Loving a Daredevil (Book 1 of the Billionaire Bad Boys)

Malibu California… Lucas Sanchez tugged his full head helmet down over his dark head. Lowering the visor, he looked out at the stretch of road ahead of him. One hundred yards of asphalt and a homemade wooden ramp. His brothers and friends lined the roadside with the video options of their cellphones ready to capture the stunt. Lucas straddled his brand-new Honda CRF450X. A seven-thousand-dollar dirt bike he had just gotten for his birthday. The deep blue bike beneath him vibrated and roared as he kick-started it. His adrenalin was pumping, and Lucas leaned forward his gloved hands clutching the handles. In a breath, he was off. Racing forward at top speed, Lucas knew he had to hit his mark just right to make the jump. As he whipped by, he could see everyone cheering him on. Lucas fed the bike more gas hitting the ramp at eighty miles an hour. It only took a second to speed up the shaky wooden ramp, and soon Lucas launched into the air. He was gliding through the air bike and all jumping over his car, his brother’s car, as well as those of his friends. Suspended in the air, it was as if the world slowed down. The excitement built as he cleared the first three cars, then another and another. He had done it! Suddenly Lucas landed on the other side. The impact jolted Lucas violently, and he lost control of his bike. The bike shook and swerved. His heart sped up as Lucas, and the bike fell over onto its side sliding down the pavement. Lucas rolled head over feet and into a large bush. He was winded, and the branches clawed at his leather suit. He quickly regained his composure and, on all fours, crawled out of the bush in time to watch his bike slide right through the glass patio doors of his parents’ million-dollar home. He cringed as the doors shattered and the bike went right through them taking out the table on the other side. Lucas staggered to his feet with great effort. Pain shot up from his right ankle all the way up through his knee and into his hip. It was hard to stand, and he certainly could not run. Reaching up Lucas pulled off his helmet his dark ebony hair tussled by the helmet and the spring breeze. He could hear yelling from inside the house. Looking back over his shoulder, Lucas saw his cowardly friends bolt leaving him to face his mother’s wrath alone. She appeared in the destroyed threshold. Eve Sanchez was a small woman barely five four. Her jet-black hair was swept up off her shoulders and held in place with pins. Her tiny dancer’s body draped in a designer dress his father had brought back from Paris last month. Her silver eyes flashed with rage as she stepped over the rubble inspecting the damage. Her furious gaze looked up and met his. Lucas knew he was in trouble. His mother did not like his daredevil ways. “Lucas Sanchez you get over here right now!” She screeched stepping outside. “I knew that bike was a bad idea, but your father wouldn’t listen.” She ranted walking toward him. He would have liked to have run, but he could barely stand. “What the hell were you thinking?” “I’m sorry I thought I could make it.” He knew that wasn’t the answer she wanted to hear. Even at sixteen Lucas towered over his mother by a near foot. However, this did not stop her from reaching up and grabbing him by the ear and pulling his face down to her level. “You could have killed yourself or someone else.” She barked. “Now look at the house. This damage is coming out of your allowance, and that bike is trash. You’ve had it less than a week and already trashed it. Wait until your father sees this mess.” She snarled as she released him and gestured to the damage. Lucas cringed once more. Comparatively, his mother’s temper was considered docile to that of his father’s. When Damien Sanchez lost his temper, even the devil would tuck tail and run. He had an explosive temper, and his daunting size only added to the air of menace that came over the man when his rage took over. Unfortunately, there was no way to hide the damage from his father. “You march over there right now and clean that mess up.” His mother demanded, pointing her finger at the house. Lucas flinched as he attempted to step forward his leg almost buckling beneath the pain. “I think I broke my leg.” He muttered feeling sheepish having to admit he did more damage than to just the window. His mother rolled her eyes with annoyance. “Boy, you will be the death of me.” She snarled. Looking around Lucas, she spotted his twin brother Lance hiding like a coward behind his car. “Lance, get in the house and watch the boys while I take Lucas to the hospital.” Grudgingly Lance agreed and sprinted past them both and into the house. “And clean this mess up while we’re gone.” She yelled after him taking her keys out of her pocket. She unlocked the door to her Porsche and helped Lucas limp to the car. She eased her son into the passenger’s seat and then got in herself. They spent three hours in the ER and another hour waiting for the results of the x-ray. Lucas had fractured his leg in two places and would be spending his spring break and six more weeks after that in a cast. They waited