I guffaw. “I don’t think so, little sis. He loves what I bring to the table. He loves that I followed in his footsteps and even that I surpassed his career in racing. But make no mistake, it’s not me he cares about. Why do you think I’ve always raced my heart out?”
She stands there silently blinking.
“I was chasing his love. I thought if I won every race, I could earn it. But I’ll always come in second to racing. I’m tired of chasing love. I’m tired of giving my heart and getting it thrown back in my face. Lennon was the only person who loved me without conditions, without holding back. She loved me without limits.”
Audrey shifts her jaw and her nostrils flare. “Oh my gosh. This makes so much sense now. Listen, I admit Dad isn’t the best at showing his emotions, but he loves you. He wanted you to go to distances he could never reach. It’s why he pushes you so hard. As far as Lennon, she does love you without limits. That hasn’t changed. She’s simply pulling herself out of the wreckage so she can get back on the road that leads to you.”
I’m left speechless and she must know my head is spinning because she adds, “Go sleep it off, big brother. Come find me when you’re ready to pull your head out of your ass.”
Maybe she’s right. Maybe I made a mistake. Even if that’s true, I’m pretty sure her stalker is trying to use me somehow inhis twisted plot. My car is proof. So, maybe pushing her away from me is for the best. At least for now.
I guess we’ll have to wait and see if my Valkyrie can pull me back out from the depths of hell and into her arms where I’ve always felt like I belong.
28
LENNON
“Ineed to see what we were brought to the hospital in again,” I tell Hendrix as he stands in the hall at my parents’ house watching me search through my old room.
“Yeah, sure. Whatever you need. What are you hoping to find?” he asks as he walks to the closet and pulls out a clear bag from the floor I hadn’t noticed before. I guess my parents put it in here before they knew I was alive. My room had been shut off because Mom said it was too painful.
The last time I asked about our effects from that night, I didn’t look through them, I just asked if our phones or necklaces were with them. But I’m determined to remember how I ended up wearing London’s shirt.
I take it from him. “The last piece of the puzzle.”
I’ve been on a mission since I left Dash’s house yesterday to destroy the power my stalker has over me.
“What are you going to do once you find it?” he asks while still hovering. I shift so that he’s behind me. I sit on the floor with the bag.
He’s been my shadow since Dash asked him to look out for me. I didn’t tell Hendrix what happened between Dash and me last night, but he senses the shift in my mood because he’s played twenty questions with me ever since.
I’ve started pulling the clothes out of the bag at an alarming rate until I find what I’m looking for. My hands brush against the white shirt which has been cut down the middle. It’s covered with my blood, and I feel the pain above my eye, the same headache I’ve gotten every time I’ve recalled something important since the accident.
Then I find the black shirt. It’s been cut down the middle as well, no doubt as they were trying and failing to save my sister’s life and the thought grips me.
I hold it up. This is the shirt I was wearing the entire night even though, somehow, I ended up in London’s white one.
Then I see it; the rip in the sleeve and I can almost hear the fabric tear as it catches on the gear shifter in Dash’s truck. I can’t take my gaze off the hole. I was hurrying to get dressed, and when I reached for my shirt, I didn’t realize it was hung on the shifter.
We’d been bowling in the town over, trying to keep a low profile from not just the world, but my parents…and his. As much as my dad didn’t want us together, neither did his. We’re racing rivals after all and neither my team nor his was impressed by us fueling the fires with the other that they said was crashing our careers.
We were tired of hiding out at each other’s houses. We wanted to feel like a normal couple doing normal things. We thought we could fly under the radar until we could be together without the condemnation of our families and teams. After all,our racing careers won’t last forever. We thought if we could just hold on to each other tight enough and be patient…
But we were wrong.
Someone saw us. And everything fell apart. I was rushing to get dressed because after we were done bowling, we made love in the back seat of Dash’s truck. And that’s when my dad’s call came.
I remember every word.
“Lennon, someone said they saw you with Dash. I thought you and London were breaking in the Hellcat together. Where are you really?”
He sounds so angry.
“We are. London’s doing good. She’s only made it stall one time,” I tell him as I press a finger to my lips to signal Dash to stay quiet.
“They said you and Dash were all over each other. They told me every detail down to what you’re wearing—jeans and a black shirt.”
“I’m not with him, Dad. Why don’t you trust me?” I ask, suddenly angry. I shouldn’t have to justify loving someone.
