“No one is getting anything from me, Christian. Relax.”
“I can’t relax when you look like that.”
Eric glanced down at me and gave me his famous bad-boy grin. “You look pretty good for a fake date.”
I rolled my eyes. “Shut up.” Then I paused, feeling bad. “But thanks. So do you.”
A deep chuckle tumbled from his mouth, breaking the ice, and before I knew it, we were all posing and smiling for Ann and her one thousand photos.
Once we said our goodbyes and Hayley climbed into Christian’s Charger, I climbed into Eric’s Range Rover, and we were all on our way to the formal.
My leg bounced the entire time, and I was certain the dark nail polish Hayley painted onto my nails was chipped from my incessant chewing.
Eric’s palm gently landed on my bare thigh as we stopped at a red light. “Piper. You’re shaking my entire fucking car.”
I stopped my leg, staring down at his splayed-out hand. “Oh. Sorry.”
“Alright, spill,” he demanded as he removed his hand and pressed the gas.
I inhaled a deep breath. “This feels wrong, Eric.”
He glanced at me for a moment. “What does?”
“Going to a stupid dance when Ollie is missing out because he’s racing for something my brother did.”
He shook his head, his dark hair unmoving on his head. “Not happening.”
My bare shoulders fell with disappointment. I played stupid. “What?”
“You are not talking me into driving you to the races. Ollie has it handled.”
I looked out the window at the blurring cars. “It still doesn’t feel right. I should be there.”
“For what? For every scumbag to check you out and for Ollie to feel stressed about you being on the sidelines alone?” He clicked his tongue. “That’ll just fuck him up, Piper. Leave it be.”
I ignored Eric and crossed my arms over my chest, still staring out the window. Ollie might have felt uneasy if I were on the sidelines alone, but what about me? I felt uneasy knowing he was there alone, too.
Didn’t he understand that I was worried about him? Didn’t anyone understand that? This was exactly why I didn’t want him involved in the first place. It was just one more person I had to worry about, because whether I liked it or not, I cared about Ollie.
And I should have been there. I should have been there for him, just like he’d been there for me.
One way or another, I’d get to the races tonight. I just had to figure out a way.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Ollie
I wasn’t nervous to race tonight. In fact, I was as relaxed as ever. Piper wasn’t here; she was safe with Eric. And also, I didn’t even have to try to win tonight. I had to race to lose. Fun. Sure, it kind of sucked for my street cred, but soon, I’d be done racing, and it wouldn’t even matter.
Tank was standing a few hundred feet away with his arm draped heavily over his girlfriend’s shoulders, and for a moment, I envisioned myself running his body over with my car. Jason was standing right beside him, being the good little pet that he was, and I hoped to God he’d keep his word until next weekend when shit hit the fan.
My fingers flexed over the steering wheel as I waited for my turn. I was racing a guy named Jaxon tonight, and if Tank hadn’t asked me to throw the race—so he’d make more money, of course—I’d easily beat him. My car was faster; I could tell just by listening to his idle. Mostly everyone was betting on me to win, except for this douchebag’s friends and girlfriend, but since I was throwing the race per Tank’s request, and he was betting against me, he was about to make fucking bank.
Part of me wanted to be defiant and win anyway, because what a fucking cheat. But in order to keep my cards aligned to make sure things went the way I needed them to down the road, I had to stay on his good side. Being on Tank’s good side meant he was on my good side. Our relationship was mutual at this point, at least in his eyes, and he wanted nothing more than to keep it that way, because he thought I was going to continue racing for him well after Jason’s debt was paid off.
Little did he know, I had no intention of doing that. Tank was someone that needed to be knocked down a few notches, and I would gladly be the one to do so.
I checked my phone for the hundredth time, wishing more than anything I was the one being tagged in photos on social media at the winter formal. Not because I wanted to go, but because I knew Piper was there without me.