Page 49 of Bump and Run
He twisted around to look at me. “Darn straight.”
I was a lucky man to have the two most amazing best friends in the world. Even if it felt like my heart was completely shattered.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Jones
Four Years Later
Someone called my name as I walked down to the garage on my way to the race. I raised my hand in a hello, a smile pulling at my lips. The sun was high in the sky and beating down on my face. It was so warm. It was going to be a hot day here, but I didn’t mind. I liked days like this. Sweating in my car, hands at ten and two, as I stomped on the gas pedal. The roar of the engine. Passing my competitors on my way to the front. I loved being a NASCAR driver. I was living my dream, and I wouldn’t give this up for the world. I had a great feeling about the race today. I could feel it in my bones. That maybe I would get that big win that I had been pushing so hard for.
“Jones!” My best friend, and the fuel man on my pit crew, Ollie, grabbed my arm, stopping me from going inside. “We need to talk. Now.”
I stared up at him, my eyes zoning in on the black eye he wasn’t sporting yesterday.
“Ollie.” I sighed.
When I reached up to touch his face, he pushed my hand away. He looked way too serious.
“Everything okay? What happened to your face?” He was blocking the door, so I couldn‘t even see inside. “Ollie,what’s going on? You look kind of mad, and I’m not going to lie, it’s kind of scary.”
“You know you’re my best friend and I care about you, right?” He glanced behind him, but when he turned back to look at me, his green eyes flashed with anger, which was very unlike him. He was a gentle giant whom everyone adored. Everyone loved him. Well, that black eye meant not everyone loved him.
I beamed up at him. “Just tell me, Ollie. I’m a big boy. I can handle it.”
“Charlie’s here.”
Just hearing that name made my stomach drop. “Charlie? You mean my Charlie?” Tears suddenly stung my eyes. He wasn’t my anything. Not anymore. Maybe not ever. “What is he doing here?”
“Jones, maybe we should go for a walk.”
“Yeah, sure, okay.”
It felt like my legs were going to give out. Panic began to zip over my skin. Why was Charlie here? But that’s when I heard his voice. That familiar Boston accent that haunted my dreams for months. The way he said my name.Jonesy. My sweet, sweet Jonesy. His laugher filtered through the air, and I felt my knees buckle beneath me. Ollie caught me before I went down. He had to be sick and tired of picking me up as often as he had to.
“I got you, Jones,” he murmured, hooking an arm around my waist and spun me around right as Remington Edward Charles Callahan IV appeared in my line of sight.
“Isn’t this fucking cute?” Charlie’s dark eyes flashed with anger as they moved over us. “But I shouldn’t be surprised to see it.”
Ollie’s hand tightened on my hip, to the point it hurt. “Back off.”
“Are you two together now or just fucking? Can’t say I’m shocked, considering the way you were always watching Jones the way you did. All moon-eyed and puppy love.” Charlie folded his arms across his thick chest, and I noticed the way his biceps flexed in his fire suit. The one that had Callahan Motorsports written on it.
Wait a second.Callahan Motorsports?Since when was there a Callahan Motorsports?
I stared up at him, my heart ramming against my ribs. “What are you...” I stopped to lick my dry lips, trying to control my trembling body. “Why are you dressed like that?”
“Jonesy, you really should pay more attention. You’re so sweet but a little naïve.” Charlie flashed a smile my way, that mole I was forever obsessed with on full display, and I wanted to slap him.
I wasn’t a violent man, but he had hurt me in ways I never thought imaginable. Ripped out my heart, stomped all over it, and then instead of giving it back, ran off with the stupid organ so I couldn’t give it to anyway else, no matter how hard I’d tried. And believe me, I had tried.
Ollie growled next to me. “Don’t talk to him like that, you big jerk.”
“Oh, is your guard dog upset?” Charlie pouted, then chuckled softly but took a step back when Ollie released me to move toward him.
Ollie had only gotten larger, thicker, and stronger with all the hard work he put in for his job. He worked out every morning, lifted those heavy cans of fuel for my car, and was a force to be reckoned with. I had watched Ollie knock over men larger than he was on the football field years ago, but now he was double that size. He’d take Charlie out without thinking twice about it.
I raised my chin at my ex-boyfriend, hoping my hurt didn’t show in my eyes. That my bleeding heart wasn’t there on display for him to see. “Answer the question.”
