She's With Me

by Jessica Cunsolo

  “Parker?” Jonesy yells and points at Aiden, who revs his engine in response.

  I wipe my sweaty hands on my pants.

  “Simms?” Jonesy does the same for Ryan, who answers in the same way as Aiden.

  The crowd cheers louder, hoping that the person they bet money on wins.

  “Let’s start in three . . .” Jonesy holds up three fingers as he steps backward.

  My heart pounds in my ears.

  “. . . two . . .” He puts a finger down and continues backing up.

  I hold my breath.

  Jonesy stands still and points at the drivers with both hands. “Go!”

  Ryan takes off seconds before the word is even out of Jonesy’s mouth, Aiden an instant later. The cars speed through the deserted country roads, traveling away from the main part of the track, making it hard to really see what’s going on in the dark. For the most part, if you have good eyesight and are higher up, like we are while standing on Julian’s truck, you can make out the cars, even if they look tiny because of the distance.

  Despite Ryan’s short head start, Aiden catches up pretty fast, and I cheer for Aiden despite the nerves twisting up my stomach. They’re driving right beside each other when Aiden suddenly pulls forward and cuts Ryan off on a turn, leaving Ryan some distance behind him.

  “Yes, Aiden!” I’m yelling and jumping up and down in excitement.

  “He’s got this!” Charlotte shouts beside me, the others cheering in agreement.

  Aiden remains in the lead through two more turns, but then Ryan suddenly advances on him and now they’re driving side-by-side. My heart is pounding so loudly I wouldn’t be surprised if Julian could hear it from beside me.

  “Come on, Aiden!” I cheer with Charlotte.

  They get to an area in a distance where there are some sparse trees blocking the road from our view. We can only hear the loud roar of their engines, and I can only make out some blurs of the red from Ryan’s Mustang shining through the trees.

  “What’s happening? I can’t see shit,” Annalisa says as she tries to get a better view around the trees.

  Suddenly, a pair of headlights comes out of the area with trees, another pair following just behind it.

  “Who’s in the lead?” I yell.

  As if answering my question, the cars turn, and we see Ryan’s red Mustang trailing barely a foot behind Aiden’s Challenger.

  They continue through the rest of the track with Aiden slightly in the lead.

  “This is the last turn before the straight shot to the finish line,” Julian tells me and Charlotte without taking his eyes off the race.

  It’s a tight, windy turn, definitely hard for drivers to make at such fast speeds. To make it you’d either have to slow down a bit or drift, otherwise your car would spin out into the fields.

  They get to the turn, and it looks like Aiden slows down a bit to make it while Ryan takes it fast, slightly spinning out into the field.

  “What’s he doing?” Julian mutters to himself beside me.

  “What? What’s he doing?” I ask nervously.

  “Aiden always makes that drift perfectly. Why didn’t he drift this time?” he muses out loud, more to himself than as an answer to me.

  The crowd roars and people start running toward the finish. Ryan recovers from slightly spinning out and shoots for the finish line, Aiden barely a foot behind him from not drifting the turn. I’m jumping up and down, unable to contain my anxiety. Charlotte, Annalisa, and I are all yelling for Aiden to win, but the guys are all calmly sharing a look, as if they figured something out that we didn’t.

  About five seconds after the turn, the cars pass the finish line, the crowd cheering and yelling and booing. I stand there, completely stunned. Aiden lost.

  My mind is unable to process what just happened. I jump off of the truck without a word to anyone and race over to where Aiden and Ryan are slowing down their cars and stopping. Other people are trying to crowd in as well, either to congratulate or yell about how that was complete bullshit. I shove my way through the people, not caring that I’m being totally rude, just knowing that I need to get to Aiden.

  “Amelia!” Mason calls from behind me.

  I turn my head but don’t stop moving through the crowd, and see the Boys, Charlotte, and Annalisa hot on my trail. We get to where the cars are parked and go right up to Aiden, who’s getting out of his car.

  “Aiden.” I act instinctively and throw my arms around his waist, pressing my cheek to his chest and hugging him close.

