Skid Row Kings Complete Series

by Winter Travers

  She was sexy as fuck, but I didn’t really think telling her in the car, surrounded by a bunch of people and my brothers standing at the front of the car was the place to tell her I wanted to see her sprawled out on my bed.

  “I see you somehow made up with the librarian,” Mitch called.

  “She has a name, dipshit.” Violet stepped out of the car and looked around nervously. I walked around the front of the car and grabbed her hand, pulling her over to Mitch and Kurt. “Violet, this is Mitch and Kurt. Better known as Dumb and Dumber.” Violet laughed, her cheeks blushing.

  “Hey, don’t be an ass. We can let her decide for herself.” Mitch held his hand out and shook Violet’s hand. “It’s nice to finally meet you, Frankie talks about you all the time.”

  Violet seemed surprised by that. “Oh, well, we seem to have spent a bit of time together lately.”

  “We’ve noticed,” Kurt said. He also held his hand out and shook hands. He looked her up and down and smiled. “Are you sure you’re a librarian? All the ones I remember from school were three hundred years old and slapped me with rulers all the time.”

  I pulled Violet closer to me. I didn’t need Kurt hoarding in on Violet. “Um, I am definitely a librarian,” she said, unsure. She looked up at me, wondering what the hell was going on. She was going to learn real quick tonight that my brothers said what they wanted and most of the time it was upfront and uncensored.

  “That would explain why Frankie likes you so much. She always has her nose buried in a book,” Mitch said.

  “Hey, Luke.” I turned around and saw Bart walk out of the crowd towards us. “Look at all these people, isn’t it great?”

  “It’s only great for him because he charged people five bucks,” Kurt muttered under his breath.

  “I thought I asked to just use the track, and you said that was fine.” I was pissed Bart had told people about this just to earn an extra buck.

  “Hey, you are the only one using the track. All these people are here for is to see you drag. Nothing more, nothing less.” Fucking Bart was like a goddamn salesman through and through. I couldn’t really fucking argue with him because I hadn’t said no one could be here tonight. Damn fucker got me on a loophole.

  “You really take advantage of the fact you are the closest track within sixty miles, don’t you Bart?”

  “Hey, you know,” he shrugged and walked back into the crowd.

  “How about we just get this shit done.” Mitch walked over to the truck that he had backed up to the side of the track and pulled out his computer. Kurt walked to the back of the car and hosed down the concrete.

  “So, what exactly is Kurt doing?” We both turned around to watch him.

  “He’s watering the track so I can do a burnout. It helps to warm up the tires. Warm tires mean more traction.”

  “Oh, I guess that makes sense,” she mumbled.

  “And Mitch,” I said, turning her around, “is going to hook up the computer so he can collect data on each run. RPM’s, intake, speed, all that good stuff.”

  “You do realize that all of this is going over my head, right?”

  I had assumed Violet knew nothing about cars, but now she had just proven it. “That’s why I’m telling you, Princess, so you can learn.”

  “Well, that’s all fine and dandy, except for I really doubt I will remember any of it. RPM’s and intakes go right over my head, and it’s safe to say that I am totally OK with that.”

  “In that case, Kurt is making sure I go fast, and Mitch is checking a bunch of shit.”

  Violet burst out laughing, “Now that is the kind of explanation I can get behind.”

  “Yo, we’re ready,” Kurt said, turning off the water.

  “OK,” I said, nodding at him. “So, are you OK with hanging out with those two idiots while I run up and down the track?” She glanced over my shoulder and tilted her head.

  “Um, I guess so. They seem rather harmless,” she giggled. I turned around just in time to see Kurt squirt Mitch with the hose.

  “Jesus Christ, I sometimes swear it’s easier to take care of Frankie than it is these two.” I turned back around to Violet and grabbed her hands. “Need anything before I go?”

  “No, I’m good. Try not to hurt yourself or anything.”

  “I’m safe, Princess. There is one thing you could do for me, though.” A smirk spread across my face, and she looked at me confused.

