by Kylie Walker
“Sam went to Fontana with me Sunday night.”
“Cool! Did you drive?” Stew asked her.
Sam couldn’t help smiling just at the memory. “Yeah, I drove the Charger.”
“He let you drive the Charger?” Drew asked with her eyes narrowed in Conrad’s direction. “Lucky!”
“He doesn’t even let me drive the Charger and I’m his best friend.”
Sam felt her face going hot. She knew what they were insinuating and she wished they wouldn’t go there. This was exactly why she needed to leave him alone. She wanted to be respected for her driving skills, not looked at like she was getting special favors from the crew boss.
“Well once I tell you all her time you’ll see just why she deserves to drive the Charger and none of you do,” Conrad said, smugly. Once again her heart lurched. “What was your fastest time ever out there Stew?”
“Thirteen six in the Integra.”
“Drew?”
She curled her lip. “Fourteen.”
“Shawn?”
“Twelve point eight.”
“I’ll leave Beau alone since he doesn’t seem to be in this conversation.” Sam looked at the tall thin guy sitting on the couch between Casey and Robert and Shawn. The look on his face reminded her of Aaron’s when Darren was in terror mode. She wondered what demons haunted him and how he got the scars and old bruises on his face.
“What about me?” Casey asked.
“Have you run a car at Fontana?”
“No, that’s what I mean, what about me?”
Conrad laughed. “Okay, you’re next I promise. But back to Sunday night, I went twelve point two and Samantha here finished at eleven-six.”
“No fucking way!” Shawn looked like he thought Conrad was lying. The rest of them were acting like they were bowing to her.
“Yes.” Conrad said. “All I saw was a blur of black steel.”
“Son of a bitch,” Shawn said with a grin. “Welcome to the crew, Sam.” They all congratulated her and Sam felt both embarrassed to be the center of attention and proud of the way they were looking at her now at the same time. After they settled down Conrad said,
“So who’s racing this weekend?” He took a sip of his beer and leaned his back into the chair Sam was sitting on. She got a whiff of his light aftershave and she remembered how intoxicating that smell had been when he’d picked her up at the track Sunday night. She also had an almost uncontrollable urge to reach out and run her fingers through his messy hair.
“Hector Aguirre and Macy Townsend,” Stew said in answer to his question.
“I know Macy, who is Hector?” Conrad asked.
“I saw him race down in San Diego about six months ago,” Casey said. “Remember Robert that race we went to when we were down there for your cousin’s wedding?”
“The guy in the yellow rice rocket?” Robert asked.
“Yeah, he killed it,” she said. “That car was like watching a literal rocket.”
“So what’s he doing up here with Jimmy’s crew?” Conrad asked. Before anyone answered he looked at Sam and said, “Jimmy Chavez runs another crew in town. The wagers we have going this weekend will be with them.
Sam nodded and Stew said, “Jimmy told me he had a new guy last week when I ran into him at the radiator shop.”
“What’s he driving?” Beau asked. He’d just suddenly snapped out of whatever funk he’d been in. Sam found it slightly unnerving but the rest of them didn’t seem to notice. Stew shrugged at his question and Casey said,
“That night we saw him he was driving a ’92 Civic. That was a while back though. I have no idea what he drives now.”
“I’ll take this guy,” Beau said. He sounded confident but the looks on the rest of the crew’s faces didn’t convey theirs. Samantha also noticed how Conrad sat up straighter and looked at his friend.
“Why Beau?”
Beau looked at him, pulled his eyebrows together in the center and said, “Why not? I race like the rest of you.” His tone was almost defensive like he was preparing for an argument. Sam could tell by the energy in the room that she was the only one that didn’t know what was going on here.
“Right, but usually you don’t want to race, you want to be on the sidelines tweaking the cars, and we need you there.”
“I can tweak the cars before and after I race. I haven’t been behind the wheel for a while. I’d like to take out the GSR.” He smiled then but it looked forced as he said, “I’ve transformed it man, it’s sick.”
Conrad’s tone didn’t lighten any as he said, “You haven’t tested it out and you want to race it?”
“It’s ready, I’m sure.” Beau lost his smile.
Conrad wasn’t willing to let it go. “Come on Beau, we all know how you hate the unknown. You want to know every detail about the racer and the machine before you go up against them and you want to know your own car intimately. You usually test a car ten or twelve times before you drive it in a race. I just don’t want you doing this because you’re in self-destruct mode. You were practically suicidal the last time you pulled this same shit.”
Beau looked shocked at Conrad’s choice of words. “Suicidal? Are you shitting me?”
“I’m not and you know it. Your father had lost his job and he was on you like a fly on shit day in and day out. You were even talking about offing yourself and then you got into that El Camino…”
Beau had a look in his eyes that said he felt like his friend was betraying him just by saying that out loud. He interrupted him with, “You’re my fucking therapist all of a sudden? Shit, if you were you’d at least keep your mouth shut about my personal business.”
“I’m your friend and I’m in charge of this crew. I’m not letting any of you go out on the street with your head full of crap that will jeopardize your safety.”
