Chapter 122\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a532%\u76e4\u00a0<\/p>\n
I turned to see a man in his forties approaching us, well\u2013dressed but with the weathered hands and confident stance of someone who spent serious time\u00a0<\/p>\n
around motorcycles.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There was something in his eyes that made me instantly wary \u2013 not threatening, exactly, but calculating.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHi,\u201d he said, extending his hand for a shake.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHi,\u201d I replied, but kept my hands at my sides. Something about his approach felt too familiar, too presumptuous.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFierce. I like that,\u201d he said, apparently amused by my refusal to shake his hand.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSam, what do you want?\u2018 Derek\u2019s voice had taken on a protective edge as he moved slightly between us.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cJust wanted to say hello to your rising star here,\u201d Sam replied, but his eyes never left mine. \u201cI\u2019m Sam Rodriguez, and I have performance out there. How come I haven\u2019t seen you race before?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
There was something in his tone that suggested this wasn\u2019t just casual interest. This felt like a business approach, like he was sizing me up for\u00a0<\/p>\n
something.\u00a0<\/p>\n
by your\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you,\u201d I said simply, then turned to Derek. \u201cI need to head home.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The adrenaline was starting to fade, and suddenly I felt exhausted. The emotional and physical intensity of my first real race was catching up with me,\u00a0<\/p>\n
and all I wanted was the quiet sanctuary of my apartment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll take you home,\u201d Derek said immediately, then looked back at Sam. \u201cIf you\u2019ll excuse us, I need to take my girlfriend home.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t bother correcting the girlfriend reference. Derek had been using it as a protective measure for weeks now, and frankly, I was too tired to care\u00a0<\/p>\n
about the details.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sam nodded, but I could see he wasn\u2019t giving up entirely. \u201cPerhaps we can talk another time,\u2018 he said to me. \u201cI think you have potential that goes far\u00a0<\/p>\n
beyond these local races.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The ride home was quiet, both of us processing what had just happened. Derek walked me to my door but didn\u2019t push to come inside, sensing that I\u00a0<\/p>\n
needed space to myself.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The moment I reached my bed, I collapsed onto it fully clothed and fell asleep instantly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The past few weeks had been a whirlwind I never could have imagined. That first victory hadn\u2019t been a fluke \u2013 I\u2019d won five more races since then, each one building my confidence and reputation in the racing community.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The attention was both thrilling and overwhelming. I\u2019d had different people approach me after each race, wanting to be my manager, my sponsor, my\u00a0<\/p>\n
gateway to bigger things.\u00a0<\/p>\n
One man had even suggested I consider going international, racing in competitions across Europe and Asia.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have natural talent that can\u2019t be taught,\u201d he\u2019d said. \u201cWith the right suppert and training, you could be competing at the highest levels within two\u00a0<\/p>\n
years.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The offers were tempting, especially when they came with financial packages that would set me up for life. But something held me back from making\u00a0<\/p>\n
III\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
20.23 Thu, Jang \u2013 an\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 122\u00a0<\/p>\n
any commitmentss\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u706b\u5305 32%\u65e5\u00a0<\/p>\n
Maybe it was the fear of losing the simple joy 1 found in racing, or maybe it was the practical concern about what would happen if Orion and Tristan\u00a0<\/p>\n
found out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So far, I\u2019d managed to keep my racing secret from both of them. Our schedules never overlapped \u2013 Tristan raced on different days, and I\u2019d been careful to avoid any events where he might appear.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At work, we maintained a coldly professional relationship. He avoided me like I carried some contagious diseas, and I was grateful for the distance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But I knew I couldn\u2019t keep this hidden forever. If I wanted to take racing seriously, to maybe pursue some of those international opportunities, I\u2019d need Orion\u2019s blessing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He was my family, someone whose opinion mattered to me, even if I was determined to make my own choices.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Memories Drifted Into Soft Silence by Kyx Frost 122 Chapter 122\u00a0 \u00a532%\u76e4\u00a0 I turned to see a man in his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[77],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-second-gear-of-love-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26279"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26279\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}