But it doesn’t.
If it is Deacon, he’s not carrying that phone.
Ending the call, I jerk the wheel and bounce over the already-trampled grass to a quick parking spot. Shutting off the engine, I grab my phone and keys and run back over to the main road, the car still stopped in the middle—staring at me.
Come on, I urge them.Just get out of the car.
It’s just sitting there.
What the hell do they want? I led it to the camp last night, and it ditched me. I don’t understand.
Moving toward the car, I watch it suddenly back up. I stop, letting it retreat as I hold back a scream of frustration.
“Hey, you came!” I hear Dylan behind me.
Spinning around, I open my arms just in time for her to barrel into me with a hug. I don’t know if she sees the car behind me, but there are vehicles coming in and out of here all night. “I told you all I’d figure out some free time eventually,” I tell her.
She rocks me side to side, gleeful. “Wanna race with me?”
She pulls away, and I glance over my shoulder, seeing the car back away down the long road.
“If you still raced cars, then maybe,” I say.
“That could be arranged.”
She races motorbikes now, and I knew she had no interest in racing anything else anymore.
I walk over to the tracks with her. “Just be safe.”
“I’ll be the only thing I can be.”
I throw her a small smile, but she doesn’t see it. I love that she knows who she is. There’s never really a fork in her road.
Engines roar in the night, the bleachers are filled, and lines stretch from the food trucks and merch tents. This isthe last race before Jared heads out on the road with his team for a whole month. Rumor has it he’s stopping in Colorado. Maybe Noah can see his dad.
And I also heard Dylan will be joining them all for her first real circuit. Which he only agreed to if she promises to be home by the time the fall semester starts.
Lucas stands in a group with my brothers, his hands in his pockets. I stop at his side—close—and feel him go instantly still. I hide my amusement.
Jared doesn’t even say hi. Just arches an eyebrow at me. “Nice Jeep.”
Jared’s not a fan of me making any decisions without him.
“Don’t give her that look,” Lucas teases. “I checked it out and bought it for her as a surprise. It was cheap, but it runs well.”
Madoc twists his mouth to the side but keeps it shut.
Lucas continues, “You can talk her into something with higher safety ratings and bulletproof glass after I leave. Just be glad I got her driving.”
“Yes, thank you,” Madoc grumbles. “As usual, you’re the only one she listens to.”
Do I listen to Lucas? I almost laugh, remembering how he had to chase me last night.
But wait…after I leave,he’d said. Is Lucas not at least considering staying now? I don’t know why that surprises me. It shouldn’t. I told him I didn’t want more than last night anyway.
I reach into my bag and pull out the compass, slipping it into his pocket as my brothers talk to other people. However it goes, I want him to have it.
“Can we go home?” I whisper.
