“Where is Jared?” Suddenly uneasy at the thought of him racing Roman, I scanned the crowd for his wispy brown hair.
“Up with Madoc, giving him a talk.” K.C. gulped down her beer, and by the way she rocked her feet, I could tell she was restless.
“I’m sure Madoc won’t do anything stupid. He won’t want to mess up his car. Liam will be fine,” I assured.
“I couldn’t care less.” Her eyes looked anywhere but at me.
Yeah, right.
Startled by the thundering roar of an engine, I jerked my head towards the starting line and stood on my tip toes to peer through a gap in the crowd. Jared was leaning on Madoc’s doorframe, talking to the concealed driver. His hair fell in his eyes, and an easy grin spread across his lips. The way his face lifted with the radiant smile…
Oh, someone was playing the steel drums on my stomach.
I hated myself for going gooey at the knees. It was unacceptable to be affected by Jared, of all people. I was here with Ben, and he was very good looking, too, I told myself.
“Hey,” Ben walked back up and put an arm around me. His body next to mine warmed me, and he smelled like cologne.
I almost begged for the flutters or whatever to take root in my stomach, but they never came. Having him close or having his eyes on me just didn’t affect me like it should.
Damn.
“Hey,” I replied. “Should we move to get a better view?”
“You’re really into this, aren’t you?” Ben looked down at me, an amused expression playing on his face.
“Cars? Hot chicks? Yeah.” I narrowed my eyebrows in a “duh” expression.
“Come this way.” K.C. motioned to the right. “Jared’s parked right off the track. We can watch from over there.”
She was here with Jared. I’d almost forgotten. Of course she’d want to watch the action with him.
And why not? I was over our bullshit, and if he could ignore me for the past two days, then I could do the same.
We fought our way through the crowd as everyone took their viewing positions. Jared was already leaning on the hood of his mean, black car. With one leg propped up on the bumper, he fiddled with something in his hand. His black button down was open to reveal a white t-shirt, and he and the car both looked angry.
“Hi, ya.” K.C. strolled up to him and leaned in.
“Hi, yourself.” He gave her a closed mouth smile, before looking to me. His smile faded before his eyes narrowed on Ben.
“Hey, man.” Ben greeted Jared.
“Hey, how’s it going?” Jared asked pleasantly but looked away too soon.
Ben must’ve realized the rhetorical question, because he didn’t answer.
I stood there, trying to seem disinterested, as I looked anywhere but at Jared. Breaking out in a sweat as the images of us wrapped around each other the other night flashed through my head, I fanned myself slightly with the lapel of my jacket. The awkward vibe in the air made me contemplate who needed to be deleted from this equation to make it more comfortable: Jared, K.C., Ben, or me.
K.C. broke the silence. “And Jared, this is Tatum Brandt. Say ‘hi,’” she joked as Jared slid an arm around her waist. My breathing hitched.
He glanced over at me through hooded eyes, and took in my outfit, only jerking his chin at me before returning his focus to the starting line.
I rolled my eyes and turned toward the action.
“And we’re ready!” A young guy I assumed was the Race Master called out for people to clear the track. My eyes darted to all of the money changing hands as people placed their bets.
The roar of the engines vibrated under my feet and sent shivers up my legs. My toes curled. Damn, I wish I was racing. I hated being a spectator, but I still fidgeted with anticipation.
A girl in a short plaid skirt and tiny red camisole took position in front of the cars and raised her hands in the air.
“Ready?” she called out.
The engines revved, sending shouts of enthusiasm through the crowd.
“Set?” She raised her arms higher.
“Go!”
I jerked up to my tiptoes again to see the peel of the tires kicking up dust as they struggled to get going. I bobbed up and down a little with the excitement, and I couldn’t contain my ear to ear smile. The cars shot past, sending a gust of wind in my face and a thunderous pounding in my chest.
“Shit!” I heard behind me and turned to see K.C. wiping her shirt.
“I spilled beer,” she mumbled.
I saw Jared a few feet behind her, still leaning on his car, not even watching the race. His focus was entirely on me, something familiar in his expression. In that moment, the race, Ben, and K.C. didn’t even exist.
A tiny moan barely made it out of my throat as my heart sped up and my stomach flip-flopped.
He was giving me the same look I got Wednesday night right before he kissed me, and I knew I hadn’t imagined anything. It was anger and desire mixed together to make something hot enough for my knees to go weak. From the way he’d been ignoring me yesterday and today, barely sparing me eye contact, I had begun to wonder if it’d all been a wet dream on my part.
But, nope.
Taking a deep breath and tearing my eyes away, I tore off my jacket and tossed it to K.C. “Put this on.”
“Thanks.” She held the cup in one hand and slipped on the jacket with the other.
Sparing Jared another glance, I noticed that his chest rose and fell hard as his eyes spit fire. The desire was gone. His gaze was on Ben now, who I realized had also been looking at me but turned away as if he’d been caught eyeballing something he shouldn’t have.