  “I’m not sure what I can do for you. I can barely remember what kind of car I drive. Relying on me might not be your best bet.”

  “Hmm, good thing I’m a betting man.” I moved closer and rested my hands on her hips. “I think I’m going to need a kiss for luck.”

  Violet looked around, “What, no… not…” she stuttered.

  I cupped her cheek and turned her head. “Look at me, Princess, no one else.” She nodded her head but didn’t say anything. “One kiss, that’s all I want right now.”

  “You’re crazy. Just yesterday you called me horrible things, and now you want to kiss me.”

  “Yesterday I was the world’s biggest asshole who was confused as hell, and now I want to make it up to you.” I leaned down, my lips a breath away.

  “I think you might be drunk,” she whispered.

  “Only drunk on you, Princess.” I pressed my lips to hers, and she grabbed my arms and held on. She moaned as I threaded my fingers through her hair and grabbed her waist. My lips moved against hers, my tongue skimming the seam of her lips. Fuck me. I had only been kissing her for five seconds, and I was already sporting half wood.

  She moaned again and opened her mouth, inviting me in, and all I could do was take what she was giving. “Violet,” I moaned against her lips. She whimpered, pressing her lips to mine. “I got to go, Princess.”

  “Hmm, no, just stay here. I know your car runs good, you built it.”

  “I love the faith you have in me, babe, but I really need to run my car no matter how much I would rather pick you up, put you in my car and take you back to my bed.” I pressed one last kiss to her lips and pulled away. We both stared at each other wondering what the hell just happened. Never had I had a kiss like that before. “Stick by Mitch, he’s the saner of the two,” I mumbled.

  She nodded her head, laughing and walked over to the truck and sat on the tailgate, her legs crossed. Jesus Christ, she looked sexy tonight. Although, she always did have a quiet sexiness about her.

  I bet she was confused as fuck because Lord knows I was.

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  Chapter 11

  Violet

  I was five seconds away from hyperventilating when Luke had kissed me. Holy shit, Luke had kissed me.

  Ugh, I looked around and realized I was completely out of my element. There was a crowd of about one hundred people, and they were all here to see Luke drive his car. This was all surreal. The most surreal part of the whole thing was that I was here with Luke. There must be a full moon tonight because that would be the only thing to explain me being here.

  Luke slid into the car and backed up onto the wet pavement, revving the engine. “You good with sitting here?” Kurt asked, walking up to the truck.

  “Yeah, as long as this is where you want me to be. I seriously have no idea what to do right now. Yell at me if I’m in the way.”

  Kurt laughed and shook his head. “I highly doubt Luke would be OK with me yelling at you.” He leaned against the tailgate next to me and crossed his arms over his chest. “I doubt Luke is going to let you out of his sight much at all.”

  “Dude, shut the hell up. You’re going to scare her away before she even gets to know us,” Mitch said, shaking his head.

  Kurt flipped him off but didn’t say much more. “So, how exactly do you keep track of speed, rpm’s and all the other things Luke said but I can’t remember.”

  “Microchip. It sends data to the computer, and I can see how the car is running as he goes down the track. Then on his next run, I can tell him what needs to
be changed, if anything. The car is basically dialed in. Now we just need to do tweaking to make it the baddest car out there.” Mitch showed me the computer screen that was filled with charts and data that I had no idea what it all meant.

  “This seems a lot more technical than I thought. I figured he got in the car and went as fast as he could.”

  “Well, that is what he does, but there is a lot that goes into making him go that fast. We’ve been working on the car for over a month since he blew the engine.” Kurt hopped up next to me, but his eyes were on someone in the crowd.

  “Is this what the race is going to be like?” I asked.

  “This is nothing compared to what the race will be. Right now these are all of Luke’s fans. Come race night there will be five times as many people here. AZ will be there, Luke’s biggest competition and he always brings a crowd with him.” Kurt scanned the crowd and cursed under his breath.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked, hoping it had nothing to do with Luke.

  “I bet I know what’s wrong. I’m assuming he just spotted Leelee, and she’s headed this way.” Mitch nodded behind me, and I turned around to see a tall, dark-haired woman break free from the crowd and make it past Bart who was standing at the gate, not letting anyone on the track.

