Page 35 of Trading Paint

“Lover’s quarrel?”Sway teased with her head hung. I couldn’t see her eyes with her hat on.

I pushed her off the tailgate. “Get in.”

“Where are we going?”

“I need to drop off my fuel pump.”

“Cool, Frank has my new shifter for the red dragon.”

“I’m surprised that piece of shit still runs.” I teased starting my truck. Sway grinned when I revved the engine for her.

“Don’t knock the red dragon. She’s reliable.”

“Really?”I raised an eyebrow at her. “Is that why we had to walk home from the Ranch House Sunday night?”

“You watch—that truck will still be around when we’re fifty.”

“Yeah, as parts in a junk yard.”When I glanced down at her legs she had put up on my dashboard, I noticed her pants were red by her pockets. “What happened to your pants?” I chuckled.

“Fucking fire crotch,” She grumbled. “Asshole asked me to put some ketchup packets in my pocket earlier knowing damn well I’d forget about them.”

I laughed. Those two were constantly at each other’s throats. I was convinced Tommy was Spencer’s long lost brother.

The rest of our lunch break was spent arguing as usual and dropping off parts. Once back at school, Chelsea found me and tried to invite herself to Dayton Peak. I knew damn well Sway would kill me if she came along, so I once again told her no.

“Jameson,” Chelsea whined as we made our way out of our last class for the day. “Just come over tonight.”

“Stop asking. I’m going to Dayton Peak with the guys.” I threw my bag in my locker and headed for my truck.

“And Sway...” she added keeping step with me.

“Your point?”I shot back.

“Youalwayschoose her over me.”

“Sway is my best friend...you knew that going into this! Don’t ask me to choose because you won’t like the answer.” I warned giving her another glare before turning toward the parking lot.

Chelsea did this shit all the time. She always made it seem like I wanted Sway instead, when I did, just not in the ways I should. Above all else, I shouldn’t have to choose between Sway and anything. She’d never ask me to choose.

Charlie let me use the track on Friday nights to test out my cars before the next race so that’s where I was every Friday night. It didn’t matter what anyone else was doing; I was always racing. For a while, I was okay with that, but as my senior year progressed, I started to see the drawbacks.

While my friends had normal teenage lives where they partied, attended school functions and had girlfriends, I didn’t. Monday through Friday, you could find me at the track doing odd jobs for Charlie, my dad or racing. Saturdays were spent traveling to a race or preparing my car, and Sundays were spent heading home from whatever track I raced at and finishing up schoolwork so I could graduate. I didn’t have a normal teenage life and I had few friends who understood the sacrifices I made.

Sway understood. If anyone did, it was her. She never gave me shit if I fell asleep while we were watching a movie because I’d spent the last few days traveling to make it home for school. That didn’t mean she didn’t fuck with me if I fell asleep but still, she understood.

Once I finished testing out my springs for tomorrow’s race and got the setup dialed in, Spencer and I headed to Dayton Peak with Alley and Emma. Sway was already up there with Cooper and Tommy, drinking of course.

“Hey Jameson,” Tommy yelled as I stepped out of my truck, his words already slurring. I tossed my keys to Spencer knowing damn well I wouldn’t be driving home tonight. “Get over here!” he motioned. “Sway just told us you broke the track record in Chico.”

I grinned. “So what,”

“So what?”Tommy repeated incredulously. “Dude your dad has been trying to break Tate’s record for years and then you act like it’s no big deal.”

I stood beside him. Sway threw a beer my way; I winked at her as I opened it. “It’s not that big of a deal.” I told them taking a drink of the beer and then sitting down next to Sway on the log.

She leaned into my shoulder. “How’d the springs work?”

“Good.” I smiled. “I think I’ve got it figured out. I may need to make some air pressure adjustments but it’s better than last week in Chico.”

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