by 33 authors
He winced, “Yeah, I found that out, I was just hoping you didn’t.”
“I knew.”
“I’m sorry, Jake,” Ravi whispered then kissed my forehead.
I sat there waiting for the plane to take us far away from Neveah and her problems.
“So how’s the summer going?” I asked Ravi once the plane was in the air and we were allowed to move around, which meant coffee and food. I had breakfast and was working on my third cup of coffee before I was ready to talk any more.
“It’s going great, I’m glad I decided to work for Dad again.”
“Ready to go back to school?”
“No, not really but I want my degree.”
“So does Mama know what you plan to do after you have it?”
“Uhm no, she has no clue what I plan on using the degree in Mechanical Engineering for.”
“Leave it that way.”
He nodded. “So Talan is there.”
“Uhm I thought he was going off to run the IHRA circuit.” I was hoping that my brother couldn’t see my cringe and blush at the use of that name.
“He was, then he realized he needed money. So instead he’s working on the crew earning money and running in the bracket races at the events.”
I nodded. “Sounds like a plan,” I said ignoring the glances my brother kept shooting in my direction.
“Lawry and Makin are there also.”
This caused me to grin. “Oh I know.”
He snickered, “I figured you did, and that you’ve been talking to them. I also knew they didn’t tell you about Talan.”
“No, they haven’t mentioned him.”
Ravi gave me a pitying look. I pushed breakfast away then pulled out my iPod, turning Drowning Pool up loudly. I didn’t want to think what that look from Ravi meant, or to think about Talan Breton.
* * *
We pulled up in front of Daddy’s pits, everyone quickly climbing out of the truck so we could get to work. It would be a few more hours before the trailer hauling the car I needed would be there, so that left me to go wake up tweedle dee and tweedle dumb or better known as the Breton twins. Makin and Lawry Breton have been my accomplices in crime since birth, their dad, Cole had been my dad’s best friend and crew chief since before I was born. That left the twins and me, who are two years older, to become my best friends. Family that got me in to trouble with their hijinks. Talan was their older cousin, his dad, Jacob used to be a driver like my dad, except sixteen years ago he was in a crash and didn’t walk away. I was named after his father, my mama named me Neveah but Daddy gave me the middle name of Jacob.
Talan didn’t realize I was alive, and he was friends with Ravi. I was barely a blip on his screen, regardless of the fact that he was a very large blip on my screen. Talan had the same dreams of racing in the NHRA big leagues just like I did. He also had the bad boy reputation down pat, all the girls wanted him, but he never kept them around once he got what he wanted. He could get away with it, he was beautiful. I shrugged off my fanciful thoughts of Talan and went in search of the camper that held the twins. It was time for some retribution.
After I found Cole and was reassured that yes, the twins were still sleeping in the camper, I filled two large water guns with ice water. I quickly found the camper and quietly opened the door before gingerly climbing the stairs. I found the twins bunked on the couches that folded out, I placed the second gun on the table by Makin’s head making sure it was out of his reach. I had already pumped them to shoot, so I stood back and hit the trigger letting a stream of icy cold water out onto the unsuspecting guys. I shot Makin first then Lawry, giggling when they both jolted up screaming, wiping water out of their eyes. I pumped the water gun again focusing it on Lawry before grabbing the second and letting a second stream of water out on Makin. When I finally emptied both guns, I spun around and took off through the open doors, sprinting away from the camper. I laughed the entire way back to my dad’s pits.
“What have you been up to, Jake?” Daddy asked when I ran into the car hauler.
“Uhm nothing,” I tried giving him my best innocent look but it failed miserably when I began giggling again.
“Where is she?” I heard Makin yell before climbing into the hauler, hair still wet from the unexpected attack. “You,” he growled then lunged for me. I quickly hid behind Daddy who was shaking his head at us.
“Oh no, little girl, you started this you better be ready to deal with the consequences.”
“I didn’t start it,” I whined, “they did.”
“What did we do?”
“You and your brother put green hair dye in my shampoo,” I growled.
Makin started laughing. “Oh my god, I forgot about that.”
“Yeah, well I had plenty of time to think about it while I was grounded.”
“Oh,” Makin said finally looking chastised. “We didn’t mean to get you in trouble.”
“Well you did, Mama grounded me most of the summer because of that, she wouldn’t listen when I said I didn’t do it myself.”
“We’re sorry,” Lawry said coming in to stand behind Makin.
Daddy sighed. “If the three of you are done, can we get back to work? Oh and Jake, your mom and I will be talking soon about this.”
“Fine,” I mumbled and followed the twins out of the hauler.
“You okay, Jake?” Lawry asked.
“Yeah, but I think they are going to go back to court.”
“I’m sorry, Jakey,” Makin said giving me a hug.
“Mama and Daddy are fighting over me, again,” I told them.
They both sighed, they knew how I felt about being pulled back and forth and being the center of my parents fights. Only it seemed that since the divorce it was all they ever did, fight.
“What the hell happened to you?” a deep southern voice asked behind me. I cringed—I knew that voice.
“Jake attacked us while we were sleeping.”
