Burndown (Nitro Crew Book 1)

by Winter Travers

“Not even through your first week of work, and they’re working you too hard. I might have a talk with your boss, letting him know he needs to lay off you.”

  She laughed lightly. “I’d love to see you tell my boss that. I’m pretty sure if anyone would say that to him, he would laugh, flip them off, and then fire them. In that exact order.”

  “Sounds like a real hardass.”

  “Hardass is a pretty good description of my dad.”

  “Your dad?” I choked. Maybe I wouldn’t be having that talk with her boss. I didn’t need to get on his bad side.

  “Yes, my dad. Although you probably won’t ever meet him. He’s always out of town or has something more important to be doing.”

  “Sorry, baby.”

  She sighed. “That’s life, Remy. I learned to live with it a long time ago.”

  “What about your mom?”

  “She died a year ago.”

  Now that really sucked. “God damn, Har—”

  “Nope,” she cut me off. “I know you did not call me at midnight to talk about my dead mother.”

  “Well, no, I hadn’t, but we can talk about whatever you want.”

  “I think it’s only fair you know about my parents that I get to know about yours.”

  I laid my head back against the hauler and crossed my ankles. “They’re divorced.”

  “And,” she drawled.

  “And, my mom is crazy but awesome. She married a biker guy and lives back in Rockton. My dad moved when I went away to college. The last time I saw him was a couple of months ago. He’s a good guy, just pretty self-absorbed.”

  “I know all about self-absorbed parents,” she laughed. “I do have to say, knowing your mom is hooked up with a biker is intriguing.”

  “Intriguing?” Not sure what she meant by that. I had been around Lo and the club for close to ten years now. They were just like any other people I knew.

  I heard her smother a yawn, and the phone was muffled. “So she’s like an ol’ lady?”

  I couldn’t help but laugh at the words “ol’ lady” coming out of Harlyn’s mouth. “Yeah, baby. I guess that’s what she and all her friends call themselves.”

  “Your mom sounds super cool,” she mumbled sleepily.

  “More like crazy.”

  I heard her snore lightly into the phone. “What?” she gasped, waking up.

  I ran my fingers through my hair. “I’ll let you get back to sleep, baby. I just wanted to hear your voice.”

  “Hmm,” she hummed quietly.

  “Night, pretty girl.” I swiped my finger across the screen to end the call and clutched my phone in my hand. How the hell I missed someone I barely knew was beyond me. My head understood I barely knew Harlyn, but my… whatever the hell I was feeling didn’t care.

  I looked around the traveling city that was set up every weekend. At least thirty race teams were always here, from funny cars to drag bikes. Our top fuel car and hauler were smack dab in the middle of the seven rows of dragsters and haulers.

  This is what I had worked for for the past seven years. In and out of high performance garages to get the experience I needed to end up on the AC Cola circuit on the pit crew for a top fuel dragster.

  Life was pretty damn good for the most part. I still had Roc, who I didn’t get much respect from, but I knew I could turn that around. Hard work and showing I knew what I was doing was going to win him over.

  Add in Harlyn, who I wasn’t sure where things were headed with, but I had to assume they were headed somewhere good, and my life was damn good at the moment.

  Damn good.

  *

  Chapter 10

  Harlyn

  “Harlyn?”

  I tossed my arm over my eyes and laid back down. “Marion?”

  “Sorry to call so early, girl. I wanted to catch you before you head to work.”

  I cracked open an eye and glanced at my alarm clock on my nightstand. “It’s four-thirty, Marion. I don’t even think the rooster is up.”

  “Rooster? Girl, I thought you lived in town. You didn’t tell me you had a pet chicken.”

  Lordy. “Ah, never mind.” I closed my eyes. “Did you need something? Are you okay?”

  “Just called to let you know we have the day off today. Roc texted me late last night. They won’t be rolling in until three, so if we had everything done we could stay home today.”

