Rubber Meets The Road

Damn, Bill can be such an ass. But there is nobody I would rather have on my side. He's not just my crew chief, he has been my best friend for over fifteen years.

I was watching Katy during my conversation with Bill. She was very interested but couldn't hear what Bill had told me. She busier herself unpacking her stuff for the night, not that there was much to unpack.

"Sorry about the bed, Bill handles our rooms if we need one." I waited a second to see her reaction. She raised an eyebrow but didn't say a word.

"Bill informed me that we got out just in time. James went by your place and made a scene. Evidently, your door was standing in the way so he fired a couple of shotgun rounds through it."

Katy gasped, "What the hell was he thinking?"

"I'm not sure, but Bill is having the door replaced right now. Marco had followed James and called the police when he saw him retrieve the gun from his truck. Apparently he was frustrated when no one opened the door. He's sitting in jail now."

A look of relief spread across her face as she heard James was in jail.

Katy asked about the funeral arrangements. I explained what we had been able to setup. A proper casket had been obtained and would carry Will the entire thirty-seven miles.

We would start in Douglas and end at Nobles Park, right across from the cemetery. We planned to use the park for the service and setup food at the picnic tables. From there, we would take Will to Borough Cemetery and lay him to rest.

I told Katy we can expect three-hundred or more to show up, and everyone at the hospital had been invited as well.

Tears filled her eyes as I explained what was done. I handed Katy a tissue. She dabbed her eyes but didn't fall apart. She hugged me and said she was going to take a shower and get ready for bed.

Katy emerged from the bathroom a half hour later wearing only a terry cloth towel. I realized she had put her clothes away and forgot to take them with her.

"Get some sleep, Katy. I'm going to grab a shower." I set an extra blanket and a pillow on the floor.

I brushed my teeth, showered, shaved... took my time and my medicine. I was hoping Katy would be asleep by the time I came out.

Normally I sleep in the nude, but that was not an option. I left my boxer briefs on and exited the small bathroom.

My blanket and pillow were on the bed. "Don't even think about sleeping on the floor. I will get up and leave right now if you do."

Katy sounded serious. Without a word, I worked myself into the bed. There was plenty of room for both of us. I turned off the lights half expecting to get some sleep, the other half not sure what to expect.

We chatted a bit in the dark, mostly about the life of racers. Katy rolled my way and put her head on my lightly hairy chest. My right arm draped down her bare skinned back and raven hair. My mind imagined what was below that, with the realization she was possibly naked beside me.

"Please don't take this the wrong way, Katy, but you are causing my little head to out think my big head."

"So you were doing all this stuff to get in my pants, huh?" Katy responded.

I had so much on my mind, it all started pouring out of me.

"Absolutely not, Katy! My intentions were completely innocent, well almost all innocent. If that happens sometime down the road, I won't say that I would mind. I would just like it to happen after you have had some time to grieve and heal. You are in a vulnerable place and I don't think starting a romantic relationship under those circumstances would be beneficial to either of us in the long term. Try to understand that you have had a profound effect on me. I wasn't looking to have someone like you walk into my life, let alone save mine. Make no mistake about it, despite the circumstances of the past three days, I believe we were brought together for a reason."

I was an open book for Katy to read. My hope was that she would see my logic and know I was there for the long haul. At a couple of points in the past day I felt like she might have been testing the content of my character.

"I have been in love once in my life, Kyle. Seven years ago, I found him screwing some bitch he picked up at a bar, right there in our bed. We had a good sex life, or at least I thought we did. I was always open to trying new things and we shared our fantasies. Maybe he thought if he had a woman in our bed, I would jump in and fulfill a fantasy we both had. That didn't work out so well. I threw his ass out and never looked back. It destroyed my faith in men. I haven't slept with anyone since then. You, my dear man, have restored my faith."

The scent emanating from beneath the blankets felt like I was being lured into a trap. The proverbial cheese in the mouse trap, so to speak.

Katy turned her back to me, pulling her knees up and pushing her ass against me. As she turned, my right hand ended up full of her breast. I tried to move my hand, but Katy trapped it and held it there. I could feel her heart beating a steady and powerful rhythm.

I rolled to my side so I could hold her. My left arm wrapped around her like a python. Katy molded herself against my body perfectly. She shivered as I stroked my fingers around her ribs and over her bare hip. The heat radiating from her pussy warmed the cotton of my briefs and my solid, steel-like cock felt at home between her cheeks.

"Not tonight," I whispered in her ear. The urge to take her was outweighed by what I wanted in life, for the both of us.

"I know Kyle, just hold me."