  “It’s okay. We can figure something out on how to make up for that two grand. I swear I’ll help you get it back. I’m so sorry you lost it because of me,” I rant, my heart heavy.

  He stands there confused, but slowly puts his arms around me and holds me close.

  “You know it’s not your fault,” he comforts me quietly.

  “I still feel responsible,” I mutter.

  “Trust me, you’re not.”

  I see Julian looking at Aiden and sharing a knowing look. I wish I could see Aiden’s face but I’m too busy reveling in his warm embrace that I never want too—

  Wait. I just threw myself at Aiden. In front of all our friends. Get a grip, Amelia!

  I reluctantly but abruptly let go of Aiden and take an embarrassing few steps back. He probably thinks something’s wrong with me now. God, why do I always make such an ass out of myself in front of people who are important to me?

  Aiden makes eye contact with Ryan, who’s standing beside his car surrounded by his friends and Kaitlyn and Makayla.

  “Guess I put you in your place, you little bitch,” Ryan boasts, a victorious smirk on his face. He picks up Kaitlyn and laughs. “Now his little whore can do what she’s good at and spread her legs for money to make up for what he lost.”

  Aiden takes an aggressive step forward with his hands clenched in fists, but Chase puts a hand on his shoulder to stop him, and gives him a small nod.

  Jonesy chooses that time to come over and hand Ryan the two envelopes of two grand each.

  “Congratulations,” he tells him.

  “Yeah, congratulations on your win, Ryan,” Mason exaggerates.

  Dave picks up on Mason’s sarcasm and gets defensive. “What? Why’d you say it like that?”

  I can’t help but glare at Dave. If I wasn’t being held back by someone twice my size, I totally would’ve kicked his ass. If Luke didn’t come along—shit, Luke! Annalisa. I need to warn Annalisa about Luke before she sees him!

  “It’s pretty obvious,” Noah answers Dave, looking bored of the whole conversation.

  “What is?” one of Ryan’s friends asks.

  Julian rolls his eyes. “Well, it’s obvious you only won because you messed with Aiden’s car.”

  Ryan’s face turns red and contorts into a look of disbelief and rage. “I can beat that piece of shit without having to mess with his car!”

  “Clearly you can’t,” Chase provokes him.

  “I can, and I did!” Ryan yells.

  Mason crosses his arms. “You should take the money and run, Ryan. We all know you wouldn’t beat Aiden again.”

  Ryan takes the bait, getting worked up and defensive. “Of course I could beat him again. I could drive circles around his dumb ass.”

  Noah scoffs. “Yeah, right. Think that if it helps you sleep at night.”

  Ryan visibly gets angrier. “Fine! I’ll prove it! Another race. Let’s make it four grand just to prove that I’m not fucking around!” He throws Aiden one of the envelopes of two thousand dollars. “I’ll even be generous and give you the two grand back, just because I know you wouldn’t be able to afford another race with the champ.”

  Aiden looks at him as if he couldn’t care less. “I didn’t think you could afford to lose that much.”

  My head snaps towa
rd Aiden, eyes wide. Shut up, Aiden! You can’t afford to lose that much!

  “I won’t be the one losing it,” Ryan answers.

  Jonesy claps once to get our attention, rubbing his hands together and reminding us that he’s still here. “All right, then, let’s put your money where your mouth is. You know the rules. All cash up front.”

  Ryan takes his original envelope and shoves some extra money into it. He growls at his friends to give him any money that they have until he gets the remaining two grand, and hands the full envelope to Jonesy.

  “All right, everyone! Rematch! Place your bets with Gabe now!” Jonesy announces to the crowd, excited about making more commission from the bets.

  I grab Aiden’s arm and pull him aside. “Are you crazy? What are you thinking? Let’s just go; you don’t need to bet more money.”

  He looks over my head and narrows his eyes at Ryan in the distance, trash-talking with his friends.

  “I told you I want more money from him.”

  “But what if you lose? That would be four grand that could’ve been spent in so many better ways!”

