Page 129 of Truck Off

Lina steps up beside me with a huge smile on her face. “You did good, babe. Our bus looks fucking fantastic.”

“It does, doesn’t it?” She beams as she takes in the other designs. None of them come close to hers.

“So how do we do this thing?” Mac asks as he steps up beside us. “Is it just me in that thing or do you all have to ride with me?”

“Just you, thank gawd,” Lina says. “I wouldn’t be here if I had to get in that thing.”

Mac gives her a devilish grin. “What’s wrong? Don’t trust your boy to build a safe racing machine?”

“Considering he didn’t build the entire bus? No. Not a chance in hell.”

“Good thing I’m driving then,” Mac says as he positions his helmet over his head. “Chase may not have built this body, but there isn’t anyone else I’d trust to build my engines. My brother is the best. Even if he does prefer farming over racing.”

Mac makes his way to the bus and climbs in. The other district drivers do the same. I take Lina’s hand and drag her back to where the rest of our team is watching. My entire family came out for the event. Even Dad is here, and he rarely comes to events like this.

Clara steps up next to me with her arms crossed over her chest. She stares at the line of buses with such a fierce intensity that, if I didn’t know better, I’d think she’s trying to burn a hole right through them.

“You okay?” I ask.

She looks over her shoulder and sighs. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

I follow her gaze and immediately spot the source of her tension. I furrow my brows as I watch Ash kissing his girlfriend like they’re the only two here. “I thought that asshole was too busy this summer to be here?”

Clara shrugs. “That’s what he said. I get that he couldn’t help with the engine, but he also refused to drive. Guess we all know the real reason now.”

“You okay?”

She nods but her expression says the opposite. “Just sucks. Regardless of my feelings, he’s always been my best friend. I hate that it feels like I’m losing that too. He’s never ditched me before. Not for anything or anyone. Guess she’s special.”

Her voice cracks. I wrap my arm around her and tug her close. Lina leans around me and whispers. “We need to find you a man. Let me know when you want to go out.”

“Really?” Clara sounds hopeful.

“I don’t know if that’s such a good idea,” I say, not liking the thought of Lina out in a bar without me.

Lina pats my chest and chuckles. “It’s a great idea. Let’s see how Ash likes it when Clara starts dating. He deserves to squirm and regret his actions.”

I kiss the top of her head and groan. “Remind me to never get on your bad side.”

“With the mistakes you’ve already made, I wouldn’t think I’d need to remind you what that’s like.”

I growl, and both women laugh.

“This role reversal thing you two have going on is cute,” Clara says.

Before I can say anything else, a horn blows, signaling the race is about to begin. An announcer comes over a loudspeaker and introduces each of the teams. He tells the drivers to start their engines, and a loud rumbling fills the air. The buses inch their way to the starting line.

Once everyone is in position, the announcer counts down. Rather than shouting go, the horn blows again.

The buses take off, and the crowd cheers.

Well, not quite.

Mac takes off. Pike CTC crawls behind him. Piketon and Western move at a snail’s pace. And Waverly doesn’t make it past the starting line. Clearly their team put all their time and resources into their My Little Pony paint job and neglected the engine.

The crowd quiets as the excitement that has been building all summer for this race dies down as Mac nears the finish line. Pike CTC still hasn’t crossed the hallway point.

“Ah, honey.” Lina tugs on my arm. “I think maybe you did too good of a job on the engine. This isn’t a fair race.”

---