Page 69 of Crash Course Omega
“Jaxx, you shouldn’t have to bear the weight of that just because Maddock can be an idiot. If he ends up getting hurt, yes, it could be devastating and change our lives forever, but, in the end, that’s not your responsibility. You need to look after yourself as well.”
He opens his mouth, but I don’t let him talk. I’m not finished yet.
“Why don’t you try trusting us more? You saw the way I drove the other day, you know that I can do it. If you support me rather than trying to protect me, don’t you think that will give me the confidence to drive better? I kind of like the idea of racingforyou.”
I don’t want to tell him about everything I’ve been through with Maddock. That isn’t for him to know, but I don’t want to be with another person who tries to hold me back just because they have their own agenda. Even if that agenda is about keeping me safe.
“Yeah, you’re teaching me how to drive the car, but ultimately, I’m the one driving it. Like you said about the horses, I’m the one steering it, so why don’t you just teach me everything you know, and trust me to follow you?”
“Does that include off the track as well?” Jaxx asks, his flirty smirk returning.
He really is too handsome. There’s no way I can win against that smile.
“Why don’t we make another bet, since you’ve already used up your favor?” I say.
“It depends on what you’re offering. I don’t know if I want to take this kind of risk with another bet with you.” The purr quickly returns to his voice as his fingers trace the bumps of my spine through my dress.
“Even though you’ll definitely win?”
“Go on then, tell me your stakes,” he hums.
“Drive naturally in this next race, one hundred percent, full power, no holding back.”
“You mean for the Grand Prix?”
“Or the free practice or the qualifying. It's up to you, though not if it’s going to ruin your precious system with Maddock. Race how youwantto race. Don't try to protect anyone else. Just get out on the track and drive for yourself. If you come in first, you get another favor. If you lose… Hm…Well.. Just don’t lose,” I laugh.
He pulls me in tight, and he’s definitely going to kiss me again.
“You promise I get another favor? I could use it for dastardly means.”
I giggle as I lean in close, meeting him halfway.
“I kind of hope you do.”
Everest
I really want to ask her what happened last week. It was obvious when she got out of the car on her first run on the Texas track that she needed help, not just for her perfume.
The way Jaxx had held her and how she’d clung to him made me sure there was something going on between them. I thought I would be jealous, but there was a settled feeling in me as they hugged. Because Jaxx usually wore a smile that made me think he had plans and that he was always plotting something. Though I suspected it was mostly new ways to annoy Maddock.
But it looked like Jaxx was deadly serious from the way he held her and murmured to her back then, and I'd wanted to see herface and how she responded to him. And if she would respond to me that way, too.
All that has been whirling around my head for days. When we packed everything up for the UK, when we flew out on the plane, when I was lying in bed at night trying to fight through the burning lust that wracked my body at the intense memory of the scent of her slick. It was too much to handle.
I made it clear to everyone who knew me that the cars were my priority, and nothing else. But now my priorities have changed so quickly that it’s both bizarre and settling to have her sitting next to me like this.
Harmony bends over her script, murmuring to herself as she underlines sections, and she’ll startle me occasionally as she suddenly bursts out with some phrase or exclamation.
Though I never quite know when she’s going to speak, I prefer to be quietly on edge than desperately search for a way to ask her what had happened with Jaxx without sounding downtrodden.
But Maddock looks like he’s been running on pure fury since her race. He can barely say three words without growling. And I’m more worried about him.
This is the Grace team’s year, and whenever he steps into his car in that state, it can end in a disaster.
Seeing Harmony next to any car is hard to bear. My alpha senses are urging me to bite and claim her as mine, but I just want to focus on my routine.
Which is why I made her sit directly two feet behind me so she and Maddock’s car aren’t close enough that I might make a mistake and get hard for the third time tonight.
