Page 41 of Tandem

I leaned over and kissed his lips softly, when my phone started to buzz off the wall. I carefully pulled my hand away and looked toward my nightstand.

I scooted onto the edge of my bed, careful not to bump AJ. I reached over, grabbed my phone from the charger, and checked my messages. Dad had sent out an official Flywheels tweet, and I bounced off of my bed with a gasp in excitement.

It was for tonight, in an old warehouse area, in one of the massive buildings, which could only mean one thing. Drift racing!

I had been working with Dad on an old Nissan Skyline GT-R for the past couple of weeks, and as I kept going through messages from my friends about tonight, I saw a text from Dad. It had a photo attachment, and when I opened it, I couldn’t stop the squeal from escaping my mouth.

“NO WAY!” I whispered loudly. In the photo, Dad was giving me a thumbs-up, with the Skyline in the background, freshly painted to match my Viper, with the plate RW DRIFT on it. Dad was giving me the car. I was just about to hit reply when AJ’s arms wrapped around me and pulled me backward into him, back on the bed. I giggled as he kissed my neck and sat up more.

“What’s got you in such a good mood, baby girl?” His voice was like a morning thunderstorm in the distance, and I melted back into his hard chest, showing him the photo.

“My dad just gave me a drift car we’d been working on for a while together! She’s so beautiful!” I let go as AJ reached out and took my phone, his finger tapping the photo to enlarge it.

“Nice, a Skyline, hmmm? You’ll look sexy as shit in it, Rosalie.” Okay, this man was trying to give me a heart attack this morning. I loved being called baby girl, but I really loved it when he used my name. The way the 'lie' in my name rolled off his tongue was enough to make me clench my legs together.

“You think?” I asked softly as I turned my head to look at him.

He nodded, slowly leaned in, and kissed me. “I know it.”

I blushed and kissed him back again, holding it for a moment.

“Well… wanna see me in it… tonight?” I asked as I let his lower lip go.

He smirked back at me.

Oh boy, that look made me giddy, so I quickly started talking before I lost sight of what I wanted to say. “My dad is hosting a Flywheels drift event in the industrial area tonight. I’m going to go, lots of people will be there. And I, ummm… I would love to show you how I drift and race… I-if you wanna see?”

This was a big step. I’d never thought about showing a boy that I was into this side of me. They all knew I was into painting cars, yeah, but illegal drifting and street racing? Not something you talked to a new boyfriend about, let alone a crush.

AJ kissed me back a few times before answering. Okay, so maybe we made out for like fifteen minutes. Then he pulled away. “Seeing you kick other people’s asses would be such a turn-on. Do you just do it for fun or…” His voice trailed off.

I shook my head. “Oh,heck no!If I’m taking a chance to have some other moron crash into my car, then there is definitely cash on the line. Most of Dad’s events have a $5K minimum to race, and sometimes people even pink slip their cars!” I sat up on top of AJ, his hand sliding to the outside of my thighs. It sent shivers up my spine.

“I’ve only lost one race where money was involved, and it was a big deal because umm… I kinda crashed into the other car… so Dad took care of the bet for me. But outside of that and another race, I’ve won every unofficial Flywheels race I’ve done!” I was proud of that fact, too. I was Kayden Wells’s daughter; I had abig legacy to live up to if I wanted to hack it in the car world of LA.

AJ sat fully up and slowly kissed my neck up to my ear. “Just send me the address, baby girl, and I’ll be there.”

I giggled and leaned back, then got a little sad as I realized what time it was. “As much as I hate to go, I need to get ready to go to work. We typically get there a little before everyone else. But if you show up at 9 p.m., that’s when everyone else will be there!”

AJ nodded and stole a few more minutes of kisses and touched my body before we got up and dressed. He left right away while I made a quick bowl of cereal and downed it, grabbing my phone, keys, and wallet. I skipped out the door and drove to the custom car shop.

The work on car meet and race days went by so fast. Or maybe that was just my excitement talking. But I swore one moment, it was 9 a.m., and I was clocking in, and now it was 5 p.m., and we were closing up shop early. Dad and I had cruised in the Skyline when we went out for lunch and holy moly, she drove so amazing. I couldn’t wait to drift her soon.

“I’ll see you there, kiddo!” Dad yelled as he pulled his car out of the shop, and I waved.

I had just a few more things to do before I got to leave. Twenty minutes later, I was cruising down the streets on my way to the meet. I took a deep breath and turned off the main road onto a narrow, dimly lit industrial street.

The sound of my Skyline’s engine and turbos purring as I drove, I glanced in my rearview at the sight of headlights and saw a few more cars pouring into the alleyway behind me.

The air was thick with a heavy mix of gasoline and burnt rubber, and I could feel the excitement building in the pit of my stomach. This was the world of underground racing. Sure, I already had some status in the street racing scene, but tonightwas the first time I would show anyone outside of my friend group this part of my life. A lot was on the line for me.

Pulling into the warehouse, my jaw dropped. Dad sure knew how to create one-of-a-kind events; even the use of a ramp that took you up about eight feet and then back down. Everything was lit by different colored neon lights. FREAKING CRAZY. My heart pounded as I pulled the Skyline in close to the front. Dad and his crew were already there, outside their cars, laughing and admiring each other’s builds.

He gave me a smile and wave as I pulled my Skyline into the line of drifters. I watched as the other drivers sized us up, their eyes filled with a mixture of respect and rivalry. This was our night to shine, and I was determined to prove myself as a force to be reckoned with at the underground Flywheels races.

The cars here were a bold mix of colors and designs, each a work of art in its own right. I could even spot a few I had painted this year! Sleek, modified machines, I saw a mix of classic muscle cars and imported Japanese drift machines, their wide fenders and low profiles ready to tackle the challenging course ahead.

I walked over to my dad and his friends, seeing Hank Jr. was there with his dad. As soon as I got there, Freddie came over, too. "You ready for this, Rosalie?" Dad asked, clapping a hand on my shoulder. His smile was contagious, and I nodded enthusiastically back.

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