Fuck.
What the hell am I supposed to do?
“Does he have his phone?”
Riley shakes his head, watching as he barrels this way, dust spitting up from beneath his tires. “Threw it out the window fifteen minutes ago.”
“Shit.”
Tanner gets closer and closer and if I don’t do something soon, he’ll be heading for another lap.
Time slows and pressure weighs down on me, squeezing my chest like never before, and without even a moment of thought, I throw myself onto the track, racing out, right in Tanner’s line of sight. “BRIELLE,” Riley hollers as I slip out and evade his grasp. “NOOO!”
My heart races as I stare down the Mustang speeding toward me, and I raise my chin in challenge, knowing he sees me perfectly well, but he doesn’t dare hit the brake. He thinks I’m going to move but I sure as hell didn’t get dragged out of bed at 3:30 in the morning with a broken rib just to fuck around here for hours, waiting for him to run out of gas.
If we’re doing this, then we’re doing it now.
Each passing second has my heart racing faster. My palms begin to sweat as my knees shake. I don’t take my eyes off the Mustang, knowing with each passing second I wait, the harder it’s going to be to spring out of the way, but I hold my ground. I am not backing down.
It’s a game of cat and mouse, the only question is, who is the cat and who is the mouse?
Tanner hits the final corner, drifting around it with ease and just like that, he’s coming right for me, his eyes piercing through the windshield and right through to my soul. He’s angry, tired, broken, and confused, and I’m not about to let him give up like this.
He’s getting close, too fucking close.
My heart thunders, my eyes widening with fear.
Even if I run, I won’t make it out of the way. I have to trust him. I have no choice.
He’s going to hit me, and I have to accept my fate.
A scream tears from the back of my throat and at the last possible second, Tanner slams his foot down on the brake, sending a wave of dirt flying up behind him. The tires screech and skid against the dirt as his car hurtles toward me and turns to the side. He struggles to stop, but I don’t fucking move, determination clouding my judgment.
I gasp for air, sucking it between my clenched jaw, and just as I expect the Mustang to take me out, it comes to a jarring stop, barely an inch between us.
“WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING?” Tanner roars, bailing out of the Mustang and storming toward me. “I COULD HAVE FUCKING KILLED YOU.”
Fury burns in his eyes, and I try to reach for him, but he pulls away from my touch. “I had no choice,” I tell him. “You’re racing around the track like a fucking idiot. You’re the one who’s going to get himself killed, Tanner. What the hell is wrong with you?”
“Me?” he spits as the boys race in, trying to grab him before he completely loses his mind. “You shouldn’t even be here. Why the fuck do you keep shoving your nose where it doesn’t belong?”
“Riley called me. They were worr—”
“Riley?” he scoffs, spinning around, his fist already in motion. He clocks his best friend in the face and I gasp, watching as Riley falls to the ground, taking it like a fucking pro. Logan and Jax grab his arms, holding him back as he focuses all his anger on his friend. “You had no fucking right to call her. She’s not my fucking girl. We’re not together. She’s just some bitch I fucked a few times. She means nothing to me.”
Pain blasts through my chest and I hold back tears, knowing he’s only saying this to hurt me. He’s out of control, emotional, and scared for his sister while probably imagining all the different ways he could slaughter Colby.
He didn’t mean it. If I meant nothing to him, he wouldn’t have come to me the night he beat Colby, and he sure as hell wouldn’t have cared for me the way he did last night. No, he wants to hurt me because he is terrified of letting me in, allowing me to see the monster hidden within him, and being vulnerable to what he feels for me. I can’t let his anger win.
I scoff, demanding his attention and doing whatever I have to do to keep him from lunging out with his fists and hurting his friends. “If that’s how you really feel, then at least have the balls to say it to my face.”
His eyes are wild, regret shining brightly, but he’s too far gone to pull himself up. He’s going to push and push until he loses everything, and if that’s what he needs to do to pull himself out of this reckless tornado, then that’s what I’m going to let him do, my heart be damned. If he has to shatter me just to feel something again, then I hope he makes it count and hits me right where it hurts.