Page 29 of Austin

I wish she would stop calling me names.

My words come out harsh. “You’re the one who demanded I let him race. Racing for pinks isn’t something new to the racing circuit. He’s a big boy. He knows what he bought into.”

“You’re a millionaire, Austin. You don’t need to race guys for their cars. You do it for your pride.”

“Fuck yeah. It’s a win.”

“A win for you. And, if you lost, you could just go and buy another car. Ordinary people don’t have the means. That loss not only hurt his pride, but it also hurt his entire life. How is he supposed to go to work in the morning?”

“Calm down, Debbie Downer. He can keep his car. It’s a heap of junk anyway.” I grip the steering wheel tight. Her desperate need to protect this asshole really boils my skin. “What is up with you and that jerk anyway? You act more like his mother than his girlfriend.”

“I’m not his girlfriend, you prick. Do you really think I’d have let you kiss me if I were in a relationship? Beckett’s my brother.” She adjusts her position and slams back into the seat with a huff.

His sister?

“Why did you tell me you were his girlfriend?”

She leans toward me with a glare. “You assumed. That’s what you do, Austin. You assumed I was his girlfriend, you assumed I was a rat, and now, I can see the wheels spinning in your head as you’re trying to assume something else about me. This is it. My name’s Jalynn Smith. I’m from Sacramento. My mom died when I was ten. My dad is a grade-A douche, and my brother is the only living family I have who doesn’t make me want to pull my hair out. I didn’t know who you were until I met you in Bryce’s office. I’d never heard of”—she raises her hands to make air quotes—“‘the Falcon,’ and up until last weekend, I hated street racing. This is me. So, stop trying to make me out to be some malicious force sent to ruin your life.”

Just like that, for the first time in my twenty-six years on this planet, I’m rendered speechless. This girl, with her smart mouth and sassy attitude, just floored me with her words.

We drive in silence. I don’t know what to say, and she doesn’t seem to want to say anything. Every so often, she raises a hand to the spot just under her eye. A whisper of a whimper can be heard. She doesn’t want me to know she’s crying. If she did, she’d face me. I met her less than a week ago, yet somehow, I know that about her.

I turn onto the highway, and we cross the bridge. The bright lights of San Francisco are lit up around us.

When I pull up in front of her building, she doesn’t say a word as she unbuckles her seat belt and closes the door behind her. I wait until she is safely through her front entrance. I know from looking up her file that she lives on the third floor. When a bedroom window illuminates, I can only assume it’s hers and that she is safe in her room.

This is my cue to leave.

8

JALYNN

“Beckett, not now,” I yell into the phone before I hang up.

He called multiple times last night and again this morning. I’m not ready to deal with him yet. After everything our father put us through with his drinking and gambling, I can’t believe he raced for pink slips.

How stupid can he be?

I shake my head, trying to push everything about last night out of my mind. I’ve spent my entire life protecting him, my older brother, but I’m done. He got himself into this stupid mess. Now, he needs to lie in the bed he made.

“Was that him again?” Eva asks, standing in my doorway.

She knows something horrible happened last night with Beckett, but I’m not in the right frame of mind to talk about it, for fear I’ll explode and tell her every detail, right down to how I wound up in Falcon’s car. Even though I’m pissed at Austin, that damn angel on my shoulder is making me keep his secret.

I nod, walking around my room with one shoe on, grabbing the last of my things so that I can leave for work.

“Do you want to talk about it?” she asks, securing a large gold hoop in her ear and then moving on to the next.

I look under my bed for my other heel. “I’m sorry. I … I just can’t right now,” I say, reaching along the carpet to pull my shoe from under the bed.

“Okay.” Her tone is low and filled with defeat. “Just know, I’m here if you need me.”

My eyes meet hers, and I sag. It’s not like me to not tell her what’s going on in my life. From bad breakups to my mother’s death and my father’s abuse, Eva has been along for the ride from the beginning. I think the reason I’m more secure in my life than Beckett is because, unlike him, I can talk about my life, and Eva’s always been there to listen.

I’m an open book, having learned a long time ago that secrets never provide happiness to anyone.

When will Austin learn that?