Skid Row Kings Complete Series

by Winter Travers

  “I suspect she had a hand in it. I’m sure she enlisted her new boyfriend to help her out. AZ and Luke don’t get along so I’m sure AZ jumped at the chance.”

  “Luke is going to flip when he finds out she fucked with your car.” Leelee was right. Luke was not going to be happy about this. I know when we had discovered that the cables had been cut he wasn’t happy, but it kind of got forgotten in between racing and all the drama with his aunt.

  “I’m not going to tell him until later. He needs to concentrate right now.” Another person walked out of a stall, and I realized it was my turn. “I’m sure she’s harmless. Hopefully, with her being with AZ she’ll lay off me and just disappear.”

  “I think that you are completely wrong, but I’ll let it slide for a little bit. Luke does need to concentrate tonight. We’ll tell him Monday at the shop.”

  “Deal.”

  Leelee and I hurried in the bathroom, the line getting longer as we walked out and headed back over to the boys. Leelee and I sat back down on the tailgate each of us glancing at each other. I had decided that I wasn’t even going to tell Luke I had talked to Ginny until later. Much later. Surprisingly she hadn’t rattled me as much as she normally did. Having Leelee with me and knowing that Luke was in my corner made her jabs at me not hurt as much.

  “Has anyone seen AZ yet? It’s half past nine already.” Kurt glanced at his watch and leaned against the tailgate that was dropped down on Luke’s truck that Leelee and I were sitting on. Luke had backed his truck up so it was lined up with the track so we had a place to sit.

  “Asshole probably punked out,” Kurt mumbled.

  I could only hope that AZ decided not to go through with it, but my hope went down the drain when there was a commotion at the entrance to the track and the crowd parted as AZ drove through and up on the track. “Looks like he came for his ass whoopin’ after all,” Leelee laughed, rubbing her hands together. To say that Leelee and I were complete opposites was an understatement, but it seemed to work. I was stressing over the race, and she couldn’t wait for it to start.

  “Perfect. In ten minutes we can get the hell out of here. It’s only three weeks until the circuit starts for Mitch and I. We need to be working on our cars, not doing fucking grudge matches because some asshole can’t accept the fact he got beat.”

  This was one time I had to agree with Kurt. AZ lost. End of story.

  “About time he decided to show up.” I turned around at Luke’s voice, and a smile spread across my lips as I watched him saunter over. He was wearing dark jeans with a black shirt that was tight and stretched across his shoulders and a black baseball hat on his head tonight. He looked good enough to lick, and that was exactly what I planned on doing later.

  “I was hoping he wouldn’t show up,” I mumbled as Luke walked to me and stood in between my legs and put his hands on my thighs.

  “Stop worrying, Princess. Nothing is going to happen besides me beating AZ. Then you and I are heading home to finish what we started earlier.” I blushed at his words, remembering where his hands were before Frankie had stormed up the stairs after helping out in the shop after school. She was ranting and raving about what a jerk Kurt was being and thankfully didn’t notice us until I had my shirt on straight and my shorts buttoned up.

  He leaned in, his hand cupping my chin and pressed a sweet, slow kiss on my lips. These were my favorite kisses from Luke. The ones that I could feel how much he loved me. Don’t get me wrong, I loved any kiss he gave me, but these were the ones I savored and craved. “I love you,” I mumbled against his lips.

  “I love you, too, Princess.” And those were my five favorite words.

  “You think you two can wrap that shit up so we can get this race going?”

  Luke growled low, and I knew his patience was more than wearing thin with Kurt. “Wait for me?” He asked me.

  “Forever.”

  “How about fifteen minutes?” He chuckled.

  “I think that’s doable.” He pushed away, his eyes on me, and I wished more than his eyes were on me.

  Leelee put her arm on my shoulder and sighed. “You do realize you have the hottest piece of ass in love with you, right?” She asked as we watched Luke walk to his car with Mitch and Kurt following him.

  “I’m well aware of this fact, seeing as you point it out every time I see you,” I laughed.