“Good for her, I’m sure you did something to deserve it,” Talan said.
“Hi Talan,” I said quietly looking behind my shoulder at him, and had to physically stop myself from sighing. Blonde hair cut close to his head, dark chocolate eyes, just enough stubble to make him look unkempt but not enough to appear scruffy. All in all, he was as he always was beautiful, and barely noticed my existence.
“Jake,” he said in that smooth southern accent, normally I didn’t pick up on the accent since I heard it all the time. Only with him it was different, darker, and seductive and it made my knees weak. I watched as he walked into the hauler without a care in the world and sighed.
“It’ll never happen, Jakey,” Makin told me.
“I know.”
“So you ready to get your licenses?”
“Yep, waiting on Daddy’s Super Bee to get here. Oh and boys, we have a busy year, we have to fix up my new car.”
“Your new car?” Lawry asked beginning to look giddy.
“Mmhmm, Daddy got me a GTX 440 but she needs work.”
“Yes,” he and Makin looked at each other grinning, “when we get home we’ll start making plans.”
I nodded, “We will, now let’s go get me ready so I can race her next summer.”
“What do you need?”
“New safety equipment.”
They nodded, we told our dads where we were going, and Daddy gave me his credit card so I could buy what I needed. That was one thing I was taught never to cut corners on, my safety.
* * *
Later that day, I ran my first two passes with my dad and his team watching. He had worked it out where I was testing on Wednesday while teams were still setting up and arriving. Two drivers watched and signed off as well as a track official. I would have to wait until the following week when we were testing before I could finish the other four runs. So I, along with the twins, spent the fourth of July watching my dad qualify. The rest of the weekend we were gophers when needed. When we weren’t, we were out watching the races.
&nb
sp; When Daddy was eliminated in the semi-finals, we helped the team pack up the hauler while Daddy signed autographs and talked to fans. He wasn’t in the best of mood so I stayed on the other side of the pit. Once everything was packed up, the cars in their bays and the data downloaded, we headed back to the airport. We would be going to Seattle for the week so Daddy could test, and I could finish with my certification. We left three members of the crew, the hauler, and driver along with the campers to follow us in the morning.
The plane was a lot fuller than the last time I had been on it; Makin, Lawry, and I claimed a set of seats buckling ourselves in and waited for takeoff. None of us wanted to be in the way of our fathers after a loss, tempers were always high. After testing in Seattle for a week, we would go to Denver for the race there; I was looking forward to that. Denver was always a good race, and I was going to try and talk Daddy into letting me run the bracket race while there. I watched as he stomped onto the plane and decided that I would ask about that later, much later.
I pulled out my iPod and slipped my ear buds in while scrolling through the different playlists until I finally came to Scars on Broadway’s Babylon, I turned it up and leaned back. It had been a long weekend and I wanted to get a nap, but I felt my seat jostle as someone sat down. I looked over smiling expecting to see Ravi, but instead Talan looked back at me. I froze not sure what to do, he smiled back at me then turned his head around facing the set of chairs across the aisle. I released the breath I was holding and went back to trying to nap. Only I knew it wouldn’t happen now, not with Talan so close.
I leaned my head back against the headrest, closed my eyes and focused on the lyrics playing through my ear buds. Eventually I was able to doze off, not asleep but not awake either. I wasn’t sure how long I sat their zoned out but when I felt the jostle of my shoulder I looked over at Talan.
“Yes?”
“I heard you just had a birthday?”
I nodded and looked around at the other occupants of the plane, some sleeping others talking quietly amongst themselves.
“Well, happy birthday.”
“Thanks,” I murmured and focused on my IPod.
“What are you listening to?”
“Uhm, Lacuna Coil.”
He laughed, “That’s not what I was expecting.”
I shrugged. “And what were you expecting Bieber?”
“Honestly, yeah.”
“Sorry to disappoint you.”
“Not disappointed, but surprised.”
I shrugged again and looked away. “Well it’s not like you actually know me.”
“I am beginning to realize that,” he said quietly. I reached down and turned my music up louder, trying once again to ignore his presence.
The thing with Talan was that I knew everything I could about him—I knew his birthday, favorite color, his love of old cars. It had become an obsession to learn all I could about him, which Chloe took much delight teasing me over. As she often reminded me though, Talan was so far out of my spectrum that it was pointless. I could never fully understand why I couldn’t let it go though. I had hoped that since he had left that it would go away. Only it hadn’t, I was still just as intrigued with him as always. My mama trivialized it as my first crush, and maybe she was right. I also knew one day it would crush me.
Talan nudged me again with his shoulder, I sighed and turned down the volume. “Yeah?”
“Well since I apparently don’t know you, how about we start?”
I stopped breathing for a second then laughed, I couldn’t help it how bizarre this was—that Talan freaking Breton wanted to get to know me. When I finally finished looking, I wiped the tears from my eyes and looked at him trying to find out what he wanted. One thing I had learned about Talan was that he didn’t do something without him getting something out of it.
“Why?” I finally asked.
“Well I’ve known you all your life and you’re right, we know nothing about each other, other than you’re best friends with my cousins and I am friends with your brother.”
