Renegade Path

We stepped out and I glanced around. Music thumped from the direction of the racetrack.

“Snazzy Buick!” someone called out.

I turned my head and my eyes landed on a happier-than-the-last-time-I’d-seen-him Griff loping across the pavement. He’d let his hair grow since he’d been out. It kept flopping into his eyes and he impatiently pushed it back.

“Fuck!” He slammed into me, hugging me so tight, my ribs creaked. “It’s so good to see you outside in the sunshine, brother!”

I squeezed him back. “You look good.”

He pulled away, keeping his hands on my shoulders. “Same. Freedom agrees with you.”

Wide-eyed and tentative, Juliet came up beside me. I pulled her closer. “Juliet, this is Griff. He was one of my roommates at the Castle.”

“Oh damn!” Griff whistled. “You are pretty. I always figured Roman was exaggerating.” He held out his hand and, laughing, she took it for a quick shake.

“Roman always says you saved his butt.” Her gaze skipped my way and back to Griff. “I always hoped he was exaggerating.”

“Eh, I showed him a thing or two,” he answered with easy evasiveness.

“Where’s Eraser at?” I wanted to move away from this topic.

Griff waved toward the track. “Trash-talkin’ himself into a race, probably.”

We followed him through an unmanned entrance gate right up to a high white, wooden wall that kept the stands separate from the track. Griff stopped and waved for Eraser to join us.

“Wow, it’s so much bigger than I expected it to be.” Juliet turned and took in the racetrack with wide-eyed appreciation.

“That’s what all the ladies say.” Griff tipped his head and gave his version of a humble shrug.

I glared at him.

“Oh, you meant the racetrack.” Griff let loose with a devilish grin. “Yeah, that’s big too.”

“Hilarious,” Juliet deadpanned.

“Ooo.” Griff pointed at Juliet. “I like her.”

A dark-haired guy slightly taller and maybe a little older came up behind Griff and bear-hugged him, lifting him off the ground.

“Motherfucker!” Griff shouted. “Get off me, Remy.”

Remy bounced his buddy in the air a few times before setting him down.

“Psycho,” Griff groused, brushing off his shirt. He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “This is that asshole I told you about, my brother from another mother, Remy.”

“You’ve gotta be Roman.” Remy stuck out his hand. The dimples in his cheeks disappeared. “Thanks for lookin’ out for my boy.”

“He’s the one who looked out for me,” I corrected, shaking his hand.

“Griff said you’re a natural fighter.”

I shrugged off the compliment. My time in the ring wasn’t something I was proud of. Nor was it something I wanted to discuss in front of Juliet.

Eraser joined us with two other guys at his side. “So glad you two could make it.” He leaned in and gave me a quick hug, then embraced Juliet.

She smiled widely. “Thanks for inviting us. This place is amazing.”

Eraser nodded and slowly looked around. “Needs a lot of work. But we’ll get it back to what it used to be.” He turned and slapped the guy on his right. “This is my cousin Torch,” Eraser introduced.

I leaned in and shook his hand. Did he get that nickname for the shock of bright orange-ish hair growing straight up on his head, or some other reason? “Hey.”

“And my buddy Spoons.” Eraser pointed to a guy sporting an Elvis-worthy jet-black pompadour and an arm covered in a full sleeve of tattoos.

I wanted to ask if Ella was here too, but if she wasn’t, it was probably a sore topic and I didn’t want to bum Eraser out today.

After all the introductions, Eraser walked us over to a glossy-white Chevy Camaro with black rims. I wasn’t as well-versed in cars as he was, but he explained what we were looking at without making us feel dumb.

“It’s a ’68. Custom paint. My uncle dropped a small-block V8 in it last summer. Runs like a dream.”

“It’s incredible,” Juliet said, peering inside at the black leather interior. “But it doesn’t look that old.”

Eraser’s mouth twitched. “He updated it with all modern equipment. Not another vehicle like it out there.”

I might not know as much about cars as these guys did but that must’ve cost a fortune.

He walked us toward a row of vehicles, explaining different things about each one. I squeezed Juliet closer. “Sorry if this is boring.”

“Not at all.” She beamed. “I never knew you could do so much with old cars. They’re really beautiful.”

“See one you like?” Eraser asked.

“Honestly, that Mustang we parked next to was really neat,” she answered quickly.

Spoons patted his hand against his chest. “Girl after my own heart. That’s my ride.”

“Careful, Roman,” Griff teased. “She’s going to get the bug and you’ll spend your weekends combing junkyards searching for parts and panels with the rest of us.”

“Roman can fix anything,” Juliet said. “So, I bet he’d be good at it.”

“Easy, butterfly.” I loved that she had so much faith in me but I knew I wasn’t near this level of competence. “Tinkering with lawn mower engines isn’t the same as restoring a car.”