Chapter 123\u00a0<\/p>\n
The truth was, I wasn\u2019t sure I wanted to become a celebrity. The racing community was tight\u2013knit now, but going international would mean media\u00a0<\/p>\n
attention, interviews, people digging into my background.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There were parts of my past I preferred to keep buried, chapters of my story had no interest in sharing with the world.\u00a0<\/p>\n
3240\u00a0<\/p>\n
For now, I was content with the way things were. My life felt balanced challenging work during the day, thrilling races on weekends, and the growing satisfaction of proving myself in a world where respect had to be earned rather than given.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tonight was my seventh race, and I knew it would be the most dangerous yet! The competition had been escalating each week as word spread about the mysterious female rider who was dominating the local circuit.\u00a0<\/p>\n
More experienced racers were showing up specifically to challenge me, and the races were becoming faster and more aggressive\u00a0<\/p>\n
But instead of fear, I felt excited. Danger had become my friend, a companion that sharpened my focus and heightened my might feel scared, I felt alive.\u00a0<\/p>\n
al people\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHope you\u2019re prepared for tonight, Derek said as I was heading toward the starting line. \u201cThis field is the strongest you\u2019ve faced yet.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018More than prepared,\u201d I replied with a confidence that would have seemed cocky coming from anyone else. But I\u2019d earned the right to be confident.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Derek hugged me, as had become our tradition before each race. \u201cJust be careful out there. I know you love the thrill, but I need you coming back in one\u00a0<\/p>\n
piece.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The race itself was everything I\u2019d expected \u2013 fast, dangerous, and absolutely exhilarating. The other riders pushed me harder than ever before, but I rose\u00a0<\/p>\n
to meet their challenge.\u00a0<\/p>\n
By the time we crossed the finish line, I was victorious once again, extending my winning streak to seven races.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I ran toward where Derek was standing, talking to someone I didn\u2019t bother to look at in my excitement.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDerek!\u201d I yelled, running straight into his arms for our post\u2013race celebration hug.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHow was I?\u2018 I asked, though I already knew from his expression that I\u2019d impressed him once again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAmazing, as always,\u201d he said, but there was something different in his voice. Something softer, more intense.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you,\u201d I started to say, but then I noticed the way he was looking at me. There was something in his eyes I\u2019d never seen before, something that\u00a0<\/p>\n
made my breath catch.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy are you looking at me that way?\u201d I asked slowly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018I want to kiss you,\u201d he said simply, the words hanging between us.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I should have stepped back. Should have reminded him that we were friends, that I wasn\u2019t ready for anything more complicated than that.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But instead, I found myself curious. I wanted to know how it would feel, kissing someone who cared about me without any games or complications.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When Derek reached up to lift the edge of my face mask, I didn\u2019t stop him. His movements were slow and careful, giving me every opportunity to pull away if I wanted to.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When his lips touched mine, the kiss was gentle, almost hesitant, like he wasn\u2019t sure if this was really okay. But I didn\u2019t push him away. Instead, I jet\u00a0<\/p>\n
172\u00a0<\/p>\n
20:33 Thu, Jan B\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 123\u00a0<\/p>\n
fimm kiss me, and after a moment, I kissed him back.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was nice. Sweet Uncomplicated in a way that felt like a relief after months of emotional turmoil.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The single word spoken behind me made every drop of blood in my body freete solid.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I knew that voice. I would know it anywhere, in any crowd, under any circumstances.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I turned around slowly, my heart hammering against my ribs, and found myself staring directly into the shocked face of Tristan Hayes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Memories Drifted Into Soft Silence by Kyx Frost 123 Chapter 123\u00a0 The truth was, I wasn\u2019t sure I wanted to […]<\/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-26280","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\/26280","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=26280"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26280\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}