“Jesus, fuck, Piper! You’re fast.” Eric sounded out of breath, but I pushed my head even further into Ollie’s chest. He smelled like Ollie. Woodsy, but calming. Comforting. The sound of his heart beating had mine calming. The guilt was still there, lingering right over my shoulders, but he was okay, and that made me feel entirely too happy.
What does this mean?
“What the hell happened?” Ollie asked as his strong arms wrapped around my body. “She’s fucking trembling.” I am? Ollie’s voice dipped lower. “Was it Tank?”
Eric was closer, too. “No, bro. She kind of flipped when you started down the lane. I had to tell her to relax, and as soon as she saw your car, she fucking took off running. She’s fast as fuck.”
“Piper?” Ollie’s voice was soft, almost like a light touch to my skin. “What’s going on?”
I slowly took my head off his chest and met his eye. He took in my face, and his blush-colored lips parted. “You’re crying.”
I am? I swallowed and unclenched his t-shirt that I had unknowingly bunched up in my hand. My face was sticky and wet when I touched it. “Oh.”
“What’s going on?”
I gulped, trying to swallow down my emotions. “I-I don’t like this.” I knew there was a crowd around us, but for some reason, it felt like it was only Ollie and me standing in the middle of a dirt road underneath the darkened sky. “I’m going to fix this. I’m going to get you out of this. You shouldn’t be here racing like this.”
He began to shake his head when a hush came over everyone’s murmurs.
“Tsk. Tsk.” My body stilled as I recognized the voice.
“You won me a helluva lot of money tonight, boy.”
I watched as Ollie’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. The sides of his temples flexed. “I told you I would.”
“Get these people out of here,” Tank barked to one of his friends before coming over and grinning down at me. My eyes searched around him frantically, trying to find Jason, but he was no longer in sight, and that made me feel even more nervous.
Soon, the only people left standing around were Tank, two of his friends, Eric—who refused to leave—and Ollie and me.
Ollie’s large hand was suddenly clasped in mine, and my entire arm sparked when our palms touched. I still felt twisted with nerves, though.
“Where’s Jason?” My voice was shaky, but having Ollie near gave me a boost of confidence. The fear from watching him race was slowly dissipating, and now that I was looking Tank head-on, I felt the fiery girl inside awaken.
Tank shrugged, grinning with his stained teeth. “I sent him on an errand with his… handler.”
My stomach ached. His handler?
“I want to talk about terms.” Ollie squeezed my hand as he squared his shoulders. “How much of tonight is actually going onto what Jason owes?”
Tank stared at Ollie for a moment before tipping his chin back. “I’ll know more after Derek counts the winnings for tonight.” He nodded to a guy several yards away, standing around everyone who’d watched the race, passing out money. I recognized him from last week. “Once I've made back what Jason owes me, and fucktard himself is out of my hair, we’ll talk more about you racing for me for good.” A sneaky grin found its way onto his face. “Or doing some more business for me.”
Absolutely fucking not. My mouth opened, but Ollie’s hand almost broke mine with its force, so I quickly slammed my lips closed.
“Sure thing,” he answered, completely indifferent about the situation. “I just want to make sure that these races are going toward our end goal.”
Tank’s beady eyes sliced over to mine, and I was suddenly thankful that it was dark out and he couldn’t see the pure disgust that lingered within. “Don’t worry. Your princess’s fears will vanish after a few more races, I’m sure. Twenty K isn’t that hard to come by when you race that well. Although, I’ll be sad to let Jason go, as he’s quite the little helper these days.”
Helper? What did that mean?
Ollie nodded. “Alright, good shit. I just want to make sure we’re clear on terms if I’m burning gas like that.”
“Not a worry, brother. Not a fuckin’ worry.” Tank walked over to us, and I held my breath. He nodded his head over to the guy counting out money. “Let’s take a walk and see how much money we made, yeah?”
Ollie’s hand left mine as he glanced down. A warning flashed along his features before he turned to Eric. “Make sure she gets home.”
Then, he walked away with Tank by his side, and it left a sickly feeling in my stomach.
Eric stepped up beside me, and we watched Ollie walk with Tank. The ends of my nerves were singed. I suddenly felt exhausted, and I couldn’t stand to watch Ollie be friendly with Tank any longer, so I turned on my heel and began walking to where I had parked my car. The night was far from over for me. I needed to be alone to recharge. “Eric,” I called over my shoulder as we walked along the high grass. “I’m going right to Hayley’s. You don’t need to follow me.”