“Fine, what do you want to know?”
“Hmm favorite band?”
“Changes with my mood.”
“Okay, what about today?” he asked.
“Uhm…” I said biting my lip and thinking, “today Scars on Broadway.”
“Hmm, can’t say I’ve heard of them.”
“Your loss.”
“Okay, if that’s how you’re going to be,” he said eyeing me like he’d never seen me before. “Favorite color?”
“Blue.”
“Mine too.”
“I know,” then I bit my lip hard and I could feel my cheeks burn.
“How’d you know that?”
“Uhm well you had your car painted midnight blue.”
He nodded. “Favorite food?”
“Dolmas.”
“What the hell is a dolma?”
“Rice, spices, other stuff rolled up in a grape leaf and cooked.”
“If you say so.”
“What grade are you in?”
“Starting my senior year.”
“I thought you just turned sixteen?”
I nodded, “I did.”
“Then how are you a senior?”
“Oh uhm, I kind of skipped a grade.”
“So you listen to strange music, eat odd food, and are a genius?”
“No, no, and no.”
“I would disagree,” he said smiling at me.
“My music is not strange, I like Greek food, and I am not a genius, just smart enough to skip a grade in the past.”
“What grade did you skip?”
“Seventh.”
“What else do I need to know about you?”
“Hmm I like to cook, I love listening and playing music, oh and I plan on kicking your ass soon racing,” I told him smiling back.
“Yeah, okay,” he said dismissively.
“You don’t believe me?”
“No, not really,” he said snickering.
“Guess I will get the chance to surprise you again,” I murmured.
“Ever race before Bambi?”
“Yes and Bambi? What the hell?
He chuckled, “You look like Bambi with your big innocent hazel eyes. So where have you raced?”
“You really know nothing about me, do you? How have you been friends with my brother for so long and not know?”
“Not know what?”
I laughed at his confused look then heard Ravi laughing on the other side of the aisle from Talan.
“Man, you’re in trouble now,” Ravi said.
“What am I missing?”
“Uhm, my sister over there, has been racing since she was like five; she’s won multiple Junior Dragster championships. Hell, your cousins were on her crew the past few years, along with myself. You really never pay attention to what I say do you?”
“That was you? I thought you were talking about the other sister.”
“Yeah, Chloe wouldn’t be caught dead in or near a race car,” I told him. Then I looked around him at my brother, “Ravi, if Dad gives me permission, I want to enter in the brackets at Denver, will you be on my crew if he lets me?”
Ravi nodded, “Shouldn’t be a problem, as long as Cole doesn’t need me.”
“Sweet,” I said and smiled at him. “I know those two,” I indicated the sleeping twins across from us, “are in.”
“Ah so you’re one of those,” Talan muttered.
“One of what?”
“You can drive but know nothing about cars.”
“Uhm no, I know about cars. I also know that if I want to win I have to be on top of my game. For that to happen, I need help, and these three have worked with me since the beginning. If you don’t have a crew, you’re a fool.”
“I, unlike you, don’t have money for a crew,” he sneered.
“Talan, all the money I have, I earned myself.”
“Really, then whose credit card were you flashing around this weeke
nd?”
“To buy new safety equipment, that’s the deal my dad and I made. I pay to race, to fix my cars, to enter, he makes sure I am safe doing it, for his own sanity.”
I popped my ear buds back in and switched my playlist over to my angry list and turned the volume up so I couldn’t hear anyone else. I stayed that way until we landed and exited the plane after we arrived in Seattle.
* * *
I watched Daddy test in Seattle, and was able to get my four passes down the track to get my licenses. I was ecstatic when they were handed over to me, and I was able to talk Daddy into letting me enter in Denver. The guys went to work on the Super Bee immediately to see what they could do to get my speeds up. I ran multiple passes when Daddy or his team mates weren’t using the track. I ignored Talan at every corner, he could think what he wanted about me. Only it hurt knowing he only thought of me as a spoiled brat.
The week passed quickly and we were in Denver preparing to qualify. I had done well staying away from Talan, until then. Daddy had gotten us pits next to each other so we could help each other out. So now I was stuck having to see him every time I walked out of my car hauler. He liked to walk around shirtless, which wasn’t a bad look for him. I forced myself, more than once, to stop staring at him and to focus on what I needed to do. Run my time trials so we got an idea on what speed the car was running at this altitude.
I made it through the two passes, and was proud of my runs. We had the car dialed in and ready to go the next day. Bracket racing took place in between qualifying of the main show. Then the semifinals were on Saturday and the finals on Sunday. I was going over the car once more, wanting to make sure everything was ready for tomorrow when I noticed Talan pacing around his car, slamming tools around.
“You okay?” I called over to him.
He glared at me then threw a wrench at this trailer. “Fine.”
I went back to my own car, checking the air filter. I had learned early on that it’s the simple things you forget when in a hurry. I heard Talan cursing and tossing things around, when I glanced up he was staring at me.
“Yes?”
“My car won’t start,” he growled.
“Do you want help?” I asked cautiously.
