Page 32 of Hyperspeed
But I wasn’t about to lose to Kai Mercer.
Not at this.
So I let the moment stretch, just long enough for him to think he had me. To think I was right where he wanted me.
Then I grabbed the front of his jacket, pushed forward, and twisted our bodies, so that Kai ended up being the one against the wall with my palm pressed against his chest. I felt his accelerated heartbeat, and I arched my hips forward, pressing my groin against his. His hardness answered mine, both of us feeling the effects of the last few minutes, and he stared down at me, eyes hooded.
He opened his mouth to speak, but I beat him to it. “I don’t play games I can’t win, Kai.” My hands wrapped around his throat, thumbs pressed against his pulse point. “And I’m not playing yours.”
Without another word, I shoved away from him and returned to the bar, ignoring the way my skin still burned where he’d touched me.
Catch Me If You Can't
Kai
A month had passed since the party, and with it, two race weekends. Titanium Falls had been great, and once again I was on the podium in top spot. But I hated the course at Crystal Barricade—the dazzling lights that refracted off gems alongside the track fucked me over every year, and it showed in the results.
The lights had blinded me on a turn, and while swerving to avoid another driver, I’d locked up my wheels, sending my vehicle off the road. It had pushed me down to fourth, but I’d overtaken Jax in the penultimate lap and finished third. Zylo had taken the win.
And in second place? Fucking Rev. His strategy had been unpredictable as ever, and he was fast as a whip. Try as I might, I couldn’t close the gap.
It was my first loss of the season, because anything below first was a loss in my book, but Rev had achieved his highest finish so far. He’d climbed the drivers’ overall standings to fourth, sitting between Jax in third and Dray in fifth.
The gap between the three of them was minimal. If the rookie continued as he was, Jax’s position in the top three was at risk. Though as long as Jax beat Dray, wherever he was on the table, he’d be ecstatic. The competition between the two of them had been going on for years. It was the reason for their verypublic breakup three years ago, and since then, they’d continued to wind each other up.
On the podium, Zylo had been the only one smiling. I’d tried, but based on the photos posted online, the most I’d been able to muster was a grimace. Rev had maintained his usual calm and detached expression.
Yet under the bright lights of flashing cameras, I’d seen the way his eyes sparkled. The way the stars in their depths had swirled and burst like a supernova. I’d expected him to rub the result in my face. Had waited for a snarky comment about losing my edge or some shit.
But it never came. There was no scowl, no glare. He’d just stepped off the podium and walked away, without even acknowledging my existence.
Thinking about it, I’d barely seen him throughout that entire race weekend. The same could be said for Titanium Falls.
When I had seen him, I’d thrown out some teasing jibes. Again, the usual. Picking at his driving skills, his penchant for being reckless, and calling him “rookie” in my most condescending tone, just because he hated it.
And he’d heard me, because the lines on his skin flared a bloody red whenever I so much as breathed in his vicinity. But he’d never outwardly reacted. He’d just turned in the other direction, hid in Zenith’s garage, or put in some headphones to block me out.
Why was he avoiding me?
It’s not like anything had happened between us at the bar. Not really. Just the usual insults, some cockblocking, and mutual awkward boners.
So, yeah . . . nothing.
I’ll admit, watching him dance had stirred something in me. Well, more specifically, in my groin. Rev had looked different from his normal grumpy self—hips rolling seductively to the beat, neck straining, head tipped back—and if I’d had a semi just from watching, I couldn’t imagine how Dray had felt being pressed up against him.
And that was when things had got weird. Because when Dray had draped his body over Rev like a cheap pair of curtains, I’d . . . seen red. I’d wanted him off the rookie and somewhere far away. Another room. Hell, another galaxy.
Jax had been just as annoyed beside me, watching the way Dray’s lips trailed along the rookie’s slender throat. I wasn’t sure what had made me react the way I did, but all I knew was that I didn’t like it.
I hadn’t expected to find myself pressed against Rev in a dimly lit corridor, close enough to share the same air, to feel each other’s skin, and . . . yeah, I guess that’s when we arrived at mutual awkward boners.
“I don’t play games I can’t win, Kai.”
So yeah, I guess he was avoiding me.
But again,why? Rev had reacted just as viscerally, and webothknew it. His breath had hitched, skin burning beneath my fingers. And when I’d looked deep into the voids of his eyes, he’d been just as wrecked as I was.
His desperate whimper would play on a loop in my head until I died. It lived there rent free now. Couldn’t be evicted. And every time I saw him—before he ducked out of sight—it echoed through my brain while images of his body, pressed against the wall and damp with sweat, played on repeat. A short film with a singular soundtrack.