  Roc giving us the day off? That didn’t seem like him at all. I had recharged during the weekend and was looking forward to meeting the pit crew today. “You sure?”

  “Yup. Sleep in and relax. That’s what I’m going to do today.”

  “Well, you’re nine months pregnant. That is what you should be doing.” Marion and I had become pretty close in the past two weeks. She made me laugh all the time, and I reminded her of everything she had said and forgotten.

  “Damn right, girl. See you tomorrow morning.” She hung up, and I tossed the phone back on the nightstand.

  That wasn’t the phone call I had been expecting, but I had to say, I was okay with it.

  Last night before bed, I had talked to Remy for a half an hour while I rummaged through my closet, trying to figure out what I was going to wear on our date. Today was finally the day I was going to see him again.

  I was excited but also nervous as hell.

  With another day off work, I was going to have time to run to the mall an hour away and try to find something new and sexy to wear. My closet consisted of conservative office wear, t-shirts, and sweatpants. I was a simple girl who was now going on a date with a sexy stranger who had rescued her.

  Sweatpants just didn’t seem to be the thing to wear with Remy present. Ever.

  I snuggled back under the covers and sighed.

  Sleep for a few more hours, scrounge up breakfast, head to the mall, and try not to hyperventilate when Remy showed up.

  Easy peasy.

  All except for the whole seeing Remy again part.

  I was going to need a drink.

  A strong one.

  *

  Chapter 11

  Remy

  “Dude. You need to cover for me.”

  Jay dropped a box of extra parts on the workbench. “Uh, excuse me?”

  “I have to be somewhere in forty-five minutes, and we aren’t even going to be close to done unpacking.”

  “Where in the hell do you need to be?” He leaned against the workbench and crossed his arms over his chest.

  “Somewhere.”

  He smirked and shook his head. “I’m sure if you tell Roc you need to be somewhere, he’ll let you go.”

  I looked over my shoulder. Frankie walked into the shop and glared at Jay. “You think one of you can come help unload the car?”

  “Remy has to be somewhere.”

  “What?” Frankie scowled.

  Jay could never keep his mouth shut. “You think you could not scream that shit across the shop?” I grumbled.

  Frankie stalked over to Jay and me. “What the hell do you mean you need to be somewhere? We have at least four more hours of work.”

  “I know we do, but I made plans I can’t break.” Nothing was going to keep me away from seeing Harlyn.

  “Roc is on the warpath. You really think you can disappear, and he’s not going to notice?” She crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her foot. “Your name isn’t Jay. You actually have to work around here.”

  Frankie and Jay were still at odds. They managed to work together, but they were constantly throwing insults back and forth. “Such a bitch,” Jay mumbled under his breath. “I’ll fucking cover for him. You don’t need to worry about it, Frankie.”

  Frankie took a step back and looked Jay up and down. “You know that means actually working, right? Remy does more than wander around shooting the shit with everyone, you know that?”

  He flipped her off. “Stand back and watch, Frankie. You’re not the only one who knows how to work.”

  She splayed her hands out in front of
her. “You working is something I’ve wanted to see for years. Who would have known all it was going to take was Remy getting a girlfriend?”

  Jay’s jaw dropped, and his head swiveled toward me. “Girlfriend?” He said the word as if it were laced with poison.

  I rolled my eyes. “I don’t have a girlfriend. It’s nothing”

  “Yeah, you know guys text and call the same girl for two weeks and say that it’s nothing.” She nodded her head. “Totally nothing.”

  “When in the hell did you get a girlfriend?” Jay was still stunned.

  “It’s just a date.”

  “With your girlfriend,” Frankie added.

  Now Frankie was driving me crazy. “Is it the chick you were dating back home?”

  “Corrine?” I shook my head. “Hell no. I haven’t talked to her in over a year. Besides, she lives in Rockton. She isn’t coming all the way to Leeds Square just for a date.”

  Jay smirked. “I got a list of girls who would travel over a hundred miles to spend the night with me.”

