Page 20 of All That Glitters
I gave Brax my attention. “It’s not like we’ve been inundated with invitations.”
“Hale hasn’t returned single call or text.”
“I didn’t know he’d gotten any.”
“Well, now you do. He’s weathering all of this alone and it’s not been good for him or for you. We’re all still here.”
“Not all of you.”
He nodded knowing exactly who I was talking about.
“How are you doing?” he asked.
“I’m good. How are you?”
“Oh. So, we’re going for formal, stilted replies? Okay. I can do that.” He cleared his throat and straightened his shirt before standing ramrod straight. “I’m doing very well, thank you for asking.”
“Stop.” I playfully rolled my eyes. “I’m… It’s strange being here.” That was an understatement. Hale and I had spent enough time in the Glitterati home that once upon a time, and not so long ago, as comfortable to us as our own.
“Why? You… Oh. Right.” He sighed. “No one holds Hale responsible. It was an accident. Unfortunately they happen in racing. Sure, maybe he could’ve made a different choice in that moment. It’s a move we’ve seen other drivers make. Some successfully, and some not. That just happened to be one of those unsuccessful times.”
“Always looking on the bright side, aren’t you?”
He poured my drink, then handed it over. “Ashton…” Brax nodded, knowing exactly what I was thinking.
I should’ve realized Brax was tuned into my every move, my every emotion. He had an uncanny ability like Hale to know what I was thinking at any given moment.
Hale’s connection was understandable. Wonder twins. That power was undeniable.
Brax’s wasn’t.
“I don’t think he knows how he feels. Blaming everyone else, being angry with everyone else seems to be the easiest thing for him right now.”
Brax had a point. Maybe Ash didn’t know how he felt and maybe blaming everyone else kept him from having to look too closely at himself, at reality. Maybe he never thought something like that could happen to him. Maybe he thought himself invincible. I think all of us did.
He was best of us, on the track at least. He was flawless. Reckless. But he’d avoided scrapes.
It appeared he was also unpredictable now and none of us could let our guard down around him until he figured himself out.
“You’re not having one?” I asked, lifting the crystal tumbler to my lips. The first sip burned on its way down. The second trailed pleasant fire to the pit of my stomach. My nerves slowly began to unknot themselves and by the third and fourth sip, warmth eased the tension in my shoulders and allowed me to relax.
“No. I stopped drinking the day after Christmas.”
“Really?”
He nodded. “Yeah. If y’all had come to the New Year’s party, you’d have known that.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know you’d tried to get in touch with Hale. You should’ve texted me. So, why did you stop drinking after Christmas? New health routine?”
“Something like that. I don’t want anything to impair my judgment, my thoughts, my words, my memory. I want to be, have to be at the top of my game. Everything I do is an audition for a ride. I want to be the driver a team thinks of first. I want to be the one that they call when there’s an opening. You know how this works.”
“I do.”
I’d known from a young age how it worked. I knew firsthand how it all worked.
“Speaking of driving, which car will you be in this season?”
“I don’t know, yet. Uncle Leo pulled me into the office the other day. There seems to be a difference of opinion on Ash being ready. One says one thing, the other says something else and…” Brax glanced around, then leaned in close. “He didn’t show up to the test yesterday.”