********************

The gentle swaying of hips and sweet aroma that filled the room, is what I awoke to. If I hadn't of known better, I would swear I had a wet dream. The reality of it was much more pleasant.

I glanced at the clock. It read 6:42am. "Good morning, sexy. What are you doing up so early?"

"I had a hard time sleeping. Something kept poking at me all night. You should see a doctor about an erection lasting more than six hours!"

"You are my all natural Viagra, Katy. They would want to do all sorts of clinical studies on you and I would never have you to myself." I played along.

"I'm no doctor but I do help out. I do know the best way to relieve your condition too."

"But, you nee—" I said, as Katy cut me off.

"Need to grieve? Need to be sure of what I want? Need to take it slow? Need to trust you? What exactly do you think I need at this point, Mr. Hobbs?"

Holy shit, Katy was a firecracker. She called me Mr. Hobbs. That was major step backwards, yet her hips continued their swaying. I did what any rational guy would do.

"I'm not going to presume to know what you need, Katy. Would you mind telling me?"

"Why would I tell you? I have given you every hint I can possibly give you, and you still haven't figured it out." Katy purposely thrust her ass against my groin

"Some of us are a bit denser than others, Katy." Then it hit me like a ton of bricks.

Katy had not been testing my character at all. She had been dropping hints. She already knew I wasn't the sort of person that would take advantage of her.

At dinner, she told me she had nobody left. Katy was interested in me, and she dropped a very subtle hint that I missed.

She wasn't playing along when James showed up, she was telling me what she needed as a woman.

The look on her face when I said we should call it a night, she wasn't worried. Katy wanted to stay with me.

When the hotel clerk called us Mr. and Mrs. Hobbs, she wasn't uncomfortable with the title. She wanted it and was embarrassed that she liked the sound of it.

Katy had told me of her one previous love that ended seven years ago. She hadn't been with anyone ever since. She specifically said that I had restored her faith.

Katy was grieving, but she certainly knew what she wanted. Yes, I wanted to take it slow and I wanted her to trust me... I would give her no reason not to.

I knew what Katy needed. She needed sex, no she needed love, my love. An affirmation of that love would be the sex involved. I slid my briefs down my legs and kicked them off my ankles.

A gentle sigh escaped Katy's mouth when she felt my exposed and bare helmet rub against her vulva and part her soaked lips.

I am no porn star but I have never had a complaint about my seven inches. I am thicker than most and know to take it slow.

My cock was coated with her free flowing juices in a matter of minutes. I held her tightly while I kissed her shoulder and moved upwards to her neck.

I whispered the answer, "You need my love as much as I need yours."

"Yes, Kyle," she said softly.

********************

The sheets were soaked and the scent of sex filled the air while our bodies sweated profusely. Katy was more than a firecracker, she was more like bundle of dynamite. Once the fuse was lit, it was like a series of non-stop explosions for almost two hours straight.

I'm not sure how many orgasms she had, but after my third I was useless. It wasn't crazy, dirty porn sex. For two hours we expressed our feelings for each other by making love and exploring each other's tastes.

Katy took control after my first orgasm. My ribs were still sore, so I was limited in some of the positions we were moving into and how aggressive I could be. She made up for my limitations, and then some.

I have never witnessed a woman so passionate and so full of love, the only way to describe it would be true and utter bliss.

"I told you, I knew the best way to relieve your condition!" Katy said, grinning like she was the cat that ate the canary.

As much as I would have loved to stay locked in our room, we had too much to do. "We need a shower. We have a busy day ahead of us."

After our shower, we packed up and checked out. I used my phone to take a couple of pictures for prosperity.

Our first stop would be to see James. Something was off about his reaction to Will's passing. Katy did not want to see him but I assured her that no harm would come to her.

James looked like hell and smelled even worse. I wouldn't have believed what came out of his mouth if I wasn't sitting right in front of him.

"I have been in love with you for the past eight years. As soon as Will dies, you go and hook up with this clown? Will said I wasn't allowed anywhere near you while he was alive. In fact, his exact words were 'over my dead body.' Well he's dead, and now we can be together."

James was psychotic! He was literally crazy. Did he really believe blowing a couple of holes in Katy's door was going to help him fulfill the fantasy he had in his head?

I thought Katy was going to stay silent, but rage burned in those once sorrowful blue eyes.

"Did you really think I was going to fall into your arms at my house? You were trying to pick me up like some drunk hooker at a bar. Then you come back, cause a scene like some drunk high school kid, and threaten my fiancé. But no, that wasn't bad enough was it? You came back with a shotgun and blew my door open. What were you going to do? Kill the only love in my life, then drag me to the alter, kicking and screaming? You need help James!"

