Despite our objections, Morelli’s interest is peaked. “Hmm, interesting. This might work for me. You’re also the mayor’s son, and being a cop adds a layer of risk to your participation in the races. Besides, everyone in town knows about what happened to your twin brother. That’s the reason why your old man campaigned to ban motorcycles in Star Cove. And before that, you guys were up-and-coming motorcycle racing champions. You were signed to a MotoGP team, weren’t you? I like this. Ok,deal. Chance, you’re off the hook. Officer Hunter, pleasure doing business with you. I’ll see you all here next week.”
Zara
We don’t even wait until Mason is out of earshot to let Ares know what we think about the deal he just made with the literal devil.
“You had no right.” Chance confronts him. “How is racing in my place fixing anything? And that motherfucker is right. You’re a cop. If you get caught, you’re in even more trouble than all of us could ever be.”
I’m not surprised when Ares’s tone is twice as hard as Chance’s. “I have every fucking right. You’re my little brother, and I love you. If you think I’m gonna let you play Russian roulette with your mind until you get hurt next time you choke…”
“You don’t know if it’s gonna happen again.” Chance argues. “It didn’t happen every time I raced.”
“Right.” Ares laughs, but there’s no mirth in it. “So we just gamble with your safety. Fuck that. It’s too late, anyway. You’re off the hook.”
When Ares starts walking away, Chance grabs his arm. “This is not over. You can’t just make these kinds of decisions for me. You’re not the boss of me, or my dad.”
“No, I’m not. But if you think that’s going to stop me from protecting you, you’re even more wrong than you were for not telling anyone about the flashbacks you’ve been having.Knowing what could have happened to you out there today when you stopped in the middle of the racetrack, I had to step in.”
I don’t think I’ve ever seen Chance so angry. “You are just like Dad!” he snaps. “You have a fucking God complex, but I’ve got news for you. You can’t fix everything.”
That last remark strikes a nerve with me. The urge to fix everything is something Ares and I have in common. Maybe that’s why we understand each other so well.
“Guys,” I intervene. “Let’s get out of here. It’s getting late, and everyone has gone home. We can talk about this somewhere more private.”
Lev backs me up. “Zara is right. They took away all the extra lighting, and the street lights offer barely enough light to walk back to campus. Let’s go.”
“Where? I don’t want to be alone tonight, but Mom and Scott are home. And we can’t talk freely at Lev’s house anymore.”
“We can go to my place.” Ares says. “No one will bother us there.”
Lev shakes his head. “There’s barely any room for you in that tiny apartment. Chance and I have practice tomorrow morning, and we can’t sleep on the floor without getting all tweaked up. My parents have a suite rented permanently at the Country Club. They use it whenever they have important clients coming from out of town. Let me check with the club if it’s available.”
A few moments later, we’re climbing into Ares’s Jeep that’s parked behind the old gas station at the opposite end of our illegal racetrack from campus.
The ten-minute ride is quiet, and I’ve never understood the expression “you could cut the air with a knife” until tonight.
I can still feel the adrenaline from the race course through me, and the guys seem as on edge as I am. None of us utters one word until Ares stops at the valet while Lev runs to get the key to his parents’ suite.
The suite is as large and opulent as I would expect from a place as swanky as Star Cove’s Country Club.
Two bedrooms with king-sized beds and each with its own en-suite bathroom can be accessed from a living room fit for royalty.
Each room has also use of a private patio with an infinity pool and a hot tub under a pergola.
Usually, I would be all over the hot tub and the pool, but it’s past three a.m. and I have a morning class tomorrow, so I should try to get some sleep.
That, however, isn’t going to be possible until the guys resolve what is making them scowl at one another.
For as much as I agree with Ares that Chance should have never raced after he had his first flashback of Atlas’s death, I understand why Chance kept it quiet.
He has a much sunnier disposition than Ares, but Chance has the same stoic attitude as his older brother. Chance is always the one who soldiers on, carrying other people’s loads on his shoulders, no matter how heavy.
When he needs help, he often doesn’t know how to ask for it.
“Guys,” my tone is gentle as I look at them. “I know it’s getting late and we’re all exhausted. But after she left Dad, my mom taught me to never go to bed angry. I know you aren’t going to solve your disagreements tonight, but can you agree that you love each other? Once you’ve had some time to think, I’m sure you’ll find some common ground.”
Chance is the first to speak. “Yeah. I can agree to that. This isn’t about my not caring about Ares. He just stepped out of line tonight by offering to take my place in the races.”
“Sure, I can agree with you on that.” Ares fires back. “If you admit that racing after you had the first flashback was the stupidest move you could have made.”