Again, I immediately wanted to cover myself.
I was here for the race. I reminded myself and turned back to the track.
Madoc and Liam were never head to head. Either Madoc was drastically behind Liam, or Liam was a ridiculous distance behind Madoc. After a minute, the crowd started laughing when they realized that Madoc was just toying with his opponent. No wonder Jared wasn’t watching. He knew it would be an easy win. Not that Liam’s Camaro wasn’t worthy, but Madoc was more experienced and had done a hell of a lot of work to his car.
On the last turn, Madoc surged ahead one last time and crossed the finish line to the sounds of cheers and whistles. People rushed his car, and Madoc emerged with an idiotic grin on his smug face. Some girl grabbed his gray t-shirt and stuck her tongue in his mouth. Eww.
Liam slowly climbed out of his car and immediately looked to K.C. who, I noticed, was blatantly wrapped around Jared again. My leg spasmed with an urge to kick something when I saw him bury his head in her neck. She giggled with pleasure, obviously for show.
“Jared’s up next.” Ben rubbed his jaw. “Roman’s awesome. I hope I didn’t bet on the wrong guy.”
I honestly didn’t know who I would bet on if I cared to place money on either dickhead.
“Everyone clear the road!”
I jumped.
The Race Master was starting the next event. “Trent and Roman, get your asses on the starting line.”
And suddenly I was nervous about this match up.
Chapter 21
Ben and I parted with the crowd so Jared could pull his car out. K.C. came up to stand beside us, but for some reason, I couldn’t look at her.
As Jared climbed in and started his engine, the girls around us started jumping and squealing. Papa Roach blared at a deafening level from his speakers. He revved the engine a few times to get the crowd going, a playful grin on his lips.
The Boss 302 pulled up onto the track, and I realized I almost felt like leaving. Jared and I had dreamed about being here together to race, and now I was on the outside looking in. He was living this without me, and I hated that I was being left out.
Roman had just pulled up in his Pontiac Trans Am. Even though his 2002 car was considered ancient compared to Jared’s, it stood an outstanding chance of winning. The amount of work and options Roman had added to his vehicle made it a formidable machine. Unfortunately, Derek Roman didn’t rely simply on his skills as a mechanic to win. There had been many injuries out here when he’d raced in high school.
“All right!” the Race Master announced. “Clear the track for the main event of the evening.”
According to K.C., the Loop only has a few races per week during the school year as the college kids had gone back to school, so this was a light night with only two races.
Jared’s music filled the air, and I saw him take something from his hand to hang it on the rearview mirror. I couldn’t make out what it was, only that it was bulky and looked like a necklace.
The same girl who set off Madoc and Liam came to stand in front of the cars, shaking her ass as she walked in front of their headlights.
The smell of fuel and tires permeated the air, while the engines’ rumble coursed through my legs. Jared stared ahead, wearing a stone face, waiting for the call.
“Ready?” Little Miss Look-At-Me called.
“Set?” The engines roared.
“Go!” Her arms fell hard to her sides, and the cars zoomed past her, kicking up dust and rocks in their wake. I darted onto the track with the flood of people to watch from behind, more afraid than excited this time.
As much as I hated to admit it, I was worried. Roman would do something shady and hurt Jared. Even after everything, I didn’t want to see him hurt.
The cars’ taillights got smaller the closer they reached the first turn. It was four lefts, and the race would be over. The turns were sharp, and this is where a drift racer might be better for the Loop. The track was small, these cars were big, and the turns were hell. For this reason, no cars were allowed to park on the perimeter of the turns.
Jared took the gentleman’s route by slowing down to make the turn after Roman, while the latter plowed ahead. Roman would either win or kill them both. Both cars skidded around the turn, sending a cloud of dust into the air, much to the delight of the onlookers who screamed relentlessly. Forging ahead, Jared caught up to Roman and they proceeded head to head.
Come on, come on. I clasped my palms together to my chest, fingers entwined so tight that my skin felt stretched. I rotated my body to follow their progress, seeing Jared pull back patiently each time to let Roman take the turns first.
My heart pounded, and my stomach was felt tight from the nervousness.
Coming up on the last turn, Jared pulled back behind Roman, but he wasn’t slowing down. As Roman rounded the last corner, he skidded further to the edge while Jared took the inside. Both cars recovered and were neck to neck as they neared the finish line.
The crowd cleared the track in a mad rush, and watched as both engines thundered past. The cars were so close that I couldn’t figure out who’d won.
As both cars slowed to a stop, everyone rushed them in a clustered mess of pushing and yelling. No one seemed to know who’d won.
I twisted my neck around, searching for the Race Master guy. He appeared to be deliberating with a couple of other people, probably trying to come to a decision.
“So did you see who won?” K.C. asked, looking confused as we walked up to the cars.
“No. You?”
She shook her head.
“There you are!” Ben sidled up next to me and grabbed my hand. “I guess they’re not sure who won. Awesome race, huh?”