“My head is always full of crap.” Beau had raised his voice now. Casey put her hand on his arm but he shook her off and said, “I know how to organize the crap or compartmentalize or whatever the fuck the shrinks call it. The car is ready. This isn’t about my personal shit that I’d appreciate you not talking about in front of everyone.” He looked at Shawn then and said, “Tell him the GSR is ready Shawn, you saw it.”
“I saw it this afternoon,” Shawn said. He looked reluctant to be dragged into the conversation but he said, “He’s right, the transformations are sick.” Beau started to smile again and Shawn looked at him and said, “You did say you were still trying to figure out why it was throwing oil though, did you figure it out?”
“I worked that out,” Beau said quickly.
“How?” Conrad asked.
“I worked it out,” he said again. “Listen, in the past two weeks I replaced the engine with a granite black motor. I enlarged the headers and now with the turbo chargers affixed to the front of it I can get ten times the output. I can beat whatever this guy is driving and that’s all I’m looking to do here, trust me.”
Conrad was ready to say something else when he was interrupted by the doorbell. Casey got the door and came back with three pizza boxes. She sat them down on the table and suddenly everyone was reaching across everyone else and grabbing a slice. Sam actually felt relieved. The tension in the room had been becoming uncomfortable. She watched as Conrad reached over and took two pieces of pizza. He laid one on a napkin and handed it to her. “Thanks.” He winked at her. In the past she’d completely blow a guy off for winking at her. When Conrad did it though, it set her insides on fire.
When they all had their mouths full except for him Conrad said in an even tone, “Listen Beau, we don’t talk about the shit you’re going through at home but…”
“That’s right, because it has nothing to do with here and now.”
“I have a bad feeling it has everything to do with it. You’re pissed at the old man and you have every right to be, but running a car that isn’t ready…”
Beau sat up straight and tossed the piece of pizza he was hold
ing onto the coffee table. “What the fuck makes you think it’s not ready? When have I ever run a car that wasn’t ready?”
“Like I said, the last time you volunteered to race a newbie was when the old man put that scar on your head,” Conrad said softly. It was like he knew it needed to be said, but he really didn’t want to.
Beau stood up and knocked his pizza and beer to the floor as he did. “Fuck you, man!”
Shawn reached up and put his hand on Beau’s arm. Beau knocked it off. “Fuck you too!” he said to Shawn, “You saw that engine and you know it’s fucking ready. You’re just too far up Conrad’s ass to admit it.” He headed for the door and Conrad called after him. He didn’t stop. Conrad stood up and Shawn said,
“Let me go after him.”
Conrad still had that worried look but he nodded at his roommate. Shawn got up and grabbed his keys off of the counter and another piece of pizza. “I’ll go with you,” Drew said, slipping on her shoes. The room was dead silent as the rest of the crew watched them go. Once they were gone Conrad said,
“Shit. I’m sorry guys but you know how he gets. I’m not going to give him the okay to race a car that’s going to blow up on the track and kill his ass.”
Stew and Robert didn’t say anything but Casey said, “We have to get him out of that situation.”
“He’s here three or four nights a week, but he always goes back,” Conrad said.
“Because he doesn’t want to leave his mother alone with that piece of shit,” she said. Sam listened quietly and the similarities to her previous life made her sick to her stomach.
“We can’t fix his problems, Case. All we can do is make sure he doesn’t kill himself.”
“Right, we keep him alive so that scumbag sperm donor of his can kill him.”
“Casey,” Robert spoke softly and rested his hand on hers. She jerked it away and stood up.
“Is this meeting over?” she asked Conrad. Conrad ran a hand through his hair and sighed.
“Yeah, it’s over.”
“Come on, Robert.” Her boyfriend stood up and for some reason that’s when Sam recognized him. He was the bartender from the Island Bar. He looked down at Stewart and said,
“Do you still want a ride?”
“Is she driving?” Stew asked. Robert looked like he was fighting a smile as he said,
“Nah, we’ll let her pout in the back seat. I’ll drive.”
“Fuck you guys,” Casey said, storming out and leaving the front door open. Robert and Stewart both clasped hands with Conrad and nodded at Sam as they left. When they closed the door behind them Sam stood up and said,
“I’ll get out of your way too.”
“Please don’t go,” Conrad said. “I’m sorry.”
Samantha sat back down. “You’re sorry for what?”
“I’m sorry that your first meeting with us turned into a middle school brawl.”
Sam smiled. “That’s not what I saw.”
Turning his body so he could look at her Conrad said, “What did you see?”
“I saw a bunch of people who care about their friend and are trying to save his life.”
Conrad was looking at her like he wanted to kiss her again. Samantha wanted that, badly. She’d completely forgotten how uncomfortable facing him the next day would be or her resolve to stay far away from there. Watching him stand up like that to protect Beau, knowing it was going to piss him off made her want him that much more.
