Laina
“Yes.”
“Good. Nice lipstick, by the way.”
“Thank you,” I said, blushing a bit. Harley was the type of woman all men wanted and every girl wanted to be. She was hot as hell, and you didn’t mess with her. Her word was law, especially here, and any man or woman who opposed her had another thing coming.
“Who are you pulling for?” Harley asked me. She didn’t look at me. Her eyes were trained on the cars pulling into their starting positions.
I glanced over at the lineup. Mason had rolled his green Mustang into his place. Benji was coming up behind him in his coupe. I shrugged one shoulder. “My brother is racing. Aren’t I obligated to pull for him?”
Harley looked at me out of the corner of her eye. “There are no obligations here.”
“Who do you think will win then?”
“Oh, sweet girl. Is that a question worth asking?”
I smiled. We both knew who was winning this race. Mason Thomas.
Harley sighed. “He drives like the devil himself is chasing him. I bet he fucks like a devil too.”
My cheeks burned again, and I turned up the collar of my jacket to try to hide it from her. “Probably.”
Harley laughed. She didn’t giggle. She wasn’t the giggling sort. “Maybe one day, one of us will be lucky enough to find out.” I licked my lips as she picked up the red flag and pushed it into my hands. “You’re up, dollface. Give me your jacket.”
I shrugged out of my jacket, and she took it from me to drape it over one arm. I adjusted my crop top and looked out at the lineup of cars. Their headlights seemed to illuminate the place I was supposed to stand.
I stepped over the barrier separating the crowd from the cars and walked with purpose to the ‘X’ Harley had painted for me. I planted my feet and stood with my weight on my left leg. I popped out my hip and let the flag dangle in my right hand, hanging down to the pavement.
Harley stood on the chair the flag had been on and pressed her fingers into her mouth to whistle for the crowd’s attention. “Ladies and gentlemen, this is the moment you have been waiting for!” A roar of applause assaulted my ears. “You know how this shit works. First car across the line is the winner. He walks away with forty grand tonight and guarantees himself a spot in the first of The Street series next weekend. There are no rules here. You do what you have to do to cross the finish line. But, you have to live with those decisions. People, stay back from the barriers when the cars are coming across the line. Shit gets messy. I will not call an ambulance for you if you get your dumb ass hit by a car. Now, can I get a cheer for our drivers?”
The screams from the crowd made my ears ring.
Harley announced that the race would start in two more minutes. People in the crowd popped open beers and bottles of liquor. The cars revved their engines, and I looked out at the windshields and headlights before me.
It was a strange feeling to be in the literal spotlight like this. It felt good.
Mason’s car was on the right-hand side and second from the front. He rolled down his window and stuck his hand out, giving me a wave. I smiled and waved back.
A couple cars honked at me. I did a little turn on the spot and more drivers honked appreciatively.
Then the car in front of Mason honked, and the driver’s window rolled down. Sid poked his slimy head out the window and grinned at me. His gold-capped canines caught the light. “You look like the perfect way to wind down after I win this race, baby.”
I ignored him.
“Don’t play coy, Laina. You know you want a piece of this. I can make you feel things, girl. Real good things. Turn around for me again.” He tapped his horn twice.
Fucking Sid Paul. He made me want to disappear. He’d had a thing for me ever since I started coming to these events with my brother, and no matter how many times I told him I wasn’t interested, he wouldn’t leave me alone.
“You can’t ignore me forever, baby. One of these days, you’re gonna give it up. And you’ll be happy you did.”
Harley pointed at me. I lifted the flag. Sid flashed his lights and revved his engine hard.
“Wait for me after the race, sexy!”
I swept my arm down, painting a red arc through the air with the flag. As soon as it dropped, the cars launched forward from their starting points. Sid’s tires squealed on the wet asphalt, and his car shot forward. Mason was right on his bumper as they blew past me.
I spun with them as the last cars crossed the line and watched the taillights as they tore down the street and under the overpass.
Once the cars were out of sight, the anxious conversations started in the crowd. Everyone was talking about who might win, and I heard Mason’s name on many lips as I hopped over the barrier to meet up with Ginny and Rick.
Rick draped an arm over each of our shoulders. “Now the fun part. We wait.”
“I hate this part,” I grumbled.
He playfully nudged my chin with his knuckles. “I was being sarcastic. We all hate this fucking part. I feel like my balls are in a vise.”
I arched an eyebrow.
Rick looked out down the street. The cars were long gone. “My brother is out on the track with fucking Sid Paul. And where Sid Paul is, Mark Denning is sure to be. It’s hard not to be… worried.”
I bit my bottom lip and followed his eyes to look down the street. “Mason will be fine,” I said, sounding a tad bit more confident than I felt. “He’s a better driver than both of them. You watch. He’ll cross that line first.”
