
and sweaty. While his face was in vivid clarity, his upper body was
not, now that Lauren had flat-out asked a question like that.
    “I don’t know,” I admitted, a little
unbelieving that wasn’t one of the first things I’d noticed about
him. Damn, I had a long