Page 1 of Driving Wild

“Well, what do we have here?” my best friend says. Groaning, I roll over just as he comes into view. The room is dark from the curtains being pulled closed, so it takes a little for my eyes to adjust to him turning on the bedside lamp.

“What the hell do you want? It’s too early for you to be this happy.”

“Oh, I’m just here to make sure that you get up and get to the shop on time.”

“What are you talking about? I’m always on time.” Sitting up a little too quickly, my head pounds from the night before. What was in those drinks that woman kept giving me? And my next question is why in the hell had I kept accepting them?

Ryan stopped dead in his tracks like he’s seen a ghost. “Matt, man, have you looked at the person next to you?” I slowly turn my head, trying not to make too much of an abrupt movement that’s going to send me running to the bathroom from the way my head pounds. Shit! Resting my head on my knees, this is not at all the way I thought my night would have gone. Then I notice the smug look on his face. “You better get your ass out of that bed now because Tinley is going to lose her shit when she finds Grace here.” Shrugging, I pull the covers off as I try to figure out what happened last night and how I ended up with Grace in my bed.

“Well, thank God you have underwear on, bud. I really don’t need to see all of you this early in the morning,” Ryan says.

Slowly shaking my head to try to get my bearings, I don’t even remember talking to Grace, let alone bringing her back to my apartment. When I pulled the covers back, I noticed she still had all her clothes on from the night before. There is no way we did anything. I mean, I would remember doing something with her. She is just that hot. The woman has been living rent-free in my head for months. We had one ridiculously hot, hate-filled night at the track when I happened to stumble into her coming out of Ryan’s trailer after seeing Tinley one weekend. She’d broken up with her long-term boyfriend a few weeks before. Even with the fact of knowing she was using me to get over him, honestly, I didn’t care. I’d had a shitty race weekend and needed a release. It was one of the hottest nights I’d had in a long time. And since then, I could go for a repeat, but she’s made it clear that she sees me as a playboy or, as she called me, a fuckboy on all levels. I drag my eyes slowly away from her perfect ass that’s barely covered in the skirt she’s wearing.

“Come on, bud, go shower because you smell like a brewery. We can figure this out on our way to work. I’ll get the coffee going because I have a feeling you're going to need it after what I just walked in on.”

A few minutes later, I’m standing in the shower, water pelting me as I try to remember what happened last night, and nothing is coming. Why can’t I remember anything after getting a beer at the bar? Just as I start to wash my hair, I glance down at my hand.

WHAT THE FUCK?

I stare at my left hand, trying to figure out exactly why I have a platinum band on my ring finger and who I could be married to. Standing under the shower for longer than humanly necessary, the water has turned cold, and I take that as my incentive to get out. Only to be confronted by the one woman who I can’t for the life of me figure out if I’m married to or not.

I stumble to grab a towel and get my bearings. Grace stands in front of me with a look that most men would bow down to, but little does she know, I’m not that man, and it’ll take a lot more than a gorgeous set of legs and a smart mouth to make me bow, even though The General is trying to tell me differently. But we have some other issues that need to be addressed.

“What the hell, Matt McCall?” Grace practically yells at me, making me rub my temples; my head’s about to explode.

Giving her a once-over, the woman is gorgeous, with platinum blonde hair that she’s decided to cut off and long legs that I want wrapped around me again. She’s missing her red lipstick. Those perfect lips have driven me wild since day one. So hot and vibrant, making her nickname so easy. But she’s such a natural beauty that she doesn’t even need it.

“I was hoping you could tell me, Red, because just as I was taking a shower, I noticed I’m wearing a piece of jewelry that sure as hell wasn’t on my finger yesterday before I went out.” Crossing my arms over my bare chest and putting the noticeable ring on display, I watch for any type of reaction from her. Nothing, and I do mean nothing, changes. This woman is going to be a pain in my ass, just as I thought.

“Well, I can tell you one damn thing—my left hand is bare, so you sure as hell didn’t marry me. But for some ungodly reason, I woke up in your house with one of the worst headaches I think I’ve ever had. So I’m going to need you to fill in some blanks for me,” she states.

I rub my head yet again in frustration at the way this morning is going.

“Red, if I could tell you why you’re here, believe me, I would, but until Ryan came to get me so we could head to the shop, I didn’t even know that I was in the world. The last I remember, I was talking to a dark-haired woman at a bar, and then bam, I woke up with a ring on my finger and you in my bed, so your guess is as good as mine. Now, if you will let me get ready, I’ve got to head to work. Not all of us can live on Daddy’s money while we figure out what job suits us best.

Grace just stands in the doorway for a few more minutes until she makes a noise I’m sure only dogs can hear, and then she storms away.

By the time I finally get dressed and make it out to the kitchen, Ryan is waiting with a shit-eating grin on his face. Smacking him on the back of the head as I pass by, I reach for my coffee, which is now cold, of course, because I took longer than I should have, all because of the blonde-headed siren who stormed into my bathroom.

“Care to explain now? What the hell happened, bud?” Ryan asks. Releasing a long breath, I pour the cold coffee into the sink and elect to make a new cup. Hitting the button on my coffee machine, I spin around to hold up my left hand. “Any chance in hell you might know why I have a ring on my left hand?” Ryan nearly chokes on his drink as he just stares at me.

“Wait, did you marry Grace? Is that why she was in your bed? Dude, North Carolina isn’t like Vegas; you can’t just go to any little white chapel on the corner and get married. I have so many questions and none of them start with congratulations.” Ryan continues with his little twenty questions as I try to finish drinking my coffee. But I hate to break the news to him: I don’t have answers to any of them.

“Would you stop with the questions? I have zero, and I do mean zero, memory of last night, so I can't answer a damn thing.” Grabbing the bottle of aspirin, I pop two in my mouth. “Let’s go to work. We need to get ready for the race week.”

Rolling my shoulders that are already so tense, I can tell it’s going to result in me being in a crappy mood all day as we head down to my car. My baby is an orange Dodge Charger, just like Bo and Luke Duke had. I grew up in Alabama, so I’m a country boy all the way. This car is the one thing that I had to have when I made it into the Cup Series. Ryan hates it more than life itself, so that makes me love it even more. He thinks it’s too loud and too noticeable to drive around town, but I love it. “Get in the car, asswipe. I’m driving. You can leave your truck here,” I tell him. Having the Twilight Zone morning I’ve had, it’s the least he can do for me.

“Okay, one last question, then we can go. I just need to know one thing. Have you and Grace hooked up before, or is this just an ‘I was drunk and she helped me get home’ type of thing?” he asks.

With a smirk, I slide into my seat and bring my baby to life with a roar.

“You didn’t answer my question, asswipe.”

“Sorry, can’t hear you over the car.” I turn onto the highway and head toward Mac Motorsports.

Walking into the shop, I’m met with some odd looks and hushed whispers. We make our way to where the crew chiefs’ offices are located.

“Ryan, Matt, I need you both in my office,” Brad says.

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