“Is the track really safe to race on?” she asked absently as she stared at the cars that were currently racing, her voice tight.
I couldn’t blame her for being worried, especially after almost losing Reid. I hated the thought of Riley racing too, but I knew this place was the safest place for her to do it.
“Accidents can happen, we learned that when Riley’s brother’s car crashed and burned with him inside,” I said quietly, my chest aching at the memory. “But if people respect the rules, we rarely have any problems. Lloyd died because someone wanted him to, not because he was racing.”
“That doesn’t make me feel better,” she grumbled, and Landon gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder, not seeming to notice how tense she became from his touch.
“This track has so many safety measures in place. This is the safest place on earth for our little speed freak friends to get it out of their systems.” Raven crossed her arms tightly, sending out hugeback offvibes, but Landon was a dumbass and just kept talking. “Rick’s the clipboard guy, and he’s trained in first aid now, too.”
“Landon,” I muttered, grabbing his arm and pulling him back, making Raven’s muscles loosen a fraction. “Personal space. Can’t you read body language?”
He gave me a look as if I was crazy, but he cringed when he noticed Raven’s posture. “Oh. Sorry.”
“It’s fine,” she replied, but Landon glanced at his watch, letting out a curse.
“Shit, mine and Jett’s race is about to start. I’ll be back soon.” Then he jogged off to his car, leaving me with Raven.
She glanced over at Reid who was sitting in his Challenger with the door open, talking to Logan and Zavier. “Those boys do the dumbest shit and wonder why I yell at them all the time.”
I snickered, drawing her attention. “All guys are like that. They’re wired differently, I swear.”
“Reid should be at home, but he insisted on being here. Zavier drove us here, but I know Reid would’ve done it if he could. He’s miserable watching everyone except himself be able to drive his car.”
“Is Logan racing tonight?” I asked, a sigh leaving her as she studied me, wondering whether to have an in-depth conversation with me or not. Just because we talked sometimes, didn’t mean she trusted me.
“Ander’s racing him, yeah. I don’t like the guy, and I wish the guys would stay the fuck away from him. He’s trouble,” she finally stated, her face twisting with disgust.
“He’s no more trouble than Beckett is. She’s in a crew and does dodgy shit,” I said carefully, not wanting people to think I was talking shit. “But you like her, right?”
“Beckett hasn’t almost gotten my guys killed.”
“You can blame Ander if it makes you feel better, but it’s not his fault. It was his organized event, but he didn’t force Reid to get in the car and race. Give the guy some slack. From what I’ve heard about it, Ander stayed with him until paramedics arrived. You saw him at the hospital. He was covered in blood. That was from trying to keep Reid alive,” I said softly, my eyes moving to Beckett as she argued with Ander about something. “He’s tried hard to keep me safe when he’s needed to, and he cares about his friends a lot. You don’t have to like him, but don’t hate him. He’s really nice.”
“Ander Lavaro can bite me,” she said sharply, stalking back to Reid’s car without a backwards glance. I winced, knowing I’d pissed her off and probably ruined the chance of a friendship between us, but Raven was a prickly person. She didn’t seem to have friends outside of the guys and Beckett, and she was easy to piss off.
It wasn’t up to me to pry into her personal life, but she showed signs of trauma, and I hated that I couldn’t help her.
I wandered over to the others, sliding my arms around Riley’s waist from behind. “Hey. Are you guys playing nice?”
Maddox snorted, not taking his eyes off Ander who was standing beside us. “It would be easier if Lavaro wasn’t here.”
“Leave him alone,” I grumbled, Maddox’s dark blue eyes shifting to mine. “He’s nicer than you most days.”
Ander laughed, and Beckett was trying hard to keep a smile off her face as Maddox scowled at me. “You’re supposed to be on our side, not his.”
“I’m on Riley’s side.” I grinned, motioning to Ander. “Which means I’m on his side by default.”
“Thanks,” Ander said dryly. “I’m really feeling the love, Hendricks.”
I squealed as someone grabbed me from behind and gave me a bear hug, my heart rate calming when Riley turned and scowled. “Cruz! You scared her half to death.”
He relaxed his hold slightly, chuckling in my ear. “Sorry. I heard you got a gift today.”
The others went back to their conversation about hating Ander, so I turned to speak to Cruz, pushing his arms off me. “Did you have something to do with that?”
“I’m offended. You think because I can hack into things that it was me?” He looked extremely pleased with himself, giving himself away.
“You didn’t have to do that, but thank you,” I said quietly.