Page 3 of Need for Speed

“Do I now?” I ask.

He nods slowly. “You like the things that are deemed bad for you and you are not one to deny yourself the simple pleasures in life.”

His words shock me because they are so true. Even with the warm breeze I have goosebumps covering my body. I try to smile but I’m sure it looks forced. Soon enough the food arrives. We eat in silence, nothing but the music from the drive-in speakers playing. Axell is right, this is the best food. Afterward, he pulls out and heads to my house. When he parks, he opens his door and walks around before I can tell him he doesn’t need to. He opens my door and extends his hand to me. The minute our skin meets it’s like my arm is on fire. Butterflies attack my stomach. I get out on wobbly legs.

As I go to step up on the curb, I trip but Axell catches me, pulling me into his chest. Speechless, I look up into his eyes but up close they look like two different colors. I move to my tiptoes to get a better look and sure enough his left eye is solid blue and the right eye is half blue and half hazel. They are mysterious but hold sadness in them. A look I recognize. Before I even realize he leans down and presses his lips to mine, moving one of his hands from my waist to my hair.

I’ve kissed my fair share of guys before, hell I’ve even thought I was in love before, but I’ve never had a kiss feel like this. This kiss has my body on fire and my nerves standing at attention. The world around me has ceased to exist. I’ve neverhad that feeling of becoming one with another person, but with Axell I swear that’s what we just did. Axell pulls away from my lips but he’s only a breath away. I’m breathless and by the look on his face I think he’s just as affected. “Come with me,” he demands as his husky voice soothes my raging nerves. I simply nod not caring where we go.

We get back in the car then drive to a tiny playground in a pretty questionable area. He takes my hand as we walk to the swings. I sit down, and he starts to push me. “Why don’t you swing too?”

He comes around and sits beside me. “This used to be my favorite place in the world. My mom used to bring me and my brothers here every day. I grew up here. I played cops and robbers, superheroes, cowboys and Indians, my whole childhood was here. I remember my mom sitting under that tree with a picnic basket on long summer days. She’d be reading while we played for hours.”

I smile, imaging Axell as a child, running and playing in this playground. “That sounds like a great memory to have.”

“My mom is dying so memories will be all I have soon enough,” he whispers. My heart cries for him. This explains the sadness in his eyes. I reach out and take his hand in mine as the sun starts to rise in the sky. If I thought I knew anything before I was wrong, so wrong. I didn’t know anything until Axell James gave me a ride home and changed my life.

The traffic starts to move again, and I let the memory slip from my mind. What happened to those two who loved each other so much?

Chapter 2

Axell

After Jovi leaves and I clean up the kitchen I head out to my car. My solid black with tinted windows 1970 Chevy Chevelle is sitting in the now empty driveway calling my name. I don’t race anymore but my car is still built for it. Sometimes I feel sorry for it because having a race car and never racing her is like having a horse and never riding it. I never thought I’d see a day I didn’t race. It was my addiction. It was the one thing I could control and when my world started to fall apart, I started to race more.

Racing gave me a sense of power that I no longer had in my life. It also didn’t hurt that I was the best. I wasn’t being cocky just honest. No one wanted to race me and whoever did always lost. I could drive a car better than anything else in my life. I talked in the language of speed and cars better than I could talk to any human I knew.

My dad instilled two things into me; cars and music and both had always been my saving grace until I had found Sadie. Giving up racing when she voiced her fears was a no brainer for me. As much as I loved racing and craved it, IneededSadie more than anything else in this world.

Racing had also led my life down a dangerous path. Because I was so good with an undefeated record at the street races and I seemed to have no concern for myself, I was approached by some guys. The type of guys that you know you should avoid, not look in the eyes, turn around and run in the opposite direction, type of guys. However, I was numb on the inside at the time. I choose to be numb because it was my only option. I had to remain strong for my family and the only way to do that was to remove my feelings, to numb myself, so I did.

Roberto and Manuel approached me one night after I had won yet another race. My winnings for that night was close to five hundred dollars. Of course, when you’re a teenager that seems like a ton of money. I was celebrating with my brothers, Bowie and Jagger and some of our friends when the two men appeared. I noticed them standing along the street attempting to fit in but sticking out like a sore thumb.

For starters they were in their late twenties while the rest of us were in high school or college. The oldest being twenty-three. The other thing that made them stick out was the fact that they were trying to dress down but even in their jeans and t-shirt they looked far too expensive for this part of town.

After celebrating for a bit everyone started to disperse with the decision to head to the beach. As I made my way to my car the guys approached me. One spoke very broken English while the other spoke none at all, but they still managed to compliment me on my driving while offering me a job. I remember feeling like I was in some movie or waiting for someone to jump out and holler “gotcha” but no one did.

Before they left, they handed me a card with a phone number on it. If I decided to take the job, then I needed to call that number. I didn’t even know what the job was just that they promised me over a thousand dollars to race plus half of my winnings. I had no idea the kind of mess I was getting myself into by even considering the offer. I guess at the time though I didn’t care.

Sadie didn’t know about that arrangement for years. As I pull into the shop my phone starts to ring. I look down and see my younger brother’s name flashing across the screen. “Hey Ace, what’s up?”

“It’s been a hell of a morning. I got no sleep last night. We got a call that Kynlee’s little sister, Brooke had a pretty bad fall from a horse, back in Texas. She wasn’t going to go since the weddingwas this weekend, but I told her I’d get it all rescheduled, then helped her book her flights and what not,” Ace explains sounding a little winded.

“Damn, I hope Brooke is okay.”

“Yeah, me too. I actually called for another reason,” Ace comments.

I chuckle. “I figured you did.”

“Here’s the thing. I told Kynlee I’d get the wedding rescheduled which as far as guests isn’t too hard since it’s mostly just our friends and family, but I don’t know how to reschedule the rest of this crap,” he says in a huff.

Laughing at him I say, “Okay, let me check in at the shop since I just pulled in then I’ll meet you. Where are you?”

“Inkredible.” Ace replies, the tattoo shop he owns.

“Okay, do you have a list or something of who we need to get a hold of?” I ask.

A loud laugh comes through the phone. “A list? I’ve got a damn book over here!”

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