Page 50 of Bump and Run
I saw the flicker of lust in Charlie’s eyes as he looked at me. The way they moved over my face, down my body, and back to meet my gaze again.
“You look good, Jonesy. Filled out nicely. That fire suit fits you like a glove.” Charlie held up his hands when Ollie growled. “Jesus, relax. I’m fucking with you both. I’m racing now. With you. Well, more like against you.”
My jaw dropped. “You’re what? You’re not a... This is a joke, right? You’re just messing with me?”
“Sadly, no. After I left North Carolina and went home, I started thinking about how much I enjoyed watching you race. How I wanted to learn as much as I could about the sport. I researched everything and anything I could. Being rich has its perks, and well, here we are.” Charlie shrugged like it was no big deal. Like I didn’t bust my tail to get where I was; although some of it was with his help. “I am proud of you though, Jonesy. Rookie of the year and Xfinity Champ. You’re good. I’m looking forward to driving against you. And beating you.”
Ollie shook his head. “No. No way. You’re not... I don’t believe it. You’re not just going to barge in here and disrupt Jones’s life again. You nearly ruined him; do you know that or just not care?”
“Aw, that’s so sweet. You two are cute together. I ship it.” Charlie’s voice was filtered with sarcasm, but he wasn’t looking at Ollie. He kept his chocolate brown eyes on me, his face void of emotion.
“We’re not together. We’re just friends. Ollie’s my gas man,” I said quietly.
Charlie nodded. “I am aware. I’ve kept tabs on you. But, you know, you could be fucking in secret. Behind the scenes, no one saw it. A little spicy and very scandalous.”
“You’re disgusting,” I hissed. He knew how I felt about Ollie. I loved him like a brother.
Ollie suddenly stepped in front of me. “You don’t get to look at him like that, Charlie. You don’t even seem to care that you broke his heart, do you? That you...God, why do I even bother talking to you?” He threw his arms up in the air. “You broke his darn heart and then just ghosted Jones like he was just some casual fuck.” I flinched at Ollie’s choice of words. “Can’t you even apologize for what you did?”
“You don’t have to do this, Ollie.” I put my hand on his arm, but he shrugged me off.
“I do, Jones. Travis and I were the ones who had to nurse your broken heart. Rescue you from that house when Charlie disappeared on you. Fill the hole inside you that this asshole created!” Ollie roared, and when I looked, I saw a few other drivers watching from the garage. “He thinks he can just show up and act like it meant nothing after hepromised he wouldn’t hurt you. Charlie lied to get into your pants. He’s a prick. He’s a fabricator, and I don’t want him anywhere near you because he’s going to do it again. You wouldn’t get out of bed. You were so depressed I thought you were going to—” Ollie lunged forward like he was going to hit him, only for Charlie to trip over his own feet and land on his backside. “Stay away from my best friend, do you hear me? I will hurt you, just like I said I would.” He grabbed my arm and dragged me into the garage but not before I glanced over my shoulder to stare at the only man I had ever loved.
Charlie was watching me right back.
***
Oh, my goodness. This was so bad. So very, very bad. In the years I had been racing, I had never once hit a crew member. Not one of my own or someone else’s. It happened way more than it should, but I had always made sure to be extra careful when I drove down pit road. Keeping my eyes on the other cars and crewman, because I didn’t want to do that. Only today I was more than distracted. Charlie had once again disrupted everything, which caused me to lose focus on what was important, and I hit Holt Walker, the tire carrier and stepbrother for another driver, Watson Brooks.
I felt sick to my stomach. “Is he okay?” I whispered to my crew chief, Adam.
When there was silence on the other end of the radio, I immediately thought the worst. Bile rose in the back of my throat as I gripped my steering wheel. I was a horrible,terrible person. Too consumed with myself to pay attention to my surroundings, and now someone was hurt because of me. Or worse.
“He’s fine,” Adam finally answered. “He’s being checked out by the safety team. Holt is alert. Talking to everyone. I think you just bumped him. You don’t have to worry so much.”
Tears pricked my eyes as I tried to suck air into my lungs. “Really?”
“Buddy, areyouokay?” Adam was a good man. We worked so well together, and I never would have won my Xfinity championship without him.
I coughed nervously. “I’m just having an off day. We all have them.” I wanted to ask him about Callahan Motorsports, about Charlie, and where he might be running, but I bit my tongue. That would only bring on more questions that I wasn’t ready to answer.
“You’re right about that,” Adam assured me before he spoke again. “You might want to avoid Watts Brooks, though. Word is he’s pretty upset with you right now.”
I swallowed nervously. “He has every right to be.” Not only did Holt work for Watts’s team, but they were stepbrothers and best friends. They reminded me a little bit of Ollie and myself. They both shared an RV, something Ollie and I did in the beginning of my career, were extremely close, and did everything together. I would be more than mad if someone hit my best friend. Again. But Ollie always seemed to bounce back.
It was the reason I went to talk to Holt after the race, which Watts won, to apologize. I needed him to know that Iwas sorry, that it was an accident, and if he needed anything, I would absolutely be there for him. The second I climbed from my car and ripped off my helmet, I saw Watts running across the field to get to him. Shoot, I had hoped he wouldn’t be around when I spoke to Holt. I dug my hand through my messy curls as I started toward where they were embracing, only for Watts to move so that he could block my view of his stepbrother.
“No, don’t you think you’ve done enough?” he hissed. His dark eyes were narrowed into angry slits.
Obviously not. “Watts, I just wanted to check on Holt; make sure he was all right. You don’t think I did that on purpose, do you? Because it was an accident, you have to believe me. I would never—”
“Fuck off.” Watts took a step toward me with his teeth clenched.
For a brief moment, I thought he was going to hit me, and I braced myself for impact. I deserved it. I would accept my fate.
“Watson, it was an accident,” Holt repeated my words. “You need to go celebrate your win. Why are you still standing here with me?” He nudged his stepbrother’s shoulder with his hand. Watts glared at me before he hugged Holt again and rushed off to go start burning donuts into the asphalt with his car.
“I really am sorry. I just wanted to make sure that you were all right. I would never do something like that on purpose,” I said.