MasonMy teeth were clenched, and I was white-knuckling the steering wheel when we took the first corner after we went beneath the overpass. I’d been a tad bit trigger happy watching Laina, and as soon as that flag went down, I was ready. The damn car in front of me had held me up a quarter of a second. He was weaving across the road and leading the pack, being an ass and not letting any of us past him. I guess that was the name of the game. But I was itching to get around him to really see how this car of mine could perform. I knew there was a hell of a lot of power in her than what I was currently riding her at, and the only way I could let her fly was to get out in front. The car in front was a yellow Mitsubishi Lancer. A typical ride for this scene. The paint was broken up by a royal blue stripe from the front of the hood down to the rear bumper. As it swerved from left to right, another car pulled up beside me. A red Nissan. Low to the ground w
Mason Sid swerved all over the place to block me. He took the last corner tight, forcing me to the outside. I lost more ground on him. We straightened out to take the final straightaway. The finish line was a speck in the distance. I had about a mile and a half to catch him and take the lead. “Come on,” I yelled, slamming my hand on the steering wheel. “Come on!” I came up on his right side. It was my best chance. I had a bit more space as we barreled toward the finish line. I drove hard and opened the Mustang up all the way. The engine roared. Everything thrummed with power. She crept ahead, inch by inch, until my front end was in line with Sid’s. He jerked his car to the right. I retreated and anticipated his next move. He would do anything to guarantee his win, and there was still plenty of time for me to pass him. I knew he’d try again, and I’d be ready. I rode in his blind spot an
LainaI licked the rain from my lips as I looked back and forth between the two men who were staring each other down. I felt like I was on the brink of seeing something I could never unsee. I wasn’t sure if I should be curious or frightened. Ginny had her left shoulder pressed tightly against my right. She was shivering a bit from the cold and looked from Mason to me before muttering, “Isn’t that the guy you told me to stay away from?” I nodded. “Yeah. Sid Paul. He’s not a good guy.” Sid took a couple of steps forward, moving from the rear end of the Mustang to stop at the driver’s side door. Mason stood at the front of the car with his arms crossed over his chest. He looked like the last person I would want to pick a fight with. But Sid was crazy. Always had been. And he had Mark Denning at his right side, hovering over his shoulder like any respectable villain’s henchman. Had I not known how mean Sid really was, I might have found the whole thing
Laina The tension in the crowd evaporated, and soon they all dispersed, going their own ways and talking about the excitement of the race. We were left standing near Mason’s car with hammering hearts and goose bumps rising to attention on our wet skin. Benji finally released my arm. I ran my fingers through my hair and shook it out as Ginny deflated like a balloon beside me. “That was tense,” she breathed. “Tell me about it,” I said grimly. Mason looked over at me. “You all right, Laina?” “Me?” He nodded. I blushed and tried to look like the tough girl in the crowd. The girl who didn’t get her feathers ruffled by a guy like Sid. “Yeah. I’m fine. I can handle a loser like Sid Paul in my sleep.” Mason smiled, but I wasn’t sure if he bought it or not. His jaw flexed as Rick threw an arm over his shoulder. “I thought fists were going to fly.” “For a minute, so did I,” Ma
MasonTaps was a pub not far from the docks that my old racing team and I used to frequent back in the day. It was in an old rundown apartment that had been converted into an office building, and the pub consumed the entire bottom level. It also had a set of stairs right in the middle of the place leading down into a basement that was riddled with high tables and chairs. The walls were the original brick from nearly a hundred years ago, and although it smelled a bit musky down there, it was a perfect place to sit and have a couple of beers. It was open late on weekends, so when we showed up, we knew we still had a good few hours left before we’d have to clear out. We went straight downstairs because that’s where the dance floor was, and the girls found us a table while Benji, Rick, and I went to the bar and ordered drinks. I paid the tab and ordered everyone two shots of tequila along with some drinks packed with liquor sure to get us feeling good in no time. It was a cele
Mason I left the table and went back up to the bar to order us another round of drinks. I bought some shots that weren’t tequila so Ginny could partake and returned with a tray of liquor. I passed them around and caught Laina smiling at me. I winked at her. She scooped up a dark purple shot and smelled it. She seemed to approve because she held onto it as everyone else claimed their drinks. I offered my brother some, but he shook his head. He would stay sober. One of us had to get the Mustang home, and he told me I deserved the celebration. I accepted his offer, and like we were all goofy teenagers, we tossed back two or three shots each, washed them down with a beer, and let our drunken stupors take hold. The music doubled in loudness, and Laina danced in her seat. Ginny leaned into Rick, who was watching her with amusement as she told him a nearly incoherent story about something that happened to her earlier in the week. She was laying
LainaMason and I finally spilled out onto the sidewalk. I was dizzy with lust and feeling good from the booze. Light. Free. Mason cut to the curb and threw his hand in the air to flag down the first cab that drove by. Unfortunately, it was full, and we ended up having to walk a couple blocks down the street to get away from the pub district. There were too many people also in need of cabs at this hour, and both of us were itching to get somewhere private. We made our way down a less busy street, and I leaned against the side of a shop front as Mason looked both ways, watching for a cab. He glanced over his shoulder at me as I ran both hands through my hair. I paused, catching the way he was eyeing the lines of my body, and stood there with my fingers in my hair and my shoulder blades pressed to the shop at my back. He licked his lips and turned from the road to come to me. I stayed where I was, my breath catching in my throat when he pl
Laina The curtains were open on the north wall. The moon and stars peeked through the clouds as he tossed me onto his bed. The sheets were navy blue and gray and silky. They felt good on my skin as he pushed me onto my back and lifted my right leg. Then, slowly and gently, he pulled off my boot and tossed it over his shoulder. I propped up on my elbows and watched as he did the same with the other boot. Then he pulled his T-shirt over his head, and I nearly had an orgasm right then and there. “Wow,” I breathed. I hadn’t meant to say it aloud. It just sort of slipped out. His tattoos were swirling works of black and gray art that covered his arms and torso. Muscles rippled beneath the ink, shifting beneath his tanned, taut skin as he reached for the zipper at the front of my pants. He drew the zipper down. It hummed softly as if thanking him for finally undoing my pants. I lifted my ass off the bed as he began pull