Page 31 of Driving Wild

You better call me tomorrow. I expect all the details. Because I’ve heard some things about Kyle Bosco and want to know if they’re true.

She sends me a winking emoji and promises to call in the morning.

I order my Uber and wander just inside the building so that I don’t need to stand on the street corner where anyone can snatch me. Damn, I’ve watched Taken way too many times; it’s making me either paranoid or hyper-aware.

Checking my phone for the final rundown of today’s race, I see that Matt has come in fifth today with Ryan finishing third. Clint has ended up tenth.

Just as I get the alert that my Uber has arrived, my phone rings.

Seeing Matt’s face come on the screen sends instant butterflies to my stomach. It has only been two days since I saw him, but I have missed talking with him each day and having our back-and-forth banter that has become my routine.

“Hey, Cowboy. I saw you had a top-five finish today. That’s great.”

“Hey, Red. Damn, you look sexy. Why are you standing outside?”

Blushing at his statement, I reply, “I was waiting on my Uber to pull up when you called, and I didn’t want to be rude, getting in while talking on the phone. Hang on, let me get in the car.”

After making sure the driver is who he’s supposed to be, I slide into the back seat and pick my phone back up.

“You don’t look half-bad yourself, Cowboy. Where are you anyway?” Looking at him, I can’t see around his body. He’s still wearing his racing suit and looks sexy as hell in it.

Giving me that smirk that he knows I love, he slowly starts to remove his racing suit.

“Like what you see here, Red? Missed you at the race today,” he says, removing his fire suit under his driver’s uniform.

“Tell me again why it is that I needed to be here and you needed to be there. Because that’s just too far away. I want to be able to touch you, kiss you, and pull that hair of yours just the way you like when you come,” he rasps. My breathing picks up as I pray the driver can’t hear our conversation because we’re going in a whole other direction than what I wanted, but I am so turned on that I couldn’t stop this race car if I wanted to.

As he removes the remainder of his suit, I notice he’s in his hauler. Thank God he isn’t in some hotel room.

“You haven’t answered my question, Red. Now why aren’t you with me again?” he drawls in that Southern accent that drives me crazy.

“Honestly, I have no idea right now,” I reply with a laugh. My brain isn’t firing on all cylinders, and the more I stare at his gorgeous body, the worse it gets. I’m not even able to form a sentence.

“Do you want to know what I think? You ran. You started feeling things and didn’t know what to do, and instead of confronting them, you decided to go to Boston. I know you haven’t been to a single fundraiser since you left for school. Yet you make an appearance as soon as you can. Does that sound about right, Red?”

“You could be on to something there, Cowboy. But also, I needed to talk with a few contacts for Mila, and what better way than to kill two birds with one stone?”

“Yeah, so where is Mila? I’d love to say hey. You know, since we are gonna be teammates next year,” he questions.

And now I gaze out the window as we make our way down the long driveway that leads to my parents’.

“Funny thing about that—she met someone at the fundraiser and decided to have a little fun before she moves to North Carolina next week,” I reveal, paying the driver and then stepping out of the car into the cool air and heading toward the front door.

“Ahh to be single. We’ll let her have her fun,” he says as I open the front door, coming face-to-face with my mother.

“Grace, darlin’, I didn’t expect you to be home this early. I heard your car pull up when I was making some tea. Couldn’t sleep and thought this sleepy-time tea would help. Ooooh, who are you talking with? Matt? Well then, give me that phone so that I can say hello.”

Pulling the phone from my grip, she turns the phone to face her.

“Well, hello there, Mr. McCall,” she says, looking over the phone and giving me a wide-eyed look. I know exactly what she’s thinking; it is written all over her face.

“Hello, Mrs. Miller. Hope you’re having a good night. I was just checking in with Grace to make sure she has a nice night and that she doesn’t get into any trouble,” he says in his sweet Southern voice, coming over the phone, making my mother swoon just a little at each word.

“You will have to come to Boston soon with Grace so we can all have dinner and get to know you better.” Mom continued her ramble for what felt like half an hour. But truly, it was a few minutes because I heard the teapot whistle. Pulling her from her conversation with Matt, I say goodbye and promise to chat more later. She hands the phone back to me.

Looking back at the phone, I saw Matt's smug face and wanted to both punch and kiss him. He was so easy to like, and that Southern hospitality made it even harder to not want to be around him, even more when he made everyone around him at ease. Damn him. Why can’t he just be an asshole and not make me want to stay?

That wasn’t quite the welcome home I had in mind, but damn, the man was so sexy, and when he danced with me in the living room, I was overcome with so many emotions, I just wanted to get out of my head for a moment.

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