  “I just don’t want you to take that fantastic piece of man meat for granted.”

  “By the way, I told Luke you call him man meat.” She turned her head to look at me, her jaw dropped open.

  “You did not!” I nodded my head, laughing my ass off. I had told him a couple of nights ago, and after I had explained to him what Leelee meant by it, he had told me the only person he wanted calling him that was me, not Leelee. “How the hell am I supposed to work next to him when he knows that I call him that? It’s not like I want him; I just appreciate a good looking man.”

  “He knows.” I wasn’t about to tell her that he had said the same thing as her. I told him just to treat her like his sister, and they would be fine.

  “Hmm, paybacks are a bitch, sister,” Leelee said, glaring at me.

  “Hey, just remember I’m dating your boss.” She crossed her arms over her chest but didn’t say anymore.

  “Alright, let’s get this ass whooping over with.” Mitch and Kurt walked back over to the truck and stood with their arms crossed over their chests.

  “AZ talking shit?” Leelee asked.

  “Naw, he barely even looked at Luke. Either he’s scared shitless, or he’s so cocky that in his head he’s already won,” Mitch replied.

  I watched as Luke backed up into the water, wetting his tires then revved his engine. His tires started spinning, a huge cloud of smoke billowing around him, then he took off for a few feet. AZ did the same thing, warming up his tires. They both backed up with the line, their tires just touching the line.

  I held my breath as my eyes were trained on the tree, and it felt like forever before the first yellow light flashed. I grabbed Leelee’s hand and time stood still as the lights flashed yellow, yellow, green.

  They both took off, both of their cars eating up the pavement as their engines roared and you could hear every gear they hit.

  “Two car lengths,” Mitch said.

  “I’d say one and a half,” Kurt countered.

  “Two and a half. Luke pulled away the last half,” Leelee put in.

  I had no idea what they were talking about, but I had to assume from the roar of the crowd that Luke had won. “He won, right?”

  Mitch, Kurt and Leelee all laughed. “Yeah, Vi. He totally won.” I looked at Mitch, who had a huge grin on his face, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Thank God.

  I watched as Luke made his way down the track, AZ’s car following close behind, revving his engine. “What the hell does AZ think he’s doing?” Kurt shouted, pushing away from the truck.

  Before I could even ask what Kurt meant, AZ smashed into the back of Luke, both cars going sideways and crashing into the barrier that divided the track from the grandstands.

  We all took off running, Kurt reaching Luke first, and threw open his door. Luke already had his seatbelt off and crawled out of the car. He was hunched over, his hands on his knees by the time I made it to him. “Make sure he’s alright,” I heard Luke order, glancing at AZ’s car that was completely smashed into the barrier.

  Luke stood up, taking off his helmet. “Are you OK?” I asked. He nodded his head, and I lunged at him, wrapping my arms around him.

  “Easy, Princess,” he laughed, wrapping his arms around me. “I’m OK. Just a little sore.”

  “Get your fucking hands off of me.” I turned my head to see Kurt and Mitch hauling AZ out of his mangled car. He was pushing them away, not wanting any help, but there wasn’t anyone from AZ’s crew there to help him. “This is fucking bullshit!” He screamed at Luke, pointing his finger at him. “I should have won.”

  “Not this bullshit again
,” Luke mumbled. “You lost. Twice. Move the fuck on AZ. And, you owe me not one car, but two now.”

  “I don’t owe you fucking shit!” AZ stormed off into the crowd that was now forming around the cars, a few people following him, but most just letting him pass.

  “This fucking blows,” Leelee said, walking over to the front of Luke’s car. The front of Luke’s car was mostly undamaged, but the back end was annihilated. It was bad.

  “Mother fucker really didn’t want to give up his fucking car,” Mitch said, shaking his head. “The engines should still be good in each of them.”

  “Can’t you just report it to your insurance?” I asked. It wasn’t Luke’s fault he had crashed; insurance should cover it.

  “I was racing, Princess. My insurance isn’t going to do anything besides total the car and tell me good luck.”

