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He doesn’t make a move to walk away and I get it. Ares isn’t mad at me. He’s turned on.

“Ok.” I nod, my voice is just barely above a whisper.

“Good night.” His eyes stay on mine for the most intense two seconds of my life, before descending to my lips and returning up to stare at me.

My body is on fire. I lick my lips, my lids fluttering almost all the way down; they’re open just enough that I can see the corner of his mouth tip up again.

“Go to bed, Zara.” His hand leaves the wall, and he leans slightly back, that gaze still burning me from the inside out.

“Aren’t you going to?—”

His smile widens, just a fraction. “Am I going to do what? Kiss you?”

I nod, unable to talk. I want him so much that I think my heart might burst.

“No, not tonight. Maybe one day. You’ve been kissed enough for tonight, and I’m not going to be compared to my brother and his best friend.”

I watch his retreating form, hoping one day is someday soon.

Chapter 6

Crash And Burn

ARES

It’s race day and my head isn’t in the fucking game.

“Ares?” Adam, our chief mechanic, waves a hand in front of my face to get my attention.

“Huh? Sorry, can you repeat your question?” Or at least I assume he asked me a question.

I’ve been staring without really seeing anything for several minutes. All I can think about is a pair of big, intense green eyes staring into my soul last night.

My lips burn at the memory of what I almost did when I walked Zara back to her room.

I wanted to kiss her with every fucking cell in my body, but I know I did the right thing.

The fact that she’s too young is just the tip of the iceberg of the mountain of reasons why kissing her would have been a terrible idea.

She kissed my brother last night. They were all over each other. Then she kissed Lev. While she knew her loser ex-boyfriend was watching.

Zara doesn’t know what she wants. She’s clearly spiraling. She’s taking crazy risks and messing around just to get attention.I want no part in that. I wanted to kiss her, yes. But not unless I could be sure that she was attracted to me.

Her voice reaches me as she’s laughing with Chance and Lev by the refreshment table on the opposite side of our paddock.

I watch her saying something to them, pointing to the public restroom just outside the racers’ area.

I almost walk there to tell her that she can use the bathroom in our RV, but I focus on answering Adam’s question instead.

“We don’t really know if it’s going to rain. Keep the wet bike ready for a swap if it does. I’m not going to bother if it’s just a drizzle. What did Atlas say?”

Adam chuckles. “The same thing you just did. Levin wants to do what you guys decide.”

I nod. “Fine. Then keep our wet options ready for a quick swap if we need it, but we’ll go with our main bikes for now.”

I don’t let myself look for her until we complete all our pre-race checks. When my eyes finally check the spot where she was standing earlier, there’s no sign of her.

She might have gone to sit with Chance and Dad in the VIP area. Heather is gone too; my brother’s girlfriend never misses a chance to butter up our old man. If it was up to her, they’d be married even before she turns eighteen. I’m glad her parents would never allow it.

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