I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her hard against me. She handled everything all day, She took care of me and worried over me all while she was fighting this. I should have worried about her more, but I was too busy needing her next to me.
“Hey, Hellcat,” I whispered. “Not okay?”
“Not okay,” she whispered back.
My arm wrapped tighter around her, holding her as close as I could.
“I’ll be right here until you are.”
TWENTY-SEVEN
SCOUT
Nearly a week wentby of Chase staying with me. By the second day, he got bored and had started coming down to the garage with me most days. Surprisingly, even with one arm, he was starting to learn a lot and actually becoming helpful working on the cars.
The bruises on his face had started to fade the smallest amount, and his arm was finally feeling comfortable enough to not toss and turn all night. The ache in my chest was easing from the guilt, finally. The daily reminder that he didn’t blame me seemed to help along with his healing.
I hadn’t spent a night away from him, blaming it on my guilt for trying to help him heal, but I couldn’t lie that I also was loving spending the time with him.
I didn’t mind being warm and held every single night, either.
Was a girl supposed to be mad when a tall, gorgeous man wanted to strip down and keep her warm all night? For one that is perpetually cold, it was a dream come true.
Tonight, though, he had to go home for some important dinner with his family, and instead of staying home, I decided to get the crew out to race. Thursday races were done for the week, but we could still go out and find some people to race.
Twenty minutes later, I was already lined up at a light on a dead-end street, ready to race the guy next to me. Chase hadn’t said a word about it, but I still owed him money, and I was slowly saving enough to start paying him back. The goons after my dad hadn’t reached out yet, which was surprising, and I was hoping that meant my dad took care of everything. Although, he hadn’t texted me back either, which was leaving a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach.
The crew was parked behind me, everyone hanging out while I raced, even though it wouldn’t take long before we moved onto a new spot. We tried to move around town, a few pockets of side streets and deserted roads almost reserved for races these days.
Ransom ran up, flicking the light on, and we both took off. The race was short-lived when I looked up and immediately slammed on my brakes.
The red and blue lights lit up the dark night, blocking the path as my heart raced.
I hit at the steering wheel, watching as Kye slipped around one of the sheriff's cars and took off, cutting his lights and disappearing around a corner.
None of them went after him. Instead, they closed the gap, leaving us all stuck.
I groaned, already getting out as they swarmed the rest of the crew, handcuffs being put on everyone, and before I could blink, they were on me. Ten minutes later, I was being helped into the back of a sheriff’s car and hauled to jail.
By the time I was led into the cell with the rest of the crew, I was fuming.
“Are you seriously arresting us all when we weren’t doing anything?”
“You were street racing,” the sheriff said. “That’s illegal.”
“We were not,” Fox said, sitting down and kicking out his legs. “We were parked and hanging out.”
“Right? Then how did we get a tip about a group causing trouble to local businesses and street racing?”
Ransom shrugged. “You can get a tipandit not be us. Did they have license plate numbers?”
The sheriff grinned. “I’m so glad you asked. They did. Hers.” He pointed to me.
“Mine was the only one given?”
“Should there have been more?”
The shock hit me hard, but I quickly recovered from the confusion. “No. Mine shouldn’t have been given. Maybe they saw my car, and assumed?”