“So, there’s no race?” Nate grunts with anger growing behind his eyes.
“No,” the kid confirms.
“I didn’t come all this fucking way not to race,” Nate booms. “You better figure something out, Aaron. I’m up next and there better be someone there beside me.”
Aaron looks down at his clipboard with shaky hands. “Well, um… the guy you were up against two weeks ago. Braedon. He wants a rematch. Thinks he can take you.”
Nate shakes his head. “No way. That fucker nearly ran me off the track. Find someone who knows how to control his car.”
“I’ll do it,” a smug familiar voice comes from beside me.
Nate, Aaron, and I turn towards the voice and my mouth practically falls open as a shiver goes through my body. Jackson Millington stands beside me with Phoenix curled under his arm, staring straight past me and locking his heavy glare on Nate’s in a challenge.
I shake my head as my hand tightens in Nate’s. “No,” I say, not trusting him for one minute.
“Ha,” Jackson laughs as he tears his eyes away from Nate’s and looks down at me. “What’s wrong? You scared. Don’t think your boy could beat me?”
“No,” I grunt as I step in front of Nate and glare up at Jackson. “That’s not it at all. He could beat you with his eyes closed, but you’re up to something. It’s as clear as fucking day.” I look down at Phoenix and see nothing but a knowing smirk, confirming what I already know.
Nate wraps an arm around me and pulls me back as he stares down Jackson. “You’re on,” he says before taking my hand and hauling me away.
“What do you think you’re doing?” I demand when he stops in the center of our group. “Are you insane?”
“I had no choice,” he yells back at me.
“What’s going on?” Jesse demands.
“Nate’s opponent bailed so he agreed to race Jackson instead.”
“What?” Puck and Jesse say in unison.
“Yeah,” I scoff. “Fucking stupid.”
“I had no choice,” he repeats, annoyed at having to explain himself. “If I say no, I forfeit and Jackson wins. He challenged me. My only option is to race.”
“I don’t like it,” I tell him.
“Neither do I,” he says.
“He’s up to something.”
“I know, but what was I supposed to do? Walk away with my tail between my legs like a fucking pussy? I’m sorry, but that’s not my style.”
The thought of Nate backing down to someone like Jackson doesn’t sit well with me. All my life I’ve known Nate to be larger than life. He’s always held the crown. He’s always been the fearless leader amongst mere mortals. Nate backing down to a challenge is simply unheard of. I let out a resigned sigh. “Just be careful, ok,” I tell him.
He pulls me in and presses a kiss to my forehead. “I will,” he tells me.
He looks up at Jesse and the two of them share some kind of unspoken message before he pulls away from me and gets behind the wheel of his black Camaro. I walk over to Jesse and stand beside him, watching as Nate drives down to the starting position.
“Nothing feels good about this,” I tell him.
“I know,” he says. “Jackson’s a good racer but he’s known for playing dirty.”
“Shit,” I grunt. This isn’t sitting well with me and nerves are bubbling up in my stomach. I could be sick watching his play out. “Tell me you’re not about to ask me to race with you?”
“No way in hell, babe. Not this time,” he tells me before driving off.
Nate pulls into his starting position and Jackson pulls up beside him. Every single person in the audience grows silent as they witness what’s sure to be the race of the year. Everyone here knows that what they’re about to see is a big fucking deal and not one person is willing to miss it.
People all around are madly typing out texts on their phone, wanting to share the year’s biggest gossip with all their friends. And this is before the race has even started. I’d like to see what happens when we finally have a winner.
I can’t help but look across to where Jackson’s car came from and find Phoenix smirking back at me. I narrow my eyes on her. The girl is nothing but an A-class bitch, only she plays innocent, especially around Nate and Jesse which really rubs me the wrong way. It’s almost like she’s hiding something, but she’s never placed herself on my radar enough for me to bother working her out. Though, if she’s hanging out with Jackson now, maybe I should try.
As if on cue, Jesse follows my gaze and locks eyes on Phoenix. His eyebrows pull down in confusion, especially when Phoenix’s stare moves from me to him, changing from a glare to a seductive lure, though, hopefully, Jesse knows better than to fall for this shit.