Blaze (Drive Me Wild 3)

“Lucy.”

“Yeah. Her.”

“We broke up,” he stated simply then looked away.

“I know. You said that already, but why?”

He shrugged.

“Blake? I’m serious. What happened?”

“I answered you. I don’t know. She was supposed to come with me to the cabin but started some whiny bullshit last night about not wanting to be stuck in a car for twelve hours. She said some things, I said some things back, and then she hung up on me. I still went to pick her up this morning, but she didn’t answer the door or her phone, so I left.”

“Oh, I’m sorry it didn’t work out,” I offered halfheartedly because it seemed like the right thing to say, but inside, I was jumping for joy. No witch-faced girl would ever be good enough for my Blakey.

Chapter Five

When the waitress brought our food, Blake immediately grabbed the offending pickle from my plate and took a bite while I slid the bottle of ketchup in his direction. We just knew each other that well.

“So, at that point, I was probably going at least one hundred miles per hour . . .”

“A hundred!” I gasped and put my hands to my cheeks. Blake was telling a story of a recent street race in Charleston.

“Psh, that was nothing.” He waved a hand and took another gulp of his soda. “The highway was pretty empty except for a couple of cars in the right lane. The Nissan moved into the left lane, and I took the middle lane. We both took off solid. This guy’s car was fast as fuck, but I’d also upgraded some parts on the Nova.” He went into complete gear-head mode and began to spew a lot of numbers, something about horsepower, and a bunch of other car things I really had no clue about. Judging by his enthusiasm, he considered it something to be proud of.

“Somehow, I shot past him, and I could see his headlights in my rearview mirror. Just as we were coming up to the mile marker we’d agreed upon, a cop appeared out of nowhere. He spotted me and turned on his lights. The Nissan was still on my tail, and I was hoping that he slowed down for the cop so I could get away, but no. The fuckin’ guy kept going. I bet he was hoping I would slow down first so he could escape.”

“Wait, you were running from the cops, Blake?” My eyes must have been bugging out of my head as I pictured the scenario: an almost empty stretch of highway after midnight with two cars traveling a hundred miles an hour with a cop’s flashing lights in hot pursuit.

“Damn right I ran. I was already fucked. I couldn’t afford any more points on my license. The Nova would be impounded, and my ass would be in jail for sure.” The look in his eyes was something I’d never seen before. It was the look of a man with racing in his blood. The rush seemed to outweigh the danger.

“I tried as best I could to get away from the Nissan, but the cop was on us like stink on shit. I couldn’t shake him, and traffic was picking up ahead as we got closer to the city. My heart was beating out of my chest when I decided that things had gone too far. About to give up, I cut to the far-right lane just as an eighteen-wheeler was coming up the on ramp. I passed in front of it and slowed as I hit the exit. The truck must have blocked the way because the cop’s lights flew past and followed the Nissan that was still on the highway. I couldn’t fuckin’ believe it.” Blake slammed a hand down on the table excitedly.

“What? Oh my God! The cop didn’t come after you?”

“No, but I thought for sure he would, so I pulled into a busy night club parking lot and killed the lights. I hid out for an hour before I snuck out with the bar crowd. When I got to my place, I expected the cops to be waiting. I had no idea if he’d gotten my plate information but nobody was there. That shit bothered me for a week, though. I didn’t even drive the Nova. I ended up bumming rides from a couple of my buddies. The whole thing had me shook. It was so dumb. I will never do that again.” His intermittent chuckles as he told the last part of the story grew so contagious that I found myself belly laughing along with him.

“That is insane, Blake. I mean, wow.” I wiped tears from my eyes.

“Tell me about it.”

His entire face was bright red from laughter. I loved to see him so lighthearted, and in my opinion, it was when he looked the best—unguarded and authentic. It was what drew me to him when I was twelve. The cute boy who was sitting at the back of the almost empty school bus, occasionally grinning at something he was reading. Every day, I tried to find the closest seat I could without actually sitting next to him because, God, how embarrassing would it be to sit in the same seat as him? Still, I wanted to know what he was reading and why it made him smile. Then one day he lifted his head and directed that same smile at me. I had no idea what I had done to receive such a gift, but that was it. He’d hooked me.

My first crush.

After we’d finished eating, I made a quick trip to the restroom, and when I returned, I overheard the waitress speaking to Blake.

“Does your girlfriend want a box for her leftovers?” I fully expected Blake to correct her but he didn’t.

“Yes. I’m sure she’ll want to take that with her. Thanks.” The waitress nodded, set the check down, and then stepped away. When I sat back down at the table, Blake smiled at me as he reached for his wallet. I eyed him suspiciously, wondering why he didn’t tell the waitress that I was his sister. The dimple on his cheek became visible as he pursed his lips together while counting the cash in his hand. I’d always loved that dimple.

“You ready to go?” he asked as he stood, snapping me out of La La Land.

“Uh, yeah.” I nodded and slid out of the booth, falling in step beside him as we exited the restaurant. The ground outside was completely covered with snow with a good two inches covering all the cars parked along the street, and it was impossible to see the sidewalk.

When I took a step forward, my foot slid from under me and I grabbed on to Blake’s arm to keep my balance. Instantly, he was there to catch me, and I took advantage of his solid frame to steady myself.

“Careful,” Blake said as he firmly grabbed me around the waist. “Yeah, those boots might be fashionable but not useful in actual snow.” He chuckled.