Page 22 of Fueled Hate

“Leave. If I win, you leave this track, school, town, and you never come back. I’m sure there’s another uni in whatever miserable shithole you crawled out of.”

I knew my existence bothered him, but he wants rid of me bad enough that he’d wager her just to see me gone. Little does he know how much he’ll really be losing—not only this race and Sadie, but his reigning title as king of the Dome, his self-respect, whatever dignity he might possess, and soon, his precious ZR1. There’s a long list of shit that I plan to strip away from him one by one, but tonight I’ll enjoy every second of capturing his pride and his girl.

“Deal.”

“What the fuck do you mean deal?” Sadie steps in front of me, shoving me back. Did she expect something different? From her irate appearance, she wasn’t expecting this wager, but I can live with that. It’s not the first time I’ve made her angry, and it definitely won’t be the last. Livid, she turns back to Kyle. “I didn’t agree to this. Keep me out of your ludicrous pissing match and come up with different terms.”

Kyle continues to ignore Sadie as she stands in front of him while Willow yells at the top of her lungs, calling Kyle and me every cuss word in the book, and a few that aren’t. Kyle nods. “Deal.”

Sadie throws her hands in the air, looking between Kyle and me. “Are you fucking kidding me? Are both you idiots hard of hearing? Fuck. You. There’s no deal, because I do not agree to any of this fuckery.”

“Time to line ’em up,” Parker says uncertainly, but no one makes a move.

“Do something about this!” Willow shouts at Parker.

Shrugging, Parker takes a quick scan of the scene then says, “I have no control over that bet. That’s between the three of them.”

Willow, relentlessly defending her friend, lays into Parker for all she’s worth, shouting for him to stop encouraging the idiotic side bet.

Kyle stiffly steps away, dropping into the ZR1. He starts it up, pulling into place for the burnout.

Standing rigid, Sadie pins me with her fuming glare, her eyes locked on me.

“Just think. You could be rid of me soon.” Not a chance, but I’m enjoying driving her insane, just like she’s done to me since the moment I laid eyes on her.

“I’m counting on it, no matter what the outcome of this absurd race is.” She pivots, quickly walking to Willow, who is still yelling at Parker. She really is in Sadie’s corner.

“What happened to keeping your head straight? Keeping focused on the prize?” Bryce asks.

“It’s all part of the plan.”

“Since when?”

“Since now. I want to toy with him, extend his torture, and screw with his head. Then when I take everything, victory will be even sweeter.”

“What makes you think he’ll race you again after you whop his ass tonight?”

“His wounded ego won’t allow him to back down.” Dropping into my car, I start it up and pull onto the track, steering around the water box. Driving forward to the starting position, I spot Kyle doing a burnout, smoke billowing from his tires. Just when I think he’s going to pull up to the starting line, his tires start spinning again. He’s either thinking it’ll give him an advantage to have his tires good and warmed up, or he’s just showing off. My guess is the latter. Finally, he pulls into the starting position to my right, the flagger centered ahead of us, and my eyes are on the track. Focus. Drive. Win. It’s as simple as that.

As soon as the flashlight turns on, I’m off the line and speeding down the marked pavement.

For the first time ever in a race, I have the desire to look over at my opponent, wanting to know where he is, where I stand. I’m able to fight the urge, maintaining the focus on winning. On Sadie. If I lose this race, I’ll keep my word and leave town. That won’t happen. It’s not that I always win. It’s that I can’t lose. Not against Kyle. Not here. Not ever.

I see the finish line in sight. Just the line, nothing else. After my STI crosses, I look over to see Kyle behind me. I knew he was close, but I knew the importance of focusing on making it over the line. A moment of hesitation could result in a loss.

Slowly, I make the drive back down the track to the starting line. Coming to a stop, my car is swarmed by the crowd as they whoop and holler, whistling and celebrating the uncrowning of the arrogant king. Spotting Kyle, he slowly steps out of his car, a few of his loyal fans solemnly gathered around him as he eyes me. Yeah, he was the target, but he’s not the focus in the moment. Looking to the side, I see Sadie standing just a few feet past the celebrating crowd. Arms folded across her chest, she’s directing her outraged look right at me. Shaking her head with disgust, her nose scrunches up as she steps back, walking away. She’s really angry, but I can work with that. I can work with anything other than her being with him.

Willow follows right behind Sadie, the finger she’d given Kyle earlier is now pointed in my direction.

Bryce walks up, congratulates me, then gives me a puzzled look. “Where’s your prize, Dylan?”

“Winning. Winning was the prize.”

Shaking his head, Bryce laughs as he looks to the ground then back up to me. “You’ve never bet anything on a race except cash or pinks, and you signed yourself up for another race when you shouldn’t have been in the first. So do us both a favor and admit that she got to you.”

“And what if she did?” I ask, not looking at Bryce because we both know he’s correct.

“Then your head isn’t in the game. And you shouldn’t be in the race or in this town. We both know this won’t end well for you or her. How could it?”