Page 27 of Love Collided

“You handed me the keys. Was that not an invitation?”

I shook my head. “Out, ankle-biter. I’m driving tonight. This car is on loan and will be the one I’m racing next Thursday. I can’t trust you won’t learn something about it to win.”

She rolled her eyes, but got out and headed to the passenger seat. “I should have guessed, but I was hoping you weren’t one of those macho, fragile ego men, too.”

I slid behind the wheel, not missing how she pulled her long hair over one shoulder and leaned back.

“Oh, I’m not worried about you being able to drive. I’m worried about you somehow figuring this car out more and using it to beat me on Thursday. And what do you mean,too? Have someone else in mind like that?”

She threw me a pointed glare before instructing me to take a left out of the parking lot. “Why would your only stipulation be we race on Thursday?” She asked.

I shrugged, pulling out onto the dark street. “I like racing you. You’re a good opponent to have, and I want to beat you again. I like how mad you get when I win. It makes me feel like a god among men, and it’s getting harder and harder to feel that way these days.”

“Because everyone treats you like a god already. Do you really need another instance to feed your ego?”

“Yes. Obviously,” I said, smirking when she glared at me.

I navigated the dark streets, a light mist of rain starting to fall as we wound through the small town, and she kept directing me until we were in an area filled with manufacturing buildings.

“Right here.” She pointed to an older, almost run down warehouse mixed in with the nicer ones.

“You think I’m dropping you off here?”

“Yes.”

“No, absolutely not. What the hell are you doing at a place like this? You were willing to leave the nice restaurant to come here?”

“Yeah, I did, and I’m here on business. Business I don’t need your approval for. I asked for a ride, you gave me one. I’ll see you at the races on Thursday.”

“You will, but in the meantime, I’m sure as hell not letting you go in there alone.”

I shut the car off and got out, not giving her a chance to protest. There was no way I was going to let her walk into this place by herself. I couldn’t imagine what she could need here and I worried if I asked too many questions, I would be literally hauling her ass out of here. I went around the car, pulling her door open and holding out my hand.

“Are you meeting someone here? Buying drugs? Buying stolen cars?”

She rolled her eyes and ignored my hand, struggling to get out of the low car.

“I also assumed you would appreciate the assistance in that dress.”

“Funny you choose here to suddenly be a gentleman.”

“Well, it seems to only be us, so I thought it was safe.”

She tried not to smile, but failed, the small curve of her lips making me wonder why I hadn’t been nicer sooner. While it was fun to have Scout angry and rabid at me, making her smile seemed to pull at something in my chest. Her hand intertwined with mine as I helped her out of the car, and she brushed her dress down, shivering from the onset of the cold, misty rain.

“You weren’t actually planning to come here, were you?” I asked, grabbing a hoodie out of the back of the car and handing it to her. She took it without a word, pulling it over her head until it engulfed her.

“Not exactly. It was a last-minute thing.”

“A last-minute thing which was so important you had to leave for it in the middle of your fancy date, and piss off your boyfriend? Or is it ex-boyfriend now?”

“Yes, it was that important,” she said, her eyebrows furrowing a little too hard. “And yeah, I didn’t even think about it, but I guess it has to be ex-boyfriend.”

“You didn’t even think about it? Shouldn’t you be a mess of tears that your boyfriend just walked out on your date?”

The way her big hazel eyes looked up to meet mine made me want to fall over. “I think if I dwell on the fact that my boyfriend ditched me at my own birthday dinner, I might not get through this, so I think I will have to deal with it all later.”

My jaw tightened until my teeth pressed so hard together that it felt like they would break. He ditched her on her birthday? I could see her shoulders straighten, and I knew I couldn’t ask more about it. She needed to get through whatever this was, and me asking more about her less-than-stellar boyfriend wasn’t going to help. I only nodded, wondering how Jesse had ever had a chance with her.

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