Page 13 of Rear View
My pulse kicked up. Mods meant speed, and speed meant wins. Bigger. Faster. Better.
I could sure as hell work with that.
* * *
Forty-five minutes later, I flicked the signal indicator on my Jeep, and ittickedwhile I waited to turn right, eying the rally car where it sat strapped to the trailer I was towing. The sun was high, and I flipped my visor down as it beat through the windshield.
Alec stared straight ahead, his hand latched on to the holy-shit handle for comfort. “You think your time away’ll be an issue?”
My stomach hardened. Last thing I wanted was to think about any of that shit, but the question was fair. “Can’t see how. My record was suspended the day I turned eighteen.” And the media wasn’t allowed to print the names of charged minors, so there’d be no searchable trail.
Traffic cleared and I cut the wheel, banking wide so the trailer cleared the sidewalk as I veered onto College Street. Snow crunched under the thick tread of my tires, and I kept my eyes wide, ’cause students liked to dart through traffic and the road conditions were garbage.
Alec gave a nod. “If that ever came out—”
“It won’t, man.” I’d taken the heat. All of it. Of the people that knew, most were legally compelled to shut their mouths, and the rest had incentive to. “Earl andSean aren’t gonna talk, and neither are you. As long as everyone stays quiet, we’re golden.”
Alec nodded. The guy was good that way. He pushed when he needed to and backed the hell off when he should.
That part of my past had to stay buried, ’cause if anyone found out, the sponsors would ditch. My reputation would be shot. The WRC was a business and had a reputation they liked. They weren’t about ex-cons, so my rally career would be shot.Allour careers would be.
His phone buzzed. He checked the screen and grinned.
There was only one person who brought that look to his face. “How’s Sheila?”
“She’s pumped for us.”
The two’d been together three years and he’d popped the question two months ago. Sheila was his family. I was happy for the guy. So damn happy, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say it stung. My family was gone. I was fuckin’ alone.
Ma was still around, but my old man’s drug-running family—the same ones he’d filtered half his embezzled cash to—were just as shady as him. Before his trial had gone down, they’d come looking for Ma. No doubt, they were still watching. Waiting. So going to her wasn’t an option. Yeah, we talked on the phone but it wasn’t the same.
I wanted that family back. Someone to be proud of me. Just someone.
I’d had Penny, my ex. Things had been good for a while, until I’d figured out that I wanted her, and she just wanted everything that came with me.
Downshifting, I rolled to a stop at the red light. Every head at the intersection turned our way, eyein’ the rallycar. I checked the side mirror, seeing the traffic behind was just as dangerous as the stuff in front.
Movement at my front right quarter panel had my attention snap up. I sat straighter, heart thumping overtime against my ribs.
Fuck me.
A girl stood there, glancing to her left as she searched the faces around her like she was waitin’ for someone. She looked somewhere in her early twenties. Had on a tan wool coat that stopped halfway down her legs. Dark jeans, and brown boots that hit her knees. Her clothes were simple and loose and hid her body. Nothing special, but,Christ, she still pulled it off.
The wind cut from the east and whipped her long brown hair around, showing off the sleek line of her neck. My chest tightened. She was gorgeous. Like the “I forgot how to think, and who I fuckin’ was” kinda gorgeous.
Her face was flawless. Full lips, high cheekbones and eyes that caught the light like liquid copper. When they flicked my way, they pierced my goddamn soul.
There was a shout from nearby. My head jerked toward it. A delivery cyclist with thick winter tires was barreling past a clump of pissed-off pedestrians. The idiot snapped his handlebars to go around them and caught a patch of ice.
The bike shifted right and caught the clear cement of the sidewalk with a jerk. The fuckwad went airborne, headed straight for my girl. Her eyes flew wide when she spotted him, and she raised her arms to shield herself before he slammed into her, taking her down hard. Her back hit the ground, books and bag flying.
“Fuck!” I shoved the Jeep in neutral, ripped up the e-brake.
“Go,” Alec said. “I’ll park us.”
Inclining my head, I threw my door open and jumped out, bolting as I shoved past the gawking crowd until I reached her, then dropped to a knee at her side. “You alright?”
She groaned and blinked hard like she tried to clear her head. Those eyes met mine and held, trying to focus. “I think so.”
