Page 94 of All That Glitters
“Ashton.”
“Tell me what?”
“Your sister has been offered a seat on a new race team. The seat will be mine, eventually, but until then, it’ll be hers.”
“I told you no.” My jaw was starting to ache from clenching it so tightly to keep from screaming.
“And I obviously didn’t listen. Instead, I chose to do something for you that you refuse to do for yourself.”
“I’m not following. Your seat?” Hale stepped up beside me and took the folder from my limp fingers. The shock was setting in. I would feel the anger later, I hoped, but for the moment, I was in shock. Ashton was going to ruin everything. He was going to ruin every fucking piece of the wall I’d built around myself to protect everyone, most of all, Hale.
I snatched the folder back at the last second. “Ashton, thank you, but it’s time for you to go. And I won’t be needing the seat. Please thank Darien for me.”
“Oh, it’s not that cut and dried. You see, the condition of my employment is based on you accepting the offer.”
“That’s not fair. Why would he do that?”
“He didn’t. I did.”
“Bastard.”
He smiled. Unbothered. Unconcerned.
“We’ve been over that.”
“Will someone please tell me what the fuck is going on?” Hale snapped. The glare that passed between Hale and Ashton and me and Ashton should’ve been enough to set the whole room on fire, but I could’ve sworn the temperature dropped a few degrees below zero.
“I’m out at Glitterati. I’ll be starting over at a new team. And your sister still wants to race.”
“No. I don’t.”
I really wanted to talk to Ashton about what his father had done, but… I was pretty sure that conversation wasn’t going to happen. Hale had to have questions, too, especially with what he’d said before Ashton showed up.
“She really does. She’s just too scared right now.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?” Hale’s eyes shifted to me, but I didn’t look at him. I picked a place on the wall behind Ashton and focused all my attention on it. “Why didn’t you look for another ride?”
“Because women were too big of a risk and that she wouldn’t be as marketable as a man, as you.”
“That’s absurd. There have always been women in motorsports. More all the time. There’s a full women’s race team now. She knows this. She knows them.”
It was interesting to be there and be talked about as though I wasn’t in the same room. Neither had said anything that wasn’t true. Sure, there was a little exaggeration, but not enough to bother offering a correction. I didn’t think they would listen anyway.
“Haven’t you ever wondered why you got the seat you’re in when she beat you that day?”
“They said… I mean, they…”
I swore I would never say anything.
“Don’t listen to him,” I said helplessly, still staring at the wall, at the way the light filtered against the paint.
“Too late. You didn’t beat me by much. Spitting distance.”
“Exactly. We were neck and neck the whole time.”
“Then what did it come down to? Why did they choose me and not you?”
I heaved a sigh, my whole being inside and out, heavy. I looked from my spot on the wall to my brother.
