Page 4 of Love Collided

It’s not like I was going to cause a scene, this event was just boring. Another expensive party so old male lawyers could pat themselves on the back for getting old malescammersoff the hook for another year. I don’t care if you were ripping people off a hundred dollars or a hundred thousand; you’re a scammer. But when you have the hundreds of thousands of dollars you stole, you can afford a pretty good lawyer. It also means you get to be called a CEO, not a scammer.

The irony that I was here seething about this while my dad stood at the podium behind me congratulating everyone on doing this was not lost to me.

I threw back the next glass of whiskey and set it on the bar top. The bartender only shook his head, letting me know I was right. My mother had cut me off before I had even started.

I headed back to the table with her wine, resisting the urge to empty the glass before setting it down and placing a careful hand on her shoulder.

“I have to go. I have exams all next week and planned to study tonight,” I said.

“Of course. You will be at dinner on Saturday?” she asked. The lack of emotion in her voice was nothing new to me, but each time it still grated on my nerves.

“Yes, I will.” I tried not to let my face show how little I was looking forward to that.

She only nodded, it was enough of an acknowledgment that I took the opening to leave quickly.

I nodded to a few of the other lawyers’ kids on my way out, each one of them was in the same position in life. We were to go to law school, and one day, take over the business our fathers started all those years ago. A family business we had no say in, but were now expected to be loyal to.

Unlike me, some of them were happy about it.

I hit the key fob, unlocking my Porsche, while ripping off my suit jacket and the tie that was currently choking the life out of me. The 918 Spyder, sadly, had become the only thing that meant anything to me lately.

There were two options tonight.

Go to a party at Justin’s lake house, and get drunk out of my mind.

Or I could go to the races and try to drive away this endless, anxious buzzing that seemed to keep me right on the edge of blowing up. Nothing calmed me down, but nothing made me explode, it was just endless dread I couldn’t stop.

Most days, I couldn’t even find a reason for it. I had everything I wanted. I could buy anything I wanted, go on any vacation. I had friends who invited me to every party, and every event. I was the life of those parties, too, and people bent over backwards to do whatever I needed. But the high of it all had lost its edge and now I was searching for something that would make me feel…anything.

I turned right out of the parking lot. There was no way more alcohol was going to make me feel anything at this point, and somehow, a party was the furthest thing from my mind right this second.Plus, I could always still make it to the party after, and maybe then I would be in the mood to forget everything.

Thirty minutes later I pulled into the parking lot that was already overflowing with cars. I already knew the line to race would be long, but I didn’t feel like waiting so I idled my way through the crowd to the front.

I grabbed a hundred from the side pocket of my console and put the window down.

“A hundred bucks for you if I can take the next race,” I said to the guy running this informal shit-show. I had paid him off plenty of times to skip the line, and I already knew he would take it.

He snatched the hundred. “This one was betting a thousand.”

“No problem. I’m in.” He waved me forward, bringing me up to the made up line next to a yellow Supra. The windows on it were tinted out black like mine, leaving both of us unable to see each other.

The yellow car revved and I revved mine back. Adrenaline shot through me, the first small taste of excitement I’d felt in days.

I had become numb to my life, looking for anything to give me some semblance of feeling, and tonight, it would come in the form of racing.

THREE

SCOUT

I rolledmy eyes at the dark Porsche pulling up next to me. For how much cash I needed, this guy cutting in was perfect. These rich guys drove up all the time and expected to win based on the cost of their car alone.

Taking a deep breath, I revved Fox’s car, waiting for the girl flagging the race to move us up to the line. After a few seconds, she finally raised her arm and hit the light, the Porsche taking off just before the light turned on.

I took off after him but I had to be twice as fast to catch up and win. Our cars stayed close, racing through the mix of shadows and lights until we moved around the first sharp turn. I gained a slight edge, the Supra better at handling the turns but the Porsche let out a burst of power on the straight stretch, passing me by inches.

Adrenaline pumped through me, my heart beating faster as we came up to the next turn. The Supra managed better around the turn again, but he seemed hellbent on trying to make it around the corner faster, almost turning into me.

I pushed the Supra harder, the whine of the engine letting me know it had nothing left to give. He was fast, his car stayinga second ahead of mine when we crossed the finish line, but he had already lost by my rules.

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