Page 116 of Wanted
It had only been a flash, and then, the dirty, wheel-marked road surface came closer, and Liv screamed out when his car dropped with a terrifying crack.
And yet, he was still dashing forward, a few yards behind Blizzard. If the piece of junk he and Knox worked their asses for was to fall apart, it better not happen before he crossed the finish line. As the winner.
The silver blue car moved at a steady pace, as if its driver had lost his steam, but Liv had never been more determined. Hecould already see the best version of the future ahead. A small home with walls that weren’t cardboard-thin, a dog curled up in a pile of blankets, and Knox waking up next to Liv. In this lucid dream, there were shallow wrinkles on the sides of his lips, the result of many happy years at Liv’s side. They made his face somehow even sexier than it was now.
And Liv took it upon himself to make that dream future a reality. Starting today.
The flicker of many red and blue lights told him nothing at first, as all he cared for was overtaking Blizzard, and when the champion and star of so many races suddenly fell back, Liv’s elation was like a flurry of fireworks.
But as he neared the finish line, frost covered his skin. Police cars took shape, the scarecrows that had Blizzard forfeiting the race.
“Fuck!” he roared, completely blindsided, but was unable to slow down fast enough. As he neared the cop cars, it became clear that they wouldn’t be able to retreat off the track in time. He’d either hit them head-on or dive off the road, into the shallow ditch.
It wasn’t even a choice. His body acted before his mind could make the correct decision, and moments later, he was spinning like a sweaty T-shirt tumbling inside the washing machine. The seatbelt dug into his flesh, holding Liv strapped in as he kept his neck rigid, desperate to prevent his head from hitting a hard surface. By the time the steel shell around him came to a halt, Liv was shaking like a dying animal. Distant screams erupted somewhere beyond the now-empty window, so he forced his hands to move and opened the safety belt.
A snarl tore out of his lips when broken glass dug into his bare hands, but skin would soon mend, and raw instinct told him to leave the vehicle. The colorful lights blinded him as he crawled outside, clutching at muddy remains of grass, but all strengthleft him once he was out. He collapsed onto the damp ground while the world spun around him.
He was so dizzy the screams approaching him all too fast became one big soup of voices.
“Stay down on the ground!” someone who had to be a cop yelled, but it was the next voice that set his mind straight.
“Liv! Are you okay? Liv!” Knox bellowed, running his way.
Liv could barely see him with the background of red and blue lights, but the blurry figure was speeding his way like a comet, and he reached out for it, longing for the soothing touch of Knox’s hands. Nobody gave better hugs than Knox, and he fucking needed one right now.
“Sir, you need to keep your distance,” a cop said, stepping between Liv and Knox while another scooted over Liv and shone a flashlight straight into his eyes. Twisting away from the painful glow, he rolled to his hands and knees, still fighting the dizziness.
“I’m fine.”
“Then stay on the damn ground, hands on your head!”
“What are you even arresting him for?” Knox yelled, and to Liv’s terror, he wrestled with the cop, pushing him back. “He could need a doctor! Let him go!”
“One more fucking shove, and you’re going to the station with him!” the cop yelled.
“Knox… stay,” Liv mumbled, but his man already stepped closer, trying to push the cop aside.
“He’s bleeding—” Knox shouted, but the officer seemed to have lost his patience, and Knox landed on the ground face-down, as if this was an action movie featuring a judo-proficient cop.
What. A. Clusterfuck.
Liv sighed, remaining passive as cuffs closed around his wrists. There was no fucking way for him to run. Not in the statehe was in. But Knox? He could have just stayed away, but he had to play the hero and attempt to steal him from the clutches of about a dozen cops.
Which was idiotic. But also kind of touching.
“I’m fine Knox. It’s just a scratch.”
Knox took a deep breath and bumped his forehead against Liv’s, reaching him by jerking a bit closer, like a fish out of water. “They’re not taking you anywhere without me.”
And still, Liv’s stomach clenched when Knox got cuffed.
He’d almost won, but not only had they lost their car but also gotten themselves arrested. And while he could assume this raid was about the illegal race, both he and Knox had fingerprints in the police database. They werefucked.
As that fact sank in, replacing dizziness with sharp fear, Liv met Knox’s gaze, still prone in the icy mud.
“Tell them nothing,” he said right before getting yanked up by the arm.
They were getting separated.
