Page 84 of Bending Under Pressure

“Hey.”

My phone vibrates with a text from Cam and I say, “Cameron says it’ll be a few minutes before we can start.”

“Why?” Haley asks.

“Must still be taking bets,” Alan answers for me.

“Bets?” Haley turns to look at all the people along the stretch of the road. “They bet on the races? I didn’t know that.” She doesn’t sound upset, which is good; she just sounds surprised.

“We don’t do it often.” My phone vibrates again and I nod to Alan. “Let’s race.”

Haley makes me laugh when she squeals and rushes to her side of the car.

Alan shakes his head and tells me, “She’s a keeper, man.”

Trust me, I know. We buckle up and hear the familiar countdown. It’s as if Alan hesitates or has a delay because from the beginning, I’m ahead of him by a margin. The speedometer keeps climbing as we drive over the first hill. My stomach swoops down like clockwork. The nose of Alan’s car is aligned about midway to my door. As long as I can keep a lead, I’ll win easily. Alan will be pissed for round two though.

There’s no question when my car flies by Cameron that I won. My grin is automatic as I hit the brakes to slow down fast before the curve. Since we’re doing more than one, we’ll go ahead and circle around for the next race.

Haley leans over to kiss my cheek. “God, I love this so much. How many did y’all agree to? Best two of three or three of five?”

“Three of five.”

“Sorry to say this, but I hope Alan wins two, so y’all will have to do five.”

I laugh. “I hope so too. I’m expecting a hell of a kiss when I win.”

“Oh, you can count on that,” she promises.

We don’t waste much time before the second race starts. My hands shake just a little as the adrenaline surging through me increases with my speed. This race is closer this time, and I’m not sure who wins.

“Text Cam to see which of us won,” I say.

Haley does and by the time we’re lined up again, she answers, “Alan, but barely.”

I take a deep breath to steady myself. Two down, three to go. My car lurches forward about three seconds too late. Alan getting the lead from the start isn’t ideal at all. I push my car to its limits, but it’s not good enough. Alan two, Keelan one. When we line up again, Haley rests her hand over mine on the stick shift. When I glance over at her, she gives me a small smile. She leans over to quickly press her lips to mine.

“A good luck kiss,” she explains.

I grin. “Thanks, Hales.”

We’re counted off once more and are evenly matched again. Everything seems to fall away, like my entire focus zones in on what’s in front of me and nothing else. My heart is beating so fast, I feel like it could bruise my chest. The people who came to watch are nothing more than blurred figures in my peripheral. My foot feels like it’s as far as it will go on the gas pedal. The sight of Cam’s truck snaps me out of it. It’s a close call again if I’m not mistaken.

Haley picks up her phone as we decelerate. We don’t speak until she confirms the winner.

“You won!”

The familiar pressure to succeed latches heavily onto my chest. Pressure to win and to meet Haley’s expectations. It causes sweat to break out on my hands. I wipe them on my jeans and take a deep breath. I can do this.

My movements are fluid and quick for the final race. Alan is keeping up with me, but I’m positive I have the lead when we drive over the final hill before I have to

slow to a stop the moment we pass Cameron. As soon as I’ve come to a complete stop, the distinct sound of a seatbelt unbuckling pierces the silence of my car. Haley grabs each side of my face and tugs me to her.

Her mouth crashes into mine with more force than I was expecting. Her tongue swipes across my lower lip before pressing forward between my lips. I open my mouth in response to her silent demand. Haley is going to drive me to the brink of insanity. Her tongue is teasing, commanding, and every caress goes straight to the one part of my body that isn’t allowed to take part in this.

A rapping on my window forces Haley to jump back with surprise. I glare at Cameron, who has the biggest, stupidest grin on his face. Haley has already opened her door, so I have no choice but to follow. All I know is that as soon as possible, I’m taking her to the water tower where we can kiss without any interruptions.

Kiera arrives at the house a little after noon. Seeing Keira unfortunately means also seeing Natalie. I still haven’t forgiven her for the family reunion incident. Mom hasn’t mentioned what happened during their phone call afterward, and I haven’t asked. My parents are at the grocery store, so I don’t have them as a barrier.

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