Page 18 of All That Glitters
The haulers and motorhomes they transported the cars, mobile engineering centers, and family in were stored at a facility also owned by Leonardo.
“I don’t think I was ready for how angry and uncompromising he was,” Hale said. “Ash was unwilling to listen from the second he walked through the door.”
I could see that.
The air had been heavy with tension when I’d walked in to find them facing off with each other. I’d never seen them that way and I had to admit it alarmed me.
Would they ever be friends again? Would Ashton ever come around? Would he ever be ready to talk to Hale without the anger being front and center? And if not, what would that mean for Hale’s friendship with Brax? What would that mean for me and my friendships with Ashton and Brax?
“Why are we going? I mean, outside of the optics, why are we going?”
“Maybe the optics are the only reason.” That wasn’t the truth, at least not for me. For Hale, though, I could pretend they were.
I’d been obsessing over a look that really could’ve meant nothing, especially given Ashton’s confrontational state of mind.
But…
He’d never looked at me like that, with heat and hunger, with so much anger. Every time I closed my eyes, he was there, staring at me with that slight smirk, that dark look.
“Do you think he really believes I did it on purpose?”
“On the surface, it seems so, but deep down, I… I don’t know. Between all the films from every angle possible and talking to his team, I suppose anything is possible. Even under the best of circumstances, Ashton has never been the most level-headed.”
“Do you think anyone else does? You know, think that I wrecked him on purpose?”
I reached for his hand and he clasped mine. I think we both needed reassurance. “Every driver out there knows you, knows your character. They all know you’re not that type.”
“I thought Ashton knew that, too.”
“Wrecks happen and hindsight is always twenty-twenty. I’m sure if you had that day back, knowing what you know now, you’d do something different going in.”
“Yeah… I told him as much. I miss him being around.”
“I know. Me, too.”
As close as Hale and I were as siblings, he and Ashton Glitterati had been attached at the hip from the moment they met on a go-kart track. From there… Nights out as they got older. Video game marathons in the off season. Weekends away. And so many double dates it was ridiculous.
It hurt Hale when Ashton didn’t return calls after he was out of the hospital, that he didn’t text, that he blamed Hale to the point of silence, that he hadn’t tried to get in touch before.
Ashton had never been the type to avoid someone who’d wronged him and I don’t think Hale understood why he was the exception. And really, I didn’t either.
Tail lights ahead of us turned through a large iron gate set back from the road.
The Glitterati compound was lit up in the early evening darkness. A small private drive to the left led beyond to the garage and racing base of operations. We followed behind the other cars until the sprawling multi-story house came into view.
Lights shimmered in nearly every window and there were people milling around outside, greeting each other, strolling casually into the house. Some I’d know, some I wouldn’t. That wasn’t unusual though. Drivers came and went, crews came and went, spouses and girlfriends sometimes came and went, too.
“Too late to get out of this now, huh?” Hale asked, pulling to the side of a car and parking at an angle, making it easy to get out of the tight confines once we were ready to leave.
“Yeah.”
My nerves took over and everything below the surface was a trembling, shaking mess. I wanted to throw up. It was an awful feeling.
Hale got out, shook the hand of someone I didn’t recognize, then walked with measured steps around to my door and helped me down from the Jeep. “Who was that?”
“I have no idea, but he knew me so…”
That wasn’t uncommon, either.