  “You are such an ass,” Frankie muttered.

  “Don’t hate the player, Frank. Hate the game.”

  She tossed her hands up in the air. “I can’t believe those words just came out of your mouth. You’re like one of those cocky jerks from those 90s movies who manages to get all the girls while be a complete douche canoe.”

  He brushed off his shoulders. “I’m going to take that as a compliment.” He stepped around Frankie and threw a salute to me. “Now, if you will excuse me, I need to convince Roc he can head home while we unload.”

  “I knew it,” Frankie called. “You aren’t going to actually work. Gonna use that mouth of yours again.”

  “Don’t you worry about what I do with my mouth, Frank.” He sauntered out of the garage with a wave over his head to me.

  “You’re seriously not going to leave, are you?” she asked me.

  I unzipped my overalls and stepped out of them. “Yes. I know Jay can talk Roc into leaving. With Roc gone, I know I can leave.”

  She leaned against the workbench. “Where are you going, Remy?”

  I grabbed the overalls off the floor and tossed them over my shoulder. “A date, Frank.”

  “I know that. I want to know with who.”

  “None of your business.”

  “It’s with that girl we met before we left, isn’t it?”

  I patted my back pocket to make sure I had my wallet and grabbed my car keys off the bench. “No comment,” I muttered. How in the hell did she know that?

  “It’s her. I know it is. I heard you talking to her the other night.” She smirked and shook her head. “At first, I couldn’t believe it, but now you saying you got a date, I know it’s true.”

  I grabbed my hat off the bench and put it on backwards. “Just a date, Frank.” I glanced at the clock on the wall. “A date I’m going to be late for if you keep talking to me.” I still needed to run back to the duplex, shower, find some clean clothes, and haul my ass over to Harlyn’s house before seven.

  She stood to the side and motioned to the door. “Then I guess you better sneak out the back door before Roc comes looking for you.”

  I knew Frankie didn’t like I was leaving before all of the work was done, but I didn’t care. I would make it up to her later.

  I snuck out the side door of the shop and stayed to the side of the building, thankful I had parked in the back of the parking lot, not close to where the hauler was parked. After I slid into my car and took off down the road, I finally breathed a sigh of relief.

  I loved my job, but seeing Harlyn was more important.

  *

  Harlyn

  The doorbell rang.

  I stood on the other side of the door and just stared at the dark wood.

  I had been fine all day. The fear I felt hadn’t loomed its head until Remy had rung the doorbell the first time.

  The doorbell rang, again.

  Answer the door, Harlyn. Man, I wished I could disappear right then and there. How on Earth did I think this was a good idea?

  “Harlyn?”

  “Shit,” I whispered.

  “Babe, I know you’re home. I parked next to your car.”

  “Double shit.” I should have parked in the garage.

  “I just heard you say double shit.”

  I threw my hand over my mouth and took a step back from the door. I was going to have to have a serious talk with my landlord about the lack of sound proofing. “No Harlyn here.” I pulled my English accent out of my bad accents and prayed Remy would leave.

  “Harlyn. Open the damn door. I’ve been waiting two weeks to see you again.”

  I racked my brain trying to figure out a reason why I couldn’t open the door. “I’m tired.” I clamped my eyes shut and prayed to God he would grace me with a little bit of reserve against Remy.

  “And?”

  And what? That should have been reason enough why I couldn’t open the door. “I’m gonna go to bed. Maybe we can try this in March.”

  His chuckle floated through the thin door. “You do know it is April, right?”

  That was the whole point of telling him March. That would give me a year to pack everything up and move to Nicaragua. That should be far enough away from Remy. “Yes.” There wasn’t any sense in denying it.

  I pressed my face to the peep hole and caught a glimpse of Remy. His hand was resting on the door, and his face was turned away to the street. Even from the side, the man was drop-dead gorgeous. How he had ended up at my door was beyond me.

