Mason
Showing up down at the docks would have repercussions. Everyone would know I was back. Mark Denning, Sid Paul, and Evelyn—people I wished I never had to see again. People I hated for what they had done to me. But I wasn’t a fool. I needed closure, and what better way to achieve that than to beat them at their own game?
Surely Mark and Sid thought they were a shoo-in for victors of The Streets this year. The other competitors might show them a good time, but nobody raced as dirty as the pair of them. They would do anything to win.
So would I.
“I’ll race,” I said.
Rick clapped his hands together with excitement. “Hell yeah! Glad I didn’t splurge on this green beast for nothing.”
“Are you racing?”
He shook his head. “Nope. I already qualified for The Streets and have a starting spot at the first race next weekend. I got in for free.” He winked.
“How’d you swing that?”
“I made a deal with Harley.”
“Which was?”
He laughed. “If I could get you to come back, she’d get me in for free.”
I rolled my eyes. “Of course. I should have known the two of you would be conspiring together on this one.”
“It’s for your own good, man.”
“Maybe.”
“Besides, why would I want to fork out my money when I know you’ll kick my ass out there? I’m gunning for second or third. First is yours.”
I smirked. “At least you know your place.”
“Yeah, fuck you, too, Mason. You smug bastard.”
I laughed and so did he, and then he went to the mini fridge in the corner of his garage and grabbed two beers. He tossed me a can, and I popped the tab and drank. “So what time do we have to be there tonight?”
“Race starts at midnight, but you have to be there by ten to register. You’ve been out of the game for a while, so Harley will need some extra time with you.”
Midnight. It seemed so far away. My stomach was already tight with nerves at the idea of being back in that world.
I missed the cars. I missed the roar of the engines and the smell of gas thick and heavy in the air. I missed the wet pavement, the burning tires, the elated screams of excitement as I passed the finish line.
I missed all of it and none of it all at once.
Evelyn had ruined me. She and I had done the whole race thing together. We’d met on the track, and she had me wrapped around her little finger within hours. She was unlike any woman I’d ever met, and I followed her around like a lost puppy dog, desperate to know anything and everything about her. She was a veterinarian. Her passion for animals and people was what drew me to her. She was warm and friendly and sweet, and when I discovered she knew her way around an engine, I was in love.
We dated for fourteen months before I proposed. She said yes, of course.
Our wedding was a small affair. Neither of us had much family left, so we got married at our house in the backyard in the middle of summer. She wore a white sundress that went down to the ground. I remember she had grass stains all on the hem of it by the end of the night. She didn’t care. She told me it would be wrinkled after we fucked in it anyway.
She was my girl. My everything.
And then, all of a sudden after a year of marriage, she wasn’t.
I was under no delusion that we were the perfect couple. We had our fair share of fights, and both of us were as stubborn as mules. It made for some epic shouting matches. She laid hands on me in fits of rage, and when I was forced to make her stop hitting me by holding her wrists, she’d get so turned on, we’d be fucking wherever the fight started. Kitchen. Living room. Backyard. It didn’t matter. The passion was insane.
I’d been foolish to believe it would be enough.
I remembered the day I went to Mark Denning’s house after thinking he’d kidnapped my wife. My rage had been uncontrollable. Benji and Rick were with me for backup. I’d had no idea how bad things were going to get. All I could think about was reaching my girl. Saving her. Sparing her from that monster.
When we arrived and the door opened and I found her standing there of her own free will, smiling at me in a way that made my insides squirm, everything fell apart. She told me she was through with me. Then she pointed a gun at my chest.
Thinking about how it all went down still made my head spin.
“Hey, Mason?”
I looked up at my brother. He was leaning against his workbench on the far side of the garage. His beer was in one hand as he braced himself against the bench with the other.
“What?” I asked.
“Do you think Evelyn will be there?”
Clearly, he’d been lost in thought over the same things. That day had been hellish for him too. He’d nearly died after all.
I sighed and drained the rest of my beer. “Who fucking knows?”
“What will you do if she is?”
I looked him in the eye. “Not a damn fucking thing. I’m going to win. That will be enough.”
