“I’d like to see you try.”
“Is that a challenge?” he questions as the crowd goes nuts. I don’t bother turning around to see. I already know Noah dominated that race. There were no shocked gasps of people hurrying around me, telling me that there was a crash or some dramatic event so that only leaves one option. A straight forward, easy win.
“Uh huh,” I grin. “You wouldn’t be able to beat my time anyway. You can try, but I doubt you’ll get anywhere close. You might want to just give up now. You know, save yourself the embarrassment.”
“First off,” he grins. “Your time was one of the slowest times this track has ever seen. I could do it blindfolded and still beat it. And secondly, you should know I don’t give a shit about embarrassing myself, especially after serenading you in the middle of the school.”
I smile up at him as my lips brush against his. “You’re all talk, Nate Ryder. Why don’t you go out there and prove it?”
Nate’s arms wind around my body until he has an ass cheek in both hands. “You’re trouble, Tora Roberts.”
“Would you two quit fucking around?” Puck scolds from somewhere behind me. “You’re going to miss your fucking race.”
Nate looks up over the top of my head and groans. “Fine.”
He kisses me one more time before I allow him to pull away.
Murmurs start seeping through the crowd but I only have eyes for Nate as he makes his way to the driver’s door of his Mustang.
“What the fuck?” I hear gasped behind me. Add that to the murmurs throughout the whole crowd and I finally find it within myself to turn around.
I follow Brooke’s shocked gaze as she stares, wide-eyed down at the track. I look down there to find a black car pushing its way down onto the track, only it’s not taking the place of Nate’s opponent. That guy is already there.
I try to look around the bodies to get a better view but there’s just too many people. “Is that…is someone taking his place?”
Brooke shakes her head. “I…” She promptly gives up, not having a damn clue what’s going on.
“What the fuck is going on?” Nate questions, leaving his Mustang and coming to stand in beside me to see what all the fuss is about.
The black car creeps in until it’s comes to a stop beside Nate’s opponent, putting it right out in the open for the world to see. My eyes widen in shock. It’s like I’m having Déjà vu. I gasp as I take in the matte black Camaro. The one that looks identical to Nate’s old one…. in fact, so identical…. No. it couldn’t be.
I look across at Nate as I weave my fingers through his. His eyebrows are pulled down in confusion as his eyes scan over the Camaro. “What’s going on?” I question. “Who is that?”
“I don’t know,” he murmurs beside me as eyes all over the big property start seeking out Nate, also wondering what the hell is going on. “But that car looks pretty fucking familiar.”
Nate clutches my hand in his as the confusion turns to anger. He starts storming forward, pulling me along beside him. The more I look at the Camaro on the track, the clearer it becomes. This is Nate’s old car. The one that was destroyed. Someone has taken it and rebuilt it.
Nate and I are just about down to the track with our whole group right on our heels and I groan to myself. I thought we were done with the drama for senior year. But this is so much worse. This is a personal attack on Nate. It’s almost like someone taking what’s his and rubbing it in his face. In a more personal way than Phoenix could ever dream of. This Camaro was his pride and joy and now someone else is claiming it and wanting to race in front of all our friends. Nu-uh. No way.
The door to the Camaro opens and a mop of dark hair appears as the driver gets out of the car. Recognition hits me instantly and I pull back hard on Nate’s hand, desperately trying to get him to stop before he goes and beats the living shit out of the guy.
The driver turns to face us with a massive grin, splitting his face in half. “Surprise,” Jesse calls, opening his arms wide and seeking out his brother in a show of complete pride.
Holy shit. This isn’t some dickhead trying to best Nate. This is his brother being a secretive little douchebag with a heart of gold. Fuck, I love that kid.
Nate blanches and finally brings himself to a startling halt as he tries to work out what the fuck is going on, but now’s not the time to stop. I laugh and race forward, tugging hard on Nate’s hand to pull him behind me.