Page 62 of The Champion
Lauren stammered for a moment before finally saying. “Oh...I’m Lauren Thomas,” she glanced at me.“Sorry I...didn’t know he was married.”
“No worries,” Sway said politely. “We just got married.He wasn’t married at the time, I’m sure.”
They chatted for a moment and I sat there dumbfoundedthat this was even happening.
When she disappeared, Aiden and Spencer broke into a fitof laughter. “That was awesome!”
I reached for Sway’s hand again. “Can wepleasegohome now?”
“Are you kidding me?” She teased rolling her eyes. “Thisis just getting entertaining.”
Spencer punched my shoulder. “Nice going, stud.” Hereplied sarcastically. “That had to have been awkward.”
If only he knew that I was now in possession of aTaser.
I knew this would happen at some point and I was fairlycertain it would happen again. I had no clue who those women were that I sleptwith when Sway left to finish college nor did I have any clue how many therewere. I threw out a number to Sway but I was pretty sure it wasn’t anywhereclose to that number.
I had this void when she left after the Chili Bowl and mycareer had really taken off. To fill that void, I had frivolous encounters withwomen I didn’t know. I didn’t like it, but I also couldn’t change it either.
Looking back to that time in my life—it was hard toimagine that my life would turn out like this three years later.
The turning point for me was when Sway came out toDaytona. After that, I realized my feelings were deeper for this woman besidesjust being friends. I also knew that being friends with benefits would changethe entire dynamic of our relationship and I’m glad it did. It made me realizethat a friend with benefits wasn’t what I wanted. I wanted more. I wanted whatI had now.
It’s funny how what you think you don’t need is exactlywhat you needed all along.
I turned to Sway once we were leaving the restaurant tohead home.
“I’m sorry about that.”
She smiled and handed Axel to me.
“Don’t be...it wasbound to happen sooner or later.”
“I know...I just...didn’t want you to see it.”
“Like I said Jameson...it’snot your fault...well it is, but still,you had no way of knowing she’d find you.”
I drew her against my side, adjusting my hold on Axel aswell. He looked up at me and smiled. “I’m so fucking lucky to have you two.”
Sway’s hand around my waist and squeezed. “Yes you are.”
9.Roll Cage – Sway
Roll Cage – Thesteel tubing inside the race car’s interior. It’s designed to protect thedriver from impacts or rollovers. The roll cage must meet strict NASCAR safetyguidelines and are inspected regularly during the race weekend.
It seemed as though the season was flying by.
We left Las Vegas, flew to Atlanta then Darlington, Bristol,Texas...new track each week. Before weknew it, the Coca-Cola 600 rolled around.
That morning Jameson had a meet and greet scheduled inthe media center. I went with him while Nancy looked after Axel in the motorcoach.
Jameson was always good at maintaining crowd control andrecognizing when he was getting out of hand. That morning it got out of hand.
Jameson, who rarely looked up in meet and greets, watcheda group of guys carefully, as they pushed forward through the crowd to getcloser to the table.
“Hey,” Jameson finally said with a sharp warning. “Stopthat.”
The group of boys who were probably college kids seemedcaught off guard by his tone and stopped staring at him.