The look on James face was strange when she mentioned him dragging her to the alter. It was as if he was pondering the image as a good idea, one he hadn't considered. Nothing else Katy had said seemed to get a reaction out of him.

I heard it but it still caught me off guard. I was now Katy's fiancé and I didn't even have a chance to get her a ring. I was so proud of her being able to articulate just how absurd his thought process was. I grabbed her hand as we stood up to leave.

James tried to attack us, but being chained to a desk limited him to moving less than a foot. His menacing voice came through loud and clear. "I'm going to kill you and Katy will be mine!"

The officer in the room heard every word. James would not be getting out of jail anytime soon.

When we made it outside, I pulled Katy into my arms and let my kiss speak for how I felt.

"Fiancé, huh? When did that happen?"

Katy decided the truth would set her free.

"When I held you in my arms on the way to the hospital, it just felt so right. Then something clicked inside of me when you spoke to me in the hospital room, before your bandages were removed, and again after they were removed. I knew you had no plans to take advantage of me. You always looked me in the eyes when you talked with me, and then offered to help me with the funeral at the restaurant. Those are the actions of a truly caring man. And what happened in the hotel room? We had one huge bed and you were going to try and sleep on the floor. I almost had to take what I already considered mine, at least until you figured out what I needed in my life. Yes, Kyle Hobbs, you are a keeper."

So there it was, I was engaged without ever proposing and I couldn't have been happier.

********************

Epilogue*

The funeral was a mixture of a party and somber event. Well over five-hundred people showed up and most contributed money, food, or their time. There was food for about a thousand people by the time it was over. We had plenty of volunteers to help clean up the park when everyone left.

Katy and I drove the lap in just under two hours. The procession had stretched out to five miles. Katy had me drive while she snuggled up beside me.

There were some tears, and even some laughs along the way. Katy told me story after story about growing up with Will. From what she described, they really were like brother and sister. Yes, he was going to be missed.

We talked about racing and where we saw our love for the sport going. We had both stated our intentions going forward. We would be getting back in the saddle at some point. How soon depended on a few things, mostly getting through the mental healing, but a new bike would be needed for me.

I reached in to the warm pocket of my jacket. I retrieved the little black box that my grandmother told me I should use one day. She knew I would find someone who I would want to spend the rest of my life with.

Katy's tears began flowing down her cheeks, even before she opened it.

"I wouldn't be a proper fiancé if the woman I love wasn't wearing my ring. I love you with all of my heart and soul, Katy. Will you marry me?"

"YES, YES, YES, KYLE!"

Katy opened the box to find a flawless, three carat, D colored, round cut diamond ring. Her hands were shaking so bad I thought the ring might fly out of its seat. I carefully pulled the ring out and slid it on her finger. Her entire body was vibrating. I wondered if she wasn't having and orgasm.

When we pulled up at the park, both of our crews huddled up in a prayer. Katy hugged Bill, literally squeezed the air out of him. She kissed him on the cheek and thanked him for all of his help setting up the funeral. Bill told her that she was family and she could count on him being there for her in the future.

Only Katy and I went to the cemetery after the service wrapped up. Katy draped a leather jacket and a pair of gloves on top of the casket before it was lowered into the darkness below.

I held her while she wept for the loss of her brother. It is such a strange feeling not knowing the person being buried, but still being able to feel the heartache and loss anyway.

********************

The tires were screaming for mercy below. The engine was growling and there was exhaust humming a distinct melody. The blistering pace would undoubtedly break the record.

I was so proud of Katy Hobbs. She had some difficulty getting back to how she used to ride before that fateful day. It had been two years of determination and hard work.

We had plenty of heated conversations up to this point. Building her confidence was a challenge, but I assured her that nothing was going to happen to either of us, except being crowned winners. We were both racers and wanted what every competitor wanted, to win.

I felt the sidecar shift and the bike wobbled. Katy had let off the gas on the last lap. As I shifted my weight, I put my hand on her back. She knew I would not settle for less than everything she had.

Bill and the crew had put together an amazing machine for us to ride together. I was now her riding partner and husband.

With a twist of her wrist, the throttle opened up wide. We were coming to the hill that claimed Will's life. There was no hesitation and no fear that I could feel. The bike launched in the air as photographers clicked away.

One of those pictures made the front page of the morning paper. The headline read, "Rubber Meets the Road." It was a beautifully written story about a local racer breaking the track record, and about Katy's life of loss, love, and facing adversity.

We were married six months after our impromptu engagement with a small ceremony consisting of our closest and dearest friends that we call family.

As for James, well, he was locked up in a mental institution but we are keeping tabs on him.