  “Who’s Leelee?”

  “Leelee is just what Kurt needs, but he’s too fucking stupid to realize it. And, Leelee knows she’s too good for him,” Mitch whispered.

  Hmm, this could be interesting. Hopefully, it would get the attention off me, and I could just sit back quietly and watch Luke.

  “How come you haven’t talked to Luke about getting me a job at the shop?” Whoa, Leelee wanted a job at the shop? Very interesting.

  “I told you, we don’t need any help right now,” Kurt said, grabbing a rag from the back of the truck and stood up, toe to toe with Leelee. Leelee, by the way, was fucking gorgeous up close. She had to have been a bit of Puerto Rican, because her skin had a gorgeous tan and she had dark, thick hair that was black spun gold. She was absolutely stunning. She was wearing tight jeans and a red tank top with red flip flops on her feet. She looked like an Abercrombie and Fitch model, not a mechanic.

  “That’s bull shit, and you know it. I heard you talking two nights ago that you guys really could use another set of hands at the shop. Here I am, ready and willing hands, but you think you need to be some macho ass and say only guys can work on cars. That’s bullshit.” It looked like Leelee had a bit of a temper, but I really couldn’t blame her.

  Kurt’s face was bright red, and he looked like he was ready to spit nails. Mitch and I were just sitting there looking between the two wondering what was going to happen next.

  “It’s not up to me who works at the shop. You’ll have to come in and talk to Luke.” His hands were clenched at his sides, and he spoke through gritted teeth.

  “You told me before that you would talk to Luke for me. That I didn’t need to come in.”

  Uh oh, looked like Kurt just got caught in a lie. Danger, Will Robinson.

  There was a loud screeching of tires, and we all whipped our heads around to watch Luke. He was spinning his tires on the water and then he rocketed off, a cloud of smoke behind him.

  “That’s the burnout?” I asked. I was interested in what was going on, but I couldn’t guarantee that I would remember all of it.

  “Yup. I’d say we’re about thirty seconds away from you seeing your first drag race.” Mitch typed something into the computer and a whole new set of gauges, graphs and charts showed up.

  “Don’t blink, you might miss it.” I looked over my shoulder and saw Leelee smiling at me. So, it appeared that she was only pissy at Kurt. Good to know.

  “Naw, it’s not that fast, but it’s faster than anything you see driving down the road. If Luke ever takes you to see the big boys, those are the ones you blink, and it’s over.” Kurt sat back down next to me, glaring at Leelee. Jesus, I didn’t know if it was sexual tension between these two or they really hated each other.

  “Big boys?” They had completely lost me.

  “NHRA, hun. Where there’s nitro in the air and burned rubber on the track. They race about fifty miles from here in Joliet,” Leelee said, leaning against the side of the truck. “You with Luke now?” She looked me up and down, and I knew she was judging me. “You look like his type.”

  I looked like his type? That would be a big negative. I looked like a librarian who was completely out of her element. “Um, I drove out here with him.”

  Leelee smiled at me, and it felt like she knew exactly how I was feeling; nervous and ready to puke. “Well, you’re a hundred times better than any girl I’ve ever seen him with.”

  “Alright, can we save the girl talk for later? Luke’s ready,” Mitch said, motioning to the car.

  I could see a black helmet on his head and both hands grasping the wheel. “How does he know when to go?”

  “Christmas tree,” Leelee whispered next to me. Christmas tree? What the hell did a tree have to do with anything?

  “Shh,” Kurt hushed us.

  Luke took one hand off the wheel and revved the hell out of the engine. I could see his face and he had a look of complete concentration on his face. I was starting to see that this was more than just going fast. It took a lot of time and effort also.

  “Yellow, yellow, yellow, green!” Leelee shouted.

  Luke took off, his tires gripping the asphalt, the car gone down the track. You could hear him shift, the car responding and eating up the track.

  “13.1 seconds, 109,” Mitch rattled off.

