The gentleman side of me wanted her to have a good time, but the selfish side of me was sweating from jealousy.
As soon as my car creeped up to the starting line, I scanned the crowd. Usually, I looked forward to racing. I craved the escape it gave me, but now I felt agitated and bored. I was ready to get this over with so I could see Piper at the party later.
My phone vibrated as my Charger rumbled, and I all but dropped the phone when I saw Eric’s name flashing.
I quickly answered. “Hello?”
“She fucking stole my Range Rover!”
My foot hovered over the clutch. “What?”
Eric shouted, “Fucking Piper! I have no idea what we’re going to do with her. She’s out of control!”
I couldn’t help the laugh that echoed throughout my car. “She stole your car?”
“Yes! Fucking keep up! She’s probably already at the races even though I told her not to go. I swear, your girl is worse than a toddler.”
I wanted to be mad, but I wasn’t in the slightest. An excited thrill went surging through my blood. It was the same feeling I got when I’d c
atch her staring at me from across the room, or when she’d try to hide a half smile from me.
I hung up on Eric, throwing my phone in the center console, and scanned the crowd again. I wiggled my jaw and drummed my fingers along the leather steering wheel. Where are you, Piper?
Just as the thought entered my head, I found her.
The smile etching itself on my face was too hard to ignore. There was Piper, standing back behind the crowd of people, wearing her winter formal dress. She stuck out like a sore thumb, but she was by far the prettiest sore thumb I’d ever seen.
Our eyes locked almost immediately. She was already watching me, probably knowing very well that I’d be searching the crowd for her.
I rolled my window down, the rumbling car engines filling the space. We kept a hold of each other’s eyes, and when I let my grin free, she smiled coyly.
Well, what are you waiting for?
Piper read my thoughts, because before I knew it, she was pushing past people and heading straight for me—winter formal dress and all.
This race was about to get a whole lot better, even if I was about to lose.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Piper
The second I got into his car, his cologne flooded my senses. I almost closed my eyes to savor the woodsy smell. I suddenly felt very calm being next to him. The nerves I’d felt while driving to the races intensified as I walked through the tall grass, and when I found Ollie staring at me, I almost retreated backwards—at least, until he grinned.
It was almost like he knew I’d show up, and if I wasn’t mistaken, he was glad.
We both stayed silent for a few seconds, neither one of us wanting to admit the truth. I wanted to be with him tonight, and he wanted to be with me. Why was that so hard for us to admit?
“So what, you wanted to be my good luck charm tonight or something?”
I gasped as I came to the realization that I was sitting in the passenger seat of his Charger, seconds before he was due to race down a gravel road. How did that slip my mind? How did everything slip my mind when I was with him?
I waited for the fear to come as I gazed out the windshield, noting everyone standing around, ready for the next race to start, but it never came.
Racing with Ollie should have scared me. I had all but fainted the last time I watched him speed down the gravel road, but here I was, buckling my seatbelt, with him in the driver’s seat—like it was him and me against the world.
I spotted Jason a few yards down, standing beside Tank. He looked like he always did: run-down, tired, a little messy. It made me sick to see him.
“So?” Ollie repeated. I turned away from my brother and found Ollie’s patient stare.