Page 100 of Crash into me

I nod; I’ll do it for him. She’s taken too much from him, from us. “Don’t let her.”

“There it is.” I try to inch forward in the seat as the finish line comes into view, but I’m held back by the harness.

With the bike races, there’s just a defining point of finishing. A marker of sorts. But with cars, there’s an actual swath of paper being held up. It’s just liked the ones we used to make for the football team that they would run through.

Envy doesn’t have time to push us off the road as we fly past her and plow through, breaking through the paper of the finish line.

My hands are shaking from a surge of pure adrenaline. We did it. I fumble with the harness, trying to rip it off me and once it’s unhooked, I jump onto his lap.

He steps out of the car with my legs wrapped around him as he does a victory yell. “We did it!” I scream. “Holy fuck, we did it!”

He wraps his arms around my back. “Yes we did, baby.”

My feet touch the wet ground as everyone finishes and parks.

“Let’s go get your winnings.” I beam.

Hand in hand, we walk to the taco truck. The man hands over a massive plate of tacos. Foster says, “There’s no money under there.”

My stomach drops. “Why?”

“They wouldn’t be able to fit what I won under some tacos, Sky.” He grins; this must be normal.

A notification sounds on his phone, and he faces it to me, showcasing the winnings deposited into his bank account. With the money we’ve been winning, as well as tonight, there’s two hundred thousand dollars. Months of racing in the highest stake’s races, non-stop. It was all for this. “Let’s go fucking celebrate.”

The best part of the night besides having enough money to pay the Keeper, the fact that Envy is crying.

She lost.

And we won.

Take that, you psychotic bitch.

38

This feeling is serene, like we’ve been freed from a rusty cage for the hundredth time but this time … it’s real.

First, it was escaping my parents.

Then, surviving a crash.

Finally, outrunning a dangerous bet keeper.

We walk back over to our friends who are all leaning against the hoods of their cars. I put the taco tray on the Challengers hood. “Fuck yes!” Ryder nearly drools.

“What are we going to do now?” Kate asks, taking a bite.

Foster throws his arm around me, a new sense of freedom enveloping him. “We’re going to party. Follow us.”

Ryder takes the tray, adding, “We’ll bring these.”

We’re taking everyone to our secret spot to celebrate—as long as they keep the location hush, hush. They’re following behind us. Me and Foster are in the car alone, and we’re both being eerily silent. Until we glance at each other and a smile overtakes us both, then laughter.

I never thought we would make it to this point; it’s been a hell of a ride. “Can we wire it to him now?” I’m ready for this shit show to be over with.

Foster grins. “We’re going to cash it tomorrow. He won’t do anything with a digital trail.”

We pull up to the tree, tucking our cars into the cover of night.

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