  He looks me straight in the eyes, melting my worries with his powerful gaze. “It’ll be okay.”

  “But—”

  “Hey!” Ryan yells from where he’s standing with his friends, “You gonna talk all night with your slut, or we gonna race?”

  If Ryan was anyone else, the look that Aiden shot him would’ve made them shit their pants in fear. Aiden goes back over to his car and gets in, then emerges with another envelope and hands it over to Jonesy.

  “All right, everything looks good,” verifies Jonesy, shoving the new envelopes back in his pocket. “Let’s head over to the starting line and see who wins round two!”

  The crowd cheers and many run over to Gabe, Jonesy’s business partner, while others head back to their spots to get a view of the race.

  “Aiden, you don’t have to do this,” I plead one more time.

  “The deal was made with Jonesy, it’s locked in,” Mason tells me.

  The loud roar of an engine interrupts us. “Ready for me to make you my bitch again?” Ryan calls from inside his car, before laughing and driving to the starting line.

  “Don’t worry, Amelia.” Aiden smirks. “This will be the easiest four grand I’ve ever made.”

  With that, he gets in his car and follows Ryan to the starting line, hopefully the last time his car will ever be behind Ryan’s. We run back over to Julian and Mason’s trucks and get back in place, just catching Aiden and Ryan getting to the starting line. I didn’t think it was possible to be even more nervous than I was the first time I watched Aiden race, but the heavy hammering in my heart is making it abundantly clear that this time is much worse.

  “Are we ready for round two?” Jonesy announces, hyping up the crowd.

  I must’ve audibly inhaled, because Annalisa looks at me. “He’ll be okay.”

  “Anna, there’s something—”

  “Going on with you and Aiden? Yeah, yeah, we know,” she finishes for me, totally catching me off guard.

  I freeze, hearing Jonesy saying something to the crowd in the background but not paying attention. “Wait. What?”

  “Don’t think that Char and I haven’t picked up on it! But give us details later; the race is starting!”

  “No, Anna, that’s not—”

  “Don’t worry, we’ll wait until the Boys aren’t around to interrogate you,” she says playfully, without taking her eyes off of the track.

  “Okay, but, Anna, you need to—”

  “Stop talking, they started!” she shouts at me and physically turns my head toward the track, where Aiden and Ryan are speeding along the dark roads.

  All thoughts fly out of my mind and my heart moves into overdrive from the stress of watching Aiden race. They’re driving right beside each other when Aiden suddenly pulls forward and cuts Ryan off on the same turn as last time, again leaving Ryan some distance behind him.

  Come on, come on, come on. Ryan takes the next turn tight, almost pulling ahead of Aiden, when suddenly it’s like a total switch happens that’s palpable in the atmosphere. Aiden easily pulls ahead of Ryan, making the next few turns with ease and leaving the Mustang farther and farther in the distance. They get to that area with the trees blocking the track, but this time it’s obvious to see who’s in the lead. Aiden drives back into view first, keeping an easy lead. The crowd goes wild, cheering for Aiden to stay out front, and my energy feeds off that of the crowd, my confidence and excitement growing with it.

  “The last turn!” Noah announces, indicating the sharp turn that Aiden didn’t drift last time.

  Aiden’s still in the lead, but you can tell Ryan’s getting desperate to beat him.

  They reach the turn, Ryan hot on Aiden’s trail, and Aiden leaves me staring at him in lustful awe. He manages his Challenger perfectly, gray smoke billowing up from the skidding tires as he drifts the turn, straightening himself out easily.

  I’ve never been so turned on.

  Ryan attempts to drift a few seconds after Aiden, a skill much too advanced for him, and we watch with shocked eyes as he violently spins out of control. His car almost clips Aiden’s, who expertly avoids Ryan’s unmanageable rotations. If they weren’t driving on open country roads with nothing but empty fields surrounding them, Ryan definitely would have flipped after hitting something.

