Page 26 of Love Collided

“Yeah, I guess so.”

He shook his head, but didn’t add to it. “I can give you a ride, or Fox and Ash are nearby at Holt tonight. I’m sure they could pick you up,” he said, shrugging as though him suddenly being friends with anyone in the crew was normal. I shouldn't be surprised. We had welcomed the girls into our group with no problem. I loved them being around now. Quinn felt like my first true girl friend, Ash quickly followed, and even Carly had finally opened up and became one of my best friends, too.

I thought when Jesse came around it would be the same, that the crew would welcome him in and there would be no problems, but it hadn’t been the case.

The guys tried to hang out with Jesse, but it went downhill every time. Probably only for my sake. They had tried to invite him out with them, but he always blew them off. Now there was no trying from either side, just endless passive aggressive comments and glares.

He wasn’t their friend, but now Chase was?

I met his eye, realizing Chase wasn’tmyfriend.

“I can’t call them for a ride. I need to go somewhere they can’t know about, but I don’t care if you know. And now, I’ve wasted another ten minutes, and I don’t have enough time to get back to my car.”

“While sneaking around with you sounds hot,” he said with a wink. “I won’t be bringing you somewhere you shouldn’t be.”

“Oh come on. What does it matter to you? I have to go either way. I’m only asking for a ride.”

I held my breath, waiting. It was a stupid hope, but he was one person that could go with me and it didn’t matter if he was upset about what I was doing.

“What do I get out of it?”

I quickly looked away, trying not to panic. I really had nothing to offer. Money wouldn’t help, parts weren’t a problem with him. I ran through anything I had to offer and came up with nothing.

“I don’t know. I can’t think of anything I could offer you.”

“How about you agree to be at the races this Thursday to race me, and we will call it even?”

“How is that a trade?”

He shrugged. “A ride for a race. Seems fair enough. You did say you just need a ride there. Do we have a deal or not?”

“If you won’t tell Fox and Ash, or any of the crew, about this, then yeah, we have a deal.”

He gave a sharp nod. “Head out to my car. I borrowed my dad’s blue Audi tonight. Can’t miss it,” he said, sliding me the keys. “I have to go tell the tyrants over there that I have to go.”

I assumed this meant he didn’t want me to be seen leaving with him, which would only help me. I didn’t want anyone knowing who I was, where I was going, or who I was with. I grabbed the keys, glancing back at him and the table he was headed to. The older man, his dad, looked pissed. The deep crease between his eyebrows only grew stronger as Chase walked over.

I smiled when I saw the Audi sitting out front, the car beeping when I hit the unlock button and slid behind the wheel.

It was time to pay off some of my dad’s debt and, hopefully, it would be enough to get him out of my life for good.

NINE

CHASE

It had beena few days since Scout had walked into my party and looked at me like I was no better than the mud on the bottom of her boots.

Now she was asking me for a favor.

And somehow, with one look at her, I was doing it. I was even fine with it as long as it was clear that I might be scum of the Earth to her, but I was still better than her deadweight boyfriend. Every time I saw him, the overwhelming urge to punch him in the face almost got the best of me.

Why I felt like she needed to see me be better than him wasn’t a thought I was going to linger on tonight.

At least now I could spend my week looking forward to racing her again. She raced with every ounce of herself. The pure focus she had was unmatched, and I wanted to feel that again.

I walked out five minutes later. A fight was already brewing between my dad and me, but I couldn’t find it in myself to care when I walked out and saw a mane of red hair in my driver's seat.

“You honestly think I’m letting you drive my car?” I asked, smiling as I leaned down against the open window.

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