“Excuse me. What did you just say to me?”
She pops her gum and shrugs her shoulders. “I’ve been trying to land Dash for years. I thought with Lennon out of the picture I’d finally have a shot.”
She removes her hands from her pockets and motions to her body. “I mean look at me. I’ve got it all. So, what is it you have that I don’t?”
Somehow as I was trying to find the person glaring at me in the crowd, I managed to lose Dash in the sea of people. He must finally notice I’m not beside him because he turns and searches with furrowed brows until he finds me. Once he’s spotted where I am, he tries to head my direction but people are too busy talking to him. He’s unable to make his way back to where I’m standing.
I’m not about to entertain this woman and her delusions. Just as I’m about to walk away from her, she grabs my wrist forcing me to look at her.
“I seduced him just last week. It was way too easy. A little whiskey and poof. Putty in my hands. He was crying over your goddess of a sister, or princess, or whatever stupid name he gave her. He put her up on a pedestal she never deserved to be on. I’m glad she fell. Lennon Tyler is six feet under now though, isn’t she? And I’ll be damned if the last Tyler sister standing is going to get in my way this time. I think it’s best if you run back to your doctor boyfriend and your cooking show. You don’t belong on any racetrack,” she grits out.
I’m raring back to punch her when someone grabs my fist.
“Now, princess, she’s not worth going to jail for,” Jackson says in front of her.
Troy and Dillan stand behind him eyeing the redhead with their arms crossed. She scoffs. “Are you seriously chasing hertoo? What the hell do the Tyler twins have that no one else around here does? Look at me!” she shouts.
“We are, darling. We can all see what you got. You don’t leave anything to the imagination, including your bitchy personality. Leave London alone,” Troy says as Dillan remains quiet beside him.
She stands there for a moment as her cheeks turn almost as red as her hair. When she finally stomps away, Dillan watches her until she disappears into the crowd. His jaw tightens and then his gaze lands on me.
“You okay? She said some nasty stuff,” he says.
“Who was she?” I ask.
“She’s a little buzzed, but it’s still mostly her personality. She’s Darcy. Don’t pay her any attention,” Troy says.
I can see Dash finally breaking through the crowd and my heart lurches, but this time it isn’t racing to be near him. It’s racing to get away from him.
I glance at Jackson. He towers about a foot above me. “Give me your keys. I need to get out of here. I’ll leave your car at the garage. Please.”
He glances over me, I assume to where Dash is fast approaching. A smirk tugs at his mouth. He rubs a hand across the stubble on his face. He’s actually quite handsome.
“I might need an explanation. Why did Lennon’s sister come here with her sister’s boyfriend, but after hearing he recently got into someone else’s pants, you’re wanting to leave?” he asks as he arches a brow before leaning in close.
“Did you cross a line you weren’t meant to, princess?” Jackson whispers in my ear while pressing his keys into my palm.
He pulls back and his dark eyes find mine. My first instinct is to get defensive and put my walls up.
“I thought you said we were friends…that we grew up together. Why are you treating me like the enemy?” I ask.
“We are friends. Which is why you’re holding the keys to my ’69 Camaro parked right over there,” he says while pointing to the silver classic at the edge of the building just behind us.
“You trust me to drive her?” I ask with wide eyes.
“I saw you drive Lennon’s race car and the GTO. You might not remember, but I helped to teach you too, London. So, yes, I trust you. Now, trust me, and go. We can talk later,” he says while smiling.
Troy and Dillan shake their heads as Jackson drapes an arm over my shoulders, leading me toward his car. “I’ll catch a ride back with the guys. Get outta here before you get caught, princess.”
My gaze lands on Dash as he pushes through the crowd. He’s close. I’ve got to go now. I need the roar of an engine and the tires rolling under me as I hug the curves. I need something I can control.
My memories—I got nothing. My heart—a traitorous organ. My life and sister—stolen. But a car with a powerful engine and the open road…it’s the calm to my storm, the solace to my soul, the beating in my heart. I almost become one with all the working parts as the white lines stretch in front of me and disappear in the rearview.
“Don’t look back, just drive,” Jackson says beside me, then he’s gone.
I do as he says and slide behind the wheel of his car. With the flick of my wrist, the big-block V8 roars to life. It’s so powerful, it almost sounds like a growl. I’ve got my foot on the clutch, one hand on the wheel, and the other on the shifter when I spot Dash has finally made it through the crowd.
His dark gaze is filled with fear as I start to move, revving the engine as I go. People around me are looking on to see what’sgoing on. I don’t have a clear path out of here. I glance at the makeshift track to my right and say to hell with it. Something I say a lot these days.
