Adrenaline pricks at my insides, I glance at Dino. “Did you know Razor would be here?”
He nods. “He’s always here.”
“And we’re here to do what exactly?”
“What do you think?” Dino smirks. “To fucking race.”
The slow crawl Dino has down to a T, heightens the effect of our approach. Jude’s poncey number plate—JUD 3 must be a dead giveaway because Razor’s whole body tenses as we cruise in, eyes wild with hate.
Until Dino rolls the window down.
Razor’s eyes rove over Jude’s car as he approaches. “I’d ask you if this was your grandmother’s car, but I know Marques’ piece of shit when I see it.” We’re surrounded by tuned up cars complete with all kinds of garish bodywork. Jude’s Aston Martin is woefully under-powered and unembellished.
Dino cocks his head, a knowing smile curving his lips up as he stares Razor down. “Then you won’t mind me slipping in your next race.”
“You’ve got some nerve, coming here after the stunt you pulled with Tyler.”
“He’s alive isn’t he?” I say.
Razor’s gaze flits to me. “Who the fuck are you?”
“Speak to her like that again, and I’ll gut you where you stand,” says Dino, keeping his voice level and his face neutral. His dimple is back, so he can’t be that chill. “Now are we racing, or are you afraid I’ll beat you in this piece of shit car?”
It’s the right thing to say because Razor considers that for a moment. “You think a race will solve all your problems, Dino?” He says Dino’s name completely wrong, pronouncing it Dy-no.
“It’s pronounced Dee-no. Dean with an O at the end. And no I don’t think that, but I know you respect my family too much to take offence so easily,” Dino says, cocking his head. “Tyler was the one who pulled a knife on me. He got what he fucking deserved.”
Razor’s eyes blaze. The threat is unspoken, but it’s there. “Alright Dee-no, let’s fucking race. And while we’re at it, why don’t we make it interesting?”
“I’m listening,” says Dino.
Razor licks his lips. “If I win, I get to keep your shit heap car AND I get your girlfriend here for a night.”
Dino’s jaw tightens, he glances my way, noting I haven’t told anyone to fuck off, and then brings his attention back at Razor. “And if I win, the deal stands.”
Razor laughs. “Sure. I’ll bite. That heap of junk won’t even make it to the end of the road.”
As he walks away, I give Dino a look. “Did you mean to do that?”
Dino smirks. “Razor likes to gamble. He also doesn’t want to lose face. He never races just for the money anymore.”
“Why?”
“Because he never loses.”
I raise a brow. I know a hook when I see one being cast out far and wide. “Has he ever lost to you?”
“Occasionally.” The look he gives me is pure mirth. He’s enjoying this.
“Jude know you’re making a deal using his car?”
“He doesn’t even know I have it.”
It doesn’t take long for the next race to get organised, despite there still being traffic on the roads. There are five cars in total including ours. There’s a lot of jeering and noise. Boys in the lineup rev their engines. Girls scream and shout obscenities at their boyfriends’ rivals.
We line up next to Razor’s Lancer on the far end as he sits unmoving behind the wheel. Unlike the rest of the boy racers, he’s completely calm and collected. As he looks left, he licks his lips, his tongue piercing flashing as he eye fucks me through the window.
He’s attractive, in a rough and ready kind of way. But I have more than enough on my plate with three.