  My eyes were still glued to the end of the track. I couldn’t believe that Luke had just gone that fast. Thirteen seconds? Holy crap. “What does the 109 mean?”

  “That’s how fast he was going. Something is off. He should have been able to break 115 easy.” Mitch shook his head and rapidly typed.

  Luke turned his car around and headed down the side of the track back to us. “I know I just met you,” I whispered to Leelee, “but I have no idea what just happened. Luke went fast, like super-fast. Why the hell are Mitch and Kurt acting like he didn’t even move?”

  “Because Luke’s car should be running eleven’s all day, not thirteen’s. Something isn’t right.” Leelee was biting her lip and looking just as worried as Mitch and Kurt.

  Luke pulled back up to the start line and threw open his door. “What the fuck? It’s like I was fucking standing still.” He closed the door and stalked over to Mitch and looked over his shoulder as they both studied the screen.

  I felt like I should say something, but I still really had no idea what the hell was going on. If you asked me, he went fast enough. I couldn’t believe that they thought he went slow.

  “Pop the hood, I want to check some stuff over. Hopefully, just a couple of things need an adjustment.” Mitch grabbed the computer and walked over to the car and set it on the roof. Kurt popped the hood and all three crowded under the hood, muttering to each other.

  “This, right here,” she motioned to the guys, “is the reason all these girls are here tonight. You ask any of these girls, and I bet they’ll tell you what guy they are here for, if not all of them.” Leelee shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest.

  “Really?” I asked, looking around. The majority of the people here were guys, but there were, at least, twenty girls milling around, and they all were watching Luke, Mitch, and Kurt. “Then which one are you here for?”

  “None of them. I’m here for a damn job. Kurt has been stringing me along, thinking that all I want is a date, but in reality all I really need is a job. I’ve been working at one of the big box stores changing oil, but now I need to step up and start making more money. I’ve been taking care of my brother for the past five years, and more money is a must now.”

  “Have you tried to talk to Luke?”

  “Kurt kept telling me he would talk to him. He obviously hasn’t.”

  “How old is your brother?” I felt bad for Le
elee. Something bad must have happened for her to be taking care of her brother.

  “He’s fifteen. He’s started playing football this past year, and he wants to go to a football camp this summer that is totally going to tap me dry if I don’t find a new job.”

  “I seriously have no idea if Luke will give you a job, but I know it never hurts to ask.”

  Leelee shrugged her shoulders and watched the guys work on the car. Luke was leaning into the engine of the car, doing lord knows what, and all I could do was stare. His shirt was taut across his shoulders, the sleeves riding up as he reached in, his tattoos peeking out and oh my Lord, his ass was making me drool. His jeans were just the right amount of tight and baggy. They hugged his ass and thighs but were boot cut and flared at the bottom. He was wearing a Skid Row Kings Garage shirt with the logo on the back of a wicked looking skull wearing a crown.

  “Luke.” Leelee and I turned around to see Ginny walking towards us. Oh shit, this night just went from good to horrible. I couldn’t go another round with Ginny. Hell, the first round she had spewed her hate at me and all I did was run. I couldn’t even run this time since I had driven with Luke. I slid back a bit, trying to hide behind Leelee and prayed she wouldn’t see me.

  “What in the hell does this wench think she’s doing? I bet she flashed her tits at Bart to get by.”

  I gasped, shocked that Leelee would say that. Most people didn’t say anything bad about her because they didn’t want to feel her wrath. I was beginning to like Leelee more and more. “Wait, how did you get through?” I prayed she hadn’t gone the tit flashing route.

  “Please, don’t give me that shocked look. Ain’t nobody seeing these,” she said, pointing to her boobs, “Bart is terrified of me. He knows I could beat the shit out of him and tear his car apart piece by piece.” Leelee smirked and crossed her arms over her chest and stuck her foot out as Ginny walked past us.

  Ginny was so focused on Luke she didn’t even see Leelee’s foot and stumbled forward, right into Mitch and Kurt’s backs.

  “Ginny, what the hell?” Luke asked, standing straight.