  He turned his face to the door, and my breath caught. “How about this? Since you're tired, you let me in, I order pizza, and we watch a movie?”

  “Urgh, okay?” At that point, I would have agreed to anything he suggested.

  “You’re gonna have to open the door, baby.”

  My hand automatically when to the handle, and I pulled it open, smashing the door into my face. Move out of the way of the door, Harlyn. Such an easy idea, but yet, I struggled with it. I stepped to the side and rubbed my nose. “Uh, come in.”

  He slipped through the open door and pulled it shut behind him. “You okay?”

  I nodded.

  “Those doors can be tricky sometimes,” he smirked. He slowly surveyed my living room. “Can’t even tell you moved in a couple of weeks ago.”

  “Uh, yeah. I’m a little anal about having boxes all over the place. By the second day I was here, everything was at least unpacked.”

  He shook his head and whistled low. “Damn, baby. I’m pretty sure I have four boxes in my closet that still need unpacking.” A smirk spread across his lips. “Been here for four months already.”

  I shook my head and tried not to demand to know where he lived so I could go unpack his four boxes. I was more than a bit anal of needing everything unpacked and in its place. “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that.”

  He smiled, and his eyes traveled over my body. “You’re dressed to go out. You sure you want to stay in?”

  I wasn’t sure of anything. Two hours ago, I was prepared to see Remy again. Now, a dark hole seemed like a good place to be. “Honestly?” He nodded. “I really don’t know what the hell I want right now.” I clenched my hands together in front of me. He was going to think I had split personalities.

  Two weeks of going back and forth with calls and texts. Then, I see him and I’m a completely different person. Real great, Harlyn.

  “Well, do you at least want me here?”

  I bit my bottom lip. “Yes.”

  “Then let me handle the rest, baby.” He tossed his keys in the air. “Let’s go.” He snatched them out of the air and smile spread across his lips.

  “Where are we going?” I asked.

  “You’ll find out once we get there.”

  “This isn’t helping.”

  He pointed to my jacket and purse I had on the couch. “You need that?”

  “Err, yeah.”

  He snatched the
jacket off the couch, held it out for me to put on, and waited for me to slip my arms into the sleeves. “Put your arms in.”

  I looked at the coat and then back at him. “I didn’t think when you said you’ll take care of the rest, you meant you would help dress me.”

  “I’m kind of surprised by it too, baby. I’d much rather be taking your clothes off, but that’ll come later.” The smirk that had been basically melting my panties off since he walked through the door grew bigger. “Pick your jaw up off the floor and put your arms in the sleeves, Harlyn.”

  I closed my mouth. I hadn’t even realized it had been open. Then I turned around to stick my arms in. “I’m not sure you’re supposed to say things like that yet.”

  He guided the coat up my arms. His front pressed against my back, and his lips brushed against my ear. “Says who?” he whispered.

  “Uh, well…” Not sure who the hell would say anything like that. I knew it shouldn’t be me with Remy pressed up against me. I would be stupid to step away from him. “People,” I whispered.

  “Maybe you shouldn’t be worried about whoever those people are, baby.” His lips brushed a kiss to the side of my neck, and he took a small step back. I immediately missed the feel of his body pressed up against mine, and he dropped his hands to his sides. “You ready?”

  I grabbed the lapels of the coat and pulled them tight around me. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

  *

  Chapter 12

  Remy

  “Let me help you.”

  “I think I can handle it.”

  “These are kind of tricky to handle.”

  She rolled her eyes and turned her back to me. “I’m pretty sure I can figure out how to.” She sat down on the bench and dropped the ragged roller skates. “Can I say this was not at all what I had expected we would be doing?” She toed off her shoes and tucked them under the bench.

  “Had to figure out something to impress you, baby. Taking you to dinner and a movie wasn’t going to be memorable.”

  She slipped the right skate on and tugged the laces tight. “You’re right. Me breaking my tailbone when I fall on my ass is really going to be memorable.”