  Oh. That blew. “I can’t believe he did that,” Kurt muttered, slamming the door on Luke’s car shut.

  Mitch, Kurt, and Leelee walked around both cars, talking to themselves, but all I could do was hold onto Luke and not let him go. “You crashed.” It was hitting me that Luke was in an accident, and he very much could have been dead right now.

  “I did, but I’m OK, Princess.” His hands rubbed my back as his eyes traveled over my face. The first tear fell, and then I couldn’t hold them back anymore.

  “I almost lost you,” I hiccupped. Luke’s arms wrapped tight around me, and I buried my face in his neck.

  “Yo, I’m taking Violet home. Do you three got this?” Luke called. I didn’t hear what else was said because I was crying too hard. Luke stepped back, one arm going to the back of my knees and the other supporting my back as he lifted me up, cradling me in his arms and walked to his truck. My sobs racked my body, and I couldn’t stop. I had just found the man I love, and he was almost taken away from me.

  Luke managed to open the driver’s side door to the truck and lifted me in. He jumped in behind me and closed the door behind him. “Come here, Princess,” he called. I clambered into his lap, straddling his lap and collapsed on him. “I’m OK. I’m OK,” he said over and over.

  I held on tight as my sobs lessened, his touch soothing me. “I love you, and I almost lost you.”

  “Let me see your face, Princess.” I leaned back, knowing I looked a mess but didn’t care. He reached over to the glove box, pulling out a wad of napkins and worked on gently wiping my face.

  “That asshole could have taken you from me.”

  “But he didn’t. It wasn’t that bad of an accident, Princess. I’m here, and I’m fine. Focus on that.”

  “How messed up am I? You’re the one who was in the car accident, but here you are, comforting me. I’m sorry,” I sniffled, grabbing the napkin from him and blew my nose in it.

  “It’s OK, Princess,” he laughed. I tossed the tissue on the floor and tried to calm down.

  “You better now?” I nodded my head, at least, better for now. “I love you.”

  “I love you, too. Promise to bail me out of jail when I beat the shit out of AZ?” I joked.

  “I think you’re going to have to get in line behind Mitch, Kurt and Leelee, but yeah, Princess, I’ll be ready with bail money,” he smirked.

  I leaned in, resting my forehead against his. “Can you take me home so I can lay in your big ass bed and just have you hold me?” My emotions were all over the place. I went from happy that Luke had won, then scared when AZ crashed into him. Now I was just thankful that Luke was OK.

  “Best plan I’ve heard.” He pressed a kiss to my lips and threaded his fingers through my hair. “I fucking love you, Violet,” he swore.

  “I love you, too, Luke,” I mumbled against his lips. I had found the man I loved, and he was still mine. Forever.

  =_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=

  Chapter 30

  Mitch

  “I’m fucking beat. You want to remind me why the hell we open the fucking shop at seven on Saturdays?” Kurt stumbled down the stairs and headed straight to the mini fridge in the corner of the office and grabbed a soda.

  “Because normally we have a full schedule the whole week and this is the time that we can catch up.” I grabbed the appointment book from under the counter and flipped it open. “We don’t have an appointment until seven thirty, though. You want to try to bring Luke’s car in and drop it in the back bay?”

  Kurt cracked open his soda, taking a huge swallow and headed into the shop without a word. That actually went better than I had thought it would. It had seemed lately every time I asked Kurt to do anything he basically told me to fuck off. His good mood probably had to do with the fact the Leelee didn’t work on Saturdays.

  After Luke and Violet had left the track, leaving Kurt, Leelee and me with the task of getting the wrecked cars off the track, I hadn’t fallen into bed till after three. Dealing with Kurt and Leelee while we loaded up the cars had not only driven me crazy with the arguing back and forth, it was also fucking exhausting being the referee between those two. I was thankful when I had woken up this morning realizing it was Saturday and Leelee wouldn’t be at the shop. It wasn’t that I didn’t like Leelee, it was actually the opposite. I liked her, and I hated that she had to put up with Kurt’s shit all of the time. Although she definitely gave back when Kurt went at her.

