I turn and shoot Wylder a look, “Careful, that car right there is my first love.”
He rolls his eyes, and we both turn back to watch Eve and Markus make their way to the starting line, a messy spray-painted line drawn in the dirt. A girl in leather pants and a rolled-up t-shirt makes her way between the cars, a bandana clasped tightly in her fist.
Her voice is barely audible over the roar of the engine mixed with the chants of the crowd, but I hear her warning Eve and Markus of the muddy spots in the track from today’s rain, the one that’s still drizzling down in a slow downpour. Both of them give her a nod and she backs up, her t-shirt beginning to stick to her from the rain.
“Ready, set, race!” The bandana flies in the air as Eve takes off, staying just a foot ahead of Markus as he follows close on her trail. Mud flies and slings onto the crowd as the cars pass, and I realize I should’ve changed when Wylder mentioned a race.
Kortez breaks from the crowd, standing in the middle of the track as Eve races towards the first turn. “Does she have this?”
I snort, following behind him and smiling at the view of the Maserati’s taillights. “Oh, she has this. Shewas a natural.”
“She still is.” Wylder joins us in the middle of the track as Eve flies around the turn, kicking mud on Markus’s McLaren. The car slides a little from the loss of traction, but Eve handles it like a pro.
“I’m so fucking hard right now.”
I hear Roman grunt as someone slaps him in the back of the head, no clue if it was Wylder or Kortez that did it this time. Eve loses control of the wheel for a moment, and my heart skips a beat in my chest, but she’s able to straighten herself out. The few seconds she lost, though, is all Markus needs to slide in front of her. They make the last turn with Eve still a few feet behind him.
Markus cuts his wheel to the side to miss a deeper hole, and Eve uses that as her chance to slip between him and the water barrels marking the side of the track. Her face slowly comes back into view as they get closer to the end. Rain begins to fall harder as the sound of engines become deafening. Wylder grabs me and Kor with Roman at his side, pulling us back to the safety of the crowd as the two cars come up on the finish line.
Eve flies by, mud once again hitting everyone close enough as she passes us. Both the cars stop a few hundred feet away, the low traction and high speed making it harder for them to stop. People who bet on Markus begin to grumble at their lost money while the smarter one’s cheer and count their winnings.
Idiots. I would never bet against my little ghost.
We begin the walk over and I watch as Eve gets out of the car laughing, shaking her finger at Markus as he joins her on the track.
She stops talking when she sees us, running over and jumping in my arms. “You came!”
I squeeze her tight, placing a kiss on her temple as she slides down my body. “Of course we did,Reginetta.” I lean down and leave another kiss on her nose as Kortez wraps his arms around her from behind. “You little minx. You had my car the whole time.”
Wyld leans in and gives her a kiss, groaning as he pulls away. “I didn’t know tonight was champ night.”
“Champ night?” I look up at Kortez to see if he knows but he’s just staring at Eve, the darkness in his eyes from this past week starting to recede now that he has her in his arms.
“The two racers with the most wins going head-to-head, it’s more for bragging rights than anything.” Markus stops beside Kortez and Eve, his eyes shooting from them over to Wylder as if to make sure he’s okay with the display. When he doesn’t see any anger on Wyld’s face, he continues. “Evangeline here has won the last three years. She stole the title right out from under me, and I haven’t been able to steal it back.”
She smiles and shoots him a wink. “You never will, Markus. Learn to love it.”
He smiles back at her, and Kor practically growls, tightening his hold on her as he pulls her away.
I see Markus’s face fall for a moment before he collects himself. “I’m sorry, I should’ve introduced myself. I’m Markus Rivera.” He holds his hand out for Kortez to shake but quickly turns to me when he sees the look on his face.
I shake it quickly and Markus keeps it up long enough for Roman to step in and take it. “Nice to meet you, man. I’m Roman, this is Atlas and the beast with his arms around Evie is Kortez.”
Markus nods and clears his throat, looking around the track at the people beginning to disburse now thatthe final race is done. “Are you guys coming to the party? I’m having it at the garage this year because of the rain.”
Eve looks around at us; her bottom lip trapped between her teeth as she thinks. “Um…”
Kortez begins to kiss a path up her throat, his teeth coming out to nipple every few kisses. Her face turns beet red as my arms tighten around her, effectively trapping her between Kor and I.
“Of course we’ll be there!” A thin arm snakes between where I have Evie caught, a red-haired woman sliding between us and causing Eve to laugh.
“Of course you want to party, Viv. Where’ve you been?”
So, this is Vivianne. She’s more petite than I expected with long straight hair falling down her back, barely soaked from the rain. She’s dressed for the races in dark jeans and a bomber jacket, but something doesn’t feel right with her. I’m finally beginning to feel the same sort of alarm that Kor has had the last few weeks when it comes to her.
“I was up in the watcher’s tower. The crowd tonight was insane, and I didn’t feel like dealing with everyone.”
Eve’s eyes narrow but she quickly shakes the look away and shoots Markus with an apologetic look. “Next time, Mark. I’ve got some…things I want to do.”