  I jump up and down, my excitement threatening to burst as Aiden speeds toward the finish line. He zooms past the finish line as Ryan finally gets his car under control, and the crowd goes absolutely insane.

  Again, I jump off of Julian’s pickup truck, but this time my emotions are completely different.

  High off of the energy and excitement in the air, I don’t even think about it when I sprint to Aiden, who’s getting out of his car, and launch myself at him. He’s caught slightly off guard but catches me with ease, and I wrap my legs around his waist and hug him to me, my elated excitement blocking all other rational parts of my brain.

  “You won!” I cheer as he hugs me, my joyous attitude contagious as I hear him chuckle at me.

  “I told you I would,” he brags.

  I pull back to look at him but stay suspended in his arms. “And that drift! That was amazing! How’d you learn to do that?”

  “Ahem, should we come back or something?” Noah coughs.

  I was so caught up in the excitement and Aiden and his dreamy amazingness that I barely noticed our friends staring openly at us.

  My head snaps toward them and my face heats up. Like last time, I awkwardly and reluctantly untangle myself from Aiden, trying to remember to breathe so that I don’t literally die of embarrassment.

  Aiden looks at our friends, then looks back at me before breaking into a gorgeous smile and doing the unthinkable: he opens his arms and engulfs me in a tight hug, making me oblivious to everything but his warm and comforting embrace.

  Then—as if he wants to see how long he can make me stop breathing for—he lowers his head and places a kiss on top of my head. On the outside, I’m sure I look just as shocked as I feel, but on the inside, my inner fangirl is squealing and jumping around like a kid on a sugar high.

  Annalisa recovers faster than all of us. “Congratulations, Aiden!” she cheers, referring to the race.

  Annalisa’s praise breaks the shocked and awkward spell, and everyone else congratulates him and cheers, talking about how awesome he was. He releases me from his hug but keeps one arm around me and pulls me into his side, and I bite my lip, trying to (unsuccessfully) hide my overjoyed smile.

  Jonesy comes up to us and hands Aiden the two envelopes of four thousand dollars each. “Good job out there, man.”

  “Thanks.” Aiden takes the envelopes and shoves them in the inside pocket of his leather jacket.

  In the distance, I notice Ryan
throwing a complete bitch fit, yelling at his friends before shouting at Kaitlyn and Makayla to “Get the hell in,” and they drive off. The other Silvers send us death glares, but I’m so hopped up on excitement and Aiden that their threats don’t even reach me.

  Plus, how can you feel threatened when Aiden has his arm around you? You can’t, that’s how; it’s scientifically impossible. Other people come up to Aiden to talk to him or congratulate him on winning, and the whole time he keeps his arm around me, holding me to his side as if proudly showing me off.

  17

  After Aiden finishes talking to some people about some boring car stuff, he leads me back to the Boys’ trucks, where Julian and Noah are talking to some other guys in the near distance.

  “Did you have fun?” I ask him randomly.

  He looks at me thoughtfully as we get to Julian’s truck and pauses. “Yeah, I guess I did.” He opens the tailgate of Julian’s truck and turns to face me.

  “I guess it would be pretty fun to take four grand from Ryan.” I laugh.

  He smiles at me, an action that I’m quickly becoming addicted to. “That wasn’t my favorite part though.”

  Just when I start to blush, he puts his firm hands on my hips and hoists me up to sit on the tailgate with my legs dangling down, and steps closer to me, resting his hands on either side of me on the open tailgate.

  I don’t know how to breathe. My lungs have forgotten how to work. Clearly, I can’t be too close to Aiden; he affects my respiratory system. That would be such an awkward cause of death on my death certificate. Cause of death? Aiden Parker’s charm.

  “Honestly, you were amazing,” I admit, trying to distract him from my evidently racing pulse. “But why did it seem like you were holding back in the first race compared to the second one?”

  He holds me hostage with his intense and unwavering gaze. “Because I was.”

  “Why?”

  “He makes my life hell, he harasses you, and, most importantly, he threatened my little brothers. In my mind, two grand isn’t a big enough loss for him to suffer.”