Jack & Eva by Frances Dall'Alba

Author:Frances Dall'Alba
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Poinsettia Publishing

Jack chuckled underneath his helmet. These people were crazy. This was the easy trail? Bloody hell. What did the experienced rider’s trail look like? Jack didn’t want to find out. Once again, Eva showed him up in both skill and stamina. He had a lot of catching up to do if he wanted to keep up with the unstoppable Eva Stamford.

In fact, he’d never felt so inadequate around a woman before. For reasons he couldn’t explain, despite Eva being incredibly different from what he thought he wanted in a woman, there was a magnetic pull that kept drawing him towards her.

Jack stood with feet firmly on the uneven ground, rolling the borrowed bike back and forth while waiting for the group to finish talking. It was enough to stir the dust on the track. As the breeze eddied and swirled around his feet, he picked up a hint of burnt ash. Trees close by had suffered through a bushfire or back-burn.

They’d ridden twenty-five kilometres, and he eyed the final descent to the end of the trail. Eva looked back to check he was ready to go. He gave a thumb up and took a big breath. A broken bone was the last thing he needed. He’d be taking it nice and steady.

“Okay, everyone, let’s finish this. Breakfast awaits us,” Darryl, the organiser, called out.

Jack used his gloved hand to mop the sweat build-up on his brow. Too late, he realised mud streaked his gloves, which would now be pasted across his forehead. He grimaced. He’d be a fine sight at the bottom if he made it in one piece.

They all took off in an excited rush. Jack followed at his own pace, already thinking twice about ever attempting this sport again. The rushed laughter and shrill calls from the others as they sped down the remaining track whipped past him. It was only a short stretch, but he gasped and braked hard when one of the bikes in the lead pack rolled over itself and spun down the remaining metres. The rider followed in the same somersault fashion.

“Eva!” someone shouted, and his breath caught.

“Christ!” Jack sped towards the end of the track, not caring about his safety. When he reached the group, Eva was sitting up and rubbing her shoulder.

He knelt as close as possible to Darryl. “Eva, are you alright?”

Her smile was a little crooked as she rubbed her arm. “I think a sharp rock stabbed my arm.”

A blob of blood had already seeped through her bike shirt.

“But the rest of me feels fine.”

“Give yourself a few minutes to make sure you’re not concussed,” Darryl insisted before directing the riders to take the bikes to the car park about a hundred metres away. Then he moved Eva’s limbs and told her to close her eyes and open them again to check for concussion.

“I’m fine, Darryl, honestly,” Eva maintained.

“I’m sure you are, but I’m checking you over anyway,” Darryl asserted. “Do you think you can stand up?”

“I’ll carry her back to the ute and drive us home,” Jack said gruffly.

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