“Thank you for saying that,” he said. Samantha considered for just a second what to say in response to that. Instead she did what came more natural than talking. She reached up for his face and drew him down to her lips. Conrad didn’t offer any resistance and within seconds the brush of their mouths together became harder and more urgent. Sam sighed into it and Conrad took advantage of her open mouth and snaked his tongue in between her lips. He kissed her with a skill that she normally appreciated, but in his case she felt another unfamiliar emotion…jealousy for all of the women who came before her.
CHAPTER 12
Conrad had been thinking about kissing Sam since the second he met her. The reality of her lips on his and now her warm, wet tongue in his mouth was better than any fantasy. He quickly lost himself in the moment and while she continued to hold onto his face with her warm, soft hands, he dropped back down to his knees and put his hands on her waist. He deepened the kiss and slowly began to slide his hands up underneath her tank top.
“Sam,” he pulled back just enough so that he could speak without completely breaking contact with her lips. His heart was beating a thousand times a minute and he could actually feel it slamming against his chest. She stopped kissing him, leaned her forehead into his and looked into his eyes.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
“Don’t be sorry. I wanted to do that since the first time I saw you.”
Her face drew up in a smile. It made him want to kiss her again and forget anything that was going on in his head. “But?” Her voice was breathless and raspy. Everything about her was suddenly amplified in his brain by a thousand.
“But, for some reason I actually want to get to know you before we do this.”
“That’s the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard,” she said. He felt her body shake as she laughed silently. He pulled her body into his and she buried her face into his neck. It felt so good and his body was responding so hotly to hers that it took every fiber in his body not to rip off her clothes and throw her down on the carpet behind them. He let his lips travel to her ear and he felt her body shudder against him.
“You’re right, stupid idea. Kiss me again.” She lifted up her head and he put his lips back on hers. He got slowly to his feet and brought her up with him without breaking the kiss. He walked her back the few steps to the couch and gently lowered her down. Once she was seated on it she lay back and he lay down with her. The kiss broke for a second but as soon as their bodies were comfortably tangled up together he said,
“Do you want to do this, Sam?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
He kissed her again and this time his hands slid further up her body until they were cupping the underside of her bra. He let his rough fingers work their way up underneath it. She was soft and warm and he was dying to pull the tank and the bra off of her and throw them across the room. He was aching to touch every intimate part of her. She was lying there with her breaths coming in short gasps and her cheeks filled with color and her pretty eyes half closed as she looked up at him and he knew that she wanted it too. He wished that he could shut off his head and take it. But there was something different about Sam. The feelings he got when he was around her touched in places that no woman ever had. He didn’t want this to be a quickie. He didn’t want them to start out in a place where normal conversation and friendship was going to be uncomfortable or even impossible. He wasn’t just giving her a line; he actually wanted to know her.
“Sam…” this time she growled slightly before he felt her lips move against his.
“Yes?”
“You want to go to the beach?”
Her body started to shake again. She’d stopped kissing him because now she was laughing hard. Sadly, the sound of her laughter only made his growing erection throb that much more. The desire coursed through him and he almost gave into it again until she suddenly said, “Yes, the beach sounds like fun.”
A half an hour later they were in Conrad’s Charger with the rest of the pizza, soda and a blanket. As they were driving Sam asked, “Beau’s father beats him up?”
Conrad winced. “Yeah, he’s a drunk and Beau and his mom suffer for it.”
“Beau stays because he’s worried about his mother.” It was said like a statement, not a question but Conrad said,
“Yes. When he’s there he takes the bulk of it. It’s frustrating as hell to watch though. He won’t fight back and he won’t leave so what the hell can we do for him, you know?”
“I know better than you think,” she said
.
Conrad pulled the car into an empty lot near a little stretch of beach that was usually not very crowded. He shut off the engine and said, “Is your old man abusive?” He was surprised at how pissed off that thought made him. What was happening to him? He barely knew this girl.
“No, my father’s not like that. My step-father was, mostly to my brother. That’s all in the past for us now though, thank God.” She looked around and asked, “Where are we?”
Conrad got the hint that she didn’t want to talk about it anymore and said, “Manhattan Beach.”
“I thought that was in New York.”
He smiled. “There’s one there too. Ours is a little smaller.” He reached over the seat and grabbed the duffel bag with the blanket in it and the pizza box before opening his door and stepping out. The day had been a hot one but the night air was cooler and the smell of the ocean was almost intoxicating. Sam stepped out of the passenger side and he held out his hand. She looked at it for a second before putting her small one in it. He led her down the path from the parking lot to the beach. There were two other couples there. One was walking away from them and the other one sitting on a blanket and sharing a bottle of champagne. Conrad found them a spot away from where the tide was coming in and spread out the blanket. The moon was almost full and the sky was filled with stars. It was beautiful.
Conrad sat down and gently pulled Sam down next to him. Sam was staring out at the ocean and the look in her eyes was one of awe. He just watched her for several long seconds before breaking the silence by asking her, “Have you ever seen the ocean, Sam?” She lived in the desert and from what little she’d told him he assumed she’d been there her entire life.