LainaI flipped the visor down and used the little mirror to line and fill in my lips with my favorite shade of red. Benji, my older brother, was in the driver’s seat drumming his fingers on the steering wheel to the beat of the rock song playing through the speakers. His head bobbed to the beat as his dark green eyes scanned the intersection as he waited for our light to change. My best friend Ginny Brown was in the back seat of his supercharged coupe. She glanced at me in the mirror and gave me a wide smile. “You look excited, Gin,” I said as I screwed the cap back onto my lip color. She nodded eagerly and then disappeared from my view as I flipped the visor back up. I twisted around in my seat to face her. “I am excited. I haven’t been to one of these races in months. Maybe even a year. Thank you for inviting me tonight.” “Of course,” I said before knuckling Benji’s upper arm. “Benji and I are happy to have you a
Laina When people told me stories about Mason, I always thought they were lying or exaggerating. I knew stories of fights he’d been in and the damage he’d inflicted on other men. I knew scary people who were afraid of him. I realized how wrong I’d been when I saw him angry and drunk those times after Evelyn had left him. It was enough to fill me with nauseating fear. Benji and Rick had both had to hold him down once when he went off. None of them knew what triggered it, but we were out having a couple of drinks when he tried to start a fight with a bunch of bikers who looked like the sort who would wipe the pavement with him. Mason didn’t care. He wanted the pain. If not for Benji and Rick, that night would have gone very, very badly. They managed to subdue Mason and get him out of the bar. Then, naturally, Mason wanted to fight them. And he did. It was bloody and terrible and one of the worst memories I had. But I still trusted him.
Mason“Holy fuck,” I murmured as Rick drove us beneath the overpass and to the clearing where all the drivers and members of the underground scene were gathered. There was a shit ton of people. At least two hundred and fifty. This was way bigger than what I’d expected, and a bit of anxiety started chewing at my insides. Rick slowed to a crawl as we drove through the swarm of bodies. People got out of our way for the most part, and I was glad the Fastback had blacked-out windows. I wasn’t sure I wanted to be recognized yet. Eyes were drawn to the green car like moths to a flame. People stopped and pointed, and Rick revved the engine a bit. “Knock that shit off,” I said. “What? I’m just giving them a show.” “I don’t want to tip anyone off as to what’s under our hood. Slow and steady.” Rick grumbled about how I was no fun at all, but I didn’t care. He found a spot to park and turned off the engine. He tos
Mason I cut through the crowd and drew eyes as I went. People were recognizing me and bowing their heads together in whispers they probably thought I couldn't hear. “Holy shit. Is that Mason Thomas?” “Who’s Mason Thomas?” “That’s the guy who won The Streets five years in a row. The one with the beef with Mark Denning.” “Hey, look. That’s Mason Thomas!” “He’s the one who married Evelyn Thomas.” “He’s the Street King.” I kept my attention straight ahead and ignored the attention. When I made it back to my car, Rick was there with another guy. They shook hands and bumped shoulders as I came around the hood. It was Benji, my best friend, and he threw an arm around my shoulders. “Mason! Shit, man, it’s good to see you. A little weird to be back, huh?” “A little bit,” I said, jabbing him in the ribs with my elbow to get him to release me. He grunted and rubbed
LainaThere was something about the way Mason looked at me that had me getting wetter by the second—and it wasn’t from the rain. His electric blue eyes lingered at my hips and tits and at the bare strip of skin between my crop top and leggings. I didn’t want to cover myself up. I wanted him to look. I was shocked by how much I wanted him to look. Had my brother not been there, I might have taken my jacket off and fallen into his arms and begged him to fuck me in the back seat of his car. The windows were tinted. It would be fine. Right? I shook my head. Get a grip, Laina. You’re not that kind of girl. You’re the kind of girl a man takes home to his family. The kind of girl who makes soup on Sundays and prefers jeans over dresses. But Mason was a whole other level of sexy. His blue eyes were just the start. He had sharp, square, masculine features and the beginnings of a five o’clock shadow forming along his jaw and neck. His
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.
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