another two hours while the hospital staff cast his leg and let it set. They then offered Lucas some crutches, and his mother took him home. It was getting late when his brother helped him up the stairs and into his bed. The painkillers the hospital had given him were working wonders and making him a little tired. Once he was in bed, Lance left and shut the door behind him. Alone and exhausted Lucas laid back trying to get comfortable, but he didn’t get the chance to sleep when the window to his room slid opened and in came the prettiest little thing he had the pleasure of knowing. Maxine Perez was a fierce little firecracker Lucas had met six months ago in school. Her family had just moved up from New Mexico. Her father was some big shot General stationed on a nearby army base. She was tall for a woman with long legs and a figure that made a boy’s mind run away with him. For the last four months, she had been dating one of his friends, but they had a falling out two weeks ago, and Maxine had been spending a lot of time around Lucas. He had considered asking her out, but he was sure that would rub his buddy Nick the wrong way. Her hair was long and black as the midnight sky. Her dark eyes twinkled with mischief. Her full lips curved in a cocky smile. She had been there when Lucas made his jump and had run with all the others. He couldn’t blame her hell if he could have run he would have. Her white jeans hugged her glorious curves, and that black baby-t she wore was riding up showing off that sleek midsection. She strutted across the room and sat down on the bed next to him. Lucas did his best to sit up. “I see you’re out of commission for a few weeks. I just wanted to come by and see how you were doing. That was a hell of a wipeout.” She teased. Lucas couldn’t help but smile. “Sure was.” “You’re crazy; you know that, right?” Lucas laughed. “Yeah, that’s what my Mother keeps saying.” “Yeah, but it looked cool,” Maxine said taking her cell phone out of her pocket. Pressing a few buttons, she pulled up the video she took and held it out for him to see. She got a great shot of him launching off the ramp. “I got some good air, didn’t I?” “That you did, but you got to work on the landings.” “It’s all physics baby.” Lucas grinned. “I’m going to fix up my bike when I get out of this cast and do it again.” “One day you’re going to kill yourself.” She smiled putting her phone back in her pocket. “Maybe but I’ll look good doing it.” He made her laugh. She had a great laugh. It wasn’t restrained and fake like so many of the girls he knew, and Lucas knew so many. The son of a famous rock star and a well-established prima ballerina Lucas and his brothers were well known growing up in the telephoto lenses of fame. Both guys and girls flocked around them trying to cash in on their wealth and notoriety. None of them ever lacked company male or female. However, most of them were fake yes men willing to do anything to get a little taste of the good life. Maxine was different though she seemed actually to like him for who he was, though he couldn’t be completely sure. It was possible she was just a really good liar. Either way, Lucas didn’t care he liked her. “How are you ever going to ask me out if you break your neck?” She asked a strange heat in her dark eyes. Lucas looked at Maxine for a long moment. Was she serious? Did she want him to ask her out? Could he? Nick Gregory was one of his best friends. He had been bummed out when Maxine dumped him. As appealing as the thought was he couldn’t do it, and not just because of Nick but of her father. Maxine was a military brat, and the General didn’t like him. “Max, I can’t.” “Because of Nick?” “Among other things.” He said softly. She looked away for a moment and sighed. He felt a little bad about rejecting her. She had gone out on a limb making the first move. Still, he couldn’t do it. Lance, however, would have jumped her bones by now. His twin would bed anything in a skirt. They may have shared a face but besides that Lucas and Lance had nothing in common. Maxine gave a little knowing smile. “My father?” Lucas nodded. “I thought you were a daredevil?” She teased. She was baiting him, and he was smart enough to know it. He might be a daredevil, but when it came to a woman, Lucas played it safe. His father always said when a woman was involved there was gutsy, and there was stupid. Lucas would stick to jumping cars; he was less likely to get shot. “Are you afraid to die?” “Ain’t no grave can hold my body down.” Lucas recited with a smile. “Quoting Jonny Cash?” Maxine said coming to her feet as she made her way back to the window. He was impressed that she even knew who Johnny Cash was let alone got the reference. She paused as she was climbing out the window thoughtfully and then she smiled back at him. “For of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: It might have been!” Maxine recited. Lucas was impressed. “Who said that?” He asked curiously. “Look it up.” She smirked and disappeared through the window leaving him alone. Lucas looked across his room to his laptop sitting on his desk. He couldn’t reach it. Lucas would have to remember it.