  I powered up the computer, hoping to retrieve the data from Luke’s car before the first customer showed up. Thankfully the computer wasn’t damaged in the accident so I would still be able to see how Luke’s car drove last night and add all the information in the huge ass charts and graphs I had on the computer.

  I glanced at the clock when the front door opened, the bell above the door ringing, and a woman walked through the door. She walked up to the counter, her head down as she walked, watching her feet instead of where she was going. She was wearing baggy, gray jogging pants and a huge black hoodie that was baggy and looked like it was swallowing her up. She had the hood up, covering the top of her head and I couldn’t see her face.

  She walked up to the counter and rested her hands on the top, her hands balled into fists. Her knuckles were bright red with small nicks and cuts all over them. From the looks of her hands, she had been in a fight or maybe a car accident.

  “Can I help you?” I asked, standing up.

  She reached up, pushing her hood off and her dark red hair tumbled out, cascading around her face. She looked up, pushing her hair out of her face and I stepped back as I took in her black eye that was swollen shut and cuts all over her face.

  “I need help.”

  The End

  PowerShift

  Chapter 1

  Scarlett

  I slammed my hand down on the steering wheel and knew this was it. I had made it this far, and my piece of shit car had finally given up even though I wasn’t anywhere close to giving up.

  I glanced in the backseat, thankful that Levi was still asleep and pulled my phone out of my purse. After three attempts of pressing the power button, I realized my phone had decided to give up, too. I plugged it into the car charger knowing it would be an hour before I would have enough battery life to turn it on. The damn thing was over five years old, so it was a miracle it had made it this long. I had planned on picking up one of those Trac phones when we settled into our new apartment, but I guess the phone had other plans.

  We were supposed to be at the apartment in five minutes, but there was no way we were going to make it now. I looked around, trying to find a place that would have a phone. I glimpsed a garage just down the road and tried the key one last time, hoping I could at least get the car running to drive the half a block to the garage.

  I pumped the gas as I turned the key and said a silent prayer for the damn thing to start. The car came to life, revving high and smoking under the hood. Shit, smoke was not a good sign. I kept my foot on the brake as I shifted into drive and knew as soon as I took my foot off the brake the car was going to take off. For the past two months the car had been doing this, and no matter
how many times I tried to tell Manny that the car needed to be fixed, he just blew it off and went to the bar to get drunk.

  I rode the brake as the car crept down the shoulder of the road, thankful that there wasn’t any traffic out this early. I had been trying to travel during the night for a few different reasons, and one of them was so I didn’t get stuck in traffic. I could move much faster the less traffic there was. It was hard for Levi, but it helped us get to where we needed to be faster. Plus, I didn’t like to be out during the day. It was much easier to hide out in a hotel room during the day and travel at night.

  I glanced in the rear view mirror, checking to make sure there weren't any cars behind me, and I caught a glimpse of my face and grimaced. Manny had done a hell of a job on my face before we had left. Every time he would raise his hand I would flinch, and with every flinch, it pissed him off even more. He loved to taunt me and throw it in my face that I was afraid of him. I think anyone would be scared of someone who got rip roaring drunk and decided that his girlfriend was a punching bag.

  The last time he had hit me, I saw something different in his eyes, and I knew I needed to get out before he killed me. My reasoning for staying for Levi’s sake had left, and now my only mission was to get as far away from Manny as possible. Right now there were over twelve hundred miles between him and us.

  As soon as I turned into the driveway of the garage, I turned the car off and coasted into a parking spot and shifted the car into park. I looked up at the huge building, the words Skid Row Kings Garage in huge letters adorned the building and by the cars in the parking lot, I could tell this wasn't your typical body shop.

  I turned to look at Levi, and he was still sleeping peacefully. “Damn.” Should I wake him up or not? Gah. I had to go in. I contemplated honking my horn trying to get someone to come outside but figured that would be rude.

  “The hell with it.” I hopped out of my car deciding I would talk to someone and ask them to come out to my car to talk. I would be gone a minute, tops.