34. Chapter 34 #2
"You going original with the engine?" Jonah asked, and Ray rocked on his heels.
"Haven't decided yet. The parts are a bitch to source, but it would be so amazing."
"What made you get into cars?" Jonah asked.
"I met a guy when I was a teenager who thought I needed a hobby. His family is kind of like my real family." Ray ducked under the hood to hide his heated cheeks.
"That's how I feel about my neighbor Bernice."
"My biggest fan." I shook my head.
"My mom never protected me like she should have, but Bernice would knife a guy if they tried to hurt me." Jonah laughed.
"Or a girl, if she broke your heart," I added.
That sobered the mood. Ray cleared his throat. "What about you, Chief? Got family that loves your black heart?"
Beck's gaze stabbed to my core. "All I have is Lara."
My tongue thickened with protest. But it was true, and for a long time, all I had was him. Maybe that was why we were so toxic and embedded in each other.
Ray took great pride in showing us his ladies, encouraging me to slip into the driver's seat of his Ferrari. I wrapped my hands around the shiny wheel with a sigh.
"Can I take her for a spin?"
Ray blanched, and he laughed nervously.
"Franny likes a smooth touch, and I don't know what kind of driver you are."
Beck waved me out, fighting a grin.
"She's a rev-head, I wouldn't trust her in any car you value."
My chest ached as he spoke the words with such deep familiarity. I was balancing so many balls at the moment, but so was Beck. He kept my secret with reluctant unease, knowing as well as I did that there was never a good time to admit it.
"These are my precious girls. I'll show you my guys later, if you like, but they're disposable. Great to run someone off the road if you get the inclination."
"Are you going to give me lessons on death via car, Taillight Ray?" I let myself flirt.
Jonah skirted behind me, so close his breath puffed on the back of my neck. I shivered as goosebumps sprang up all over my skin. Ray stalked over, the toe of his shoes nudging against mine as I refused to let him intimidate me. He reached out and tugged at a wayward lock of hair.
"I can teach you something else, if you prefer? Just say the word."
I swayed toward him, wanting the oblivion more than he could know. But it would also soften my defenses, and I had to be careful about everything right now.
"Earlier was a moment of weakness."
I maneuvered around him, my pulse fluttering wildly in my throat. But he chased on my heels, blowing out a frustrated breath.
"I'm opening this," Jonah plucked a bottle off a shelf with a frown.
"Are you out of your mind?" Ray tried to snatch the bottle, but Jonah refused to relinquish it. "That's a thirty-six-year-old Laphroaig whiskey."
Jonah took the top off and poured a glug down his open mouth, some of the amber liquid running down his throat.
"It's four and a half thousand dollars. You're meant to savor it, not skull it like a teenager." Even Beck thought it was scandalous.
Jonah shrugged, offering him the bottle, while wiping his sleeve over his mouth. Jonah was hard to read. He managed micro expressions like an expert and kept his true feelings close to his chest.
"I didn't take you for a connoisseur of whiskey, Ray. It seems a little on the nose." Jonah reached out and bopped Ray with his pointer finger before offering me a drink.
Fuck it.
I might as well pickle myself in top-shelf spirits. The whiskey burned down my throat, but I stopped myself from coughing. Almost five thousand dollars, and it still tasted like liquid fire.
"I bought it for my papa, if you must know. Apparently, it was a waste of money, and I needed to learn how to be frugal. He told me this in his mansion, dripping gold, but you know how it is. You can't buy parental love, folks, in case you were wondering. Hit me, big guy."
Ray crouched down and opened his mouth, tapping his chin when Jonah stared.
"Here, let me." I wrestled the bottle out of Jonah's hand and poured some into Ray's waiting mouth.
He caught a wayward drop with a lick of his tongue. The flick of it heated the whiskey in my stomach, and I knew I was one step away from making poor decisions.
"My turn." Beck tipped the bottle up and hissed after a hefty gulp. "Smooth, I like it. You can call me daddy if you want, Ray. I'll accept payment in expensive whiskey."
Jonah barreled between us, taking back the bottle and holding it to his chest.
"Let's find that sauna."
"We can prop it open with a towel, if that would make you feel better, Lara?" Ray kicked off his shoes.
I stumbled at his care. Nobody had mentioned my panic attack, but it hadn't gone unnoticed.
The bathroom was spotless, like a hotel. There were charcoal accents and plants draped over the space. A fluffy white bathrobe hung on a chrome black hook, next to a stack of thick white towels. The lighting overhead dimmed, and Beck fiddled with the round knobs, adjusting.
"This place is unreal, but I'd prefer to sweat alone." I arched an eyebrow at Ray, but he only shrugged, ripping his shirt off over his head.
It wasn't fair how sculpted his abs were, or how they rippled as he tossed the shirt to the side. Carved like lithe marble, elegant and haughty enough to memorialize in a museum.
"It's my house, Lara. And I've decided I want a sauna. May as well relax while I can because Adelaide is going to tear strips off us both when she gets back."
Jonah plucked the bottle of whiskey from Beck and took a quick drink before he fumbled with his belt. His pants dropped to the matte tile with a clang.
"What? I'm not allowed in the sauna?" He challenged.
The heat of their combined gazes burned as I stripped completely nude.
"Suit yourself, big guy." I used Ray's nickname for Jonah and sauntered away from them all, putting a swing in my hips as I did.
Scrambling intensified behind me, including a few muffled yelps as they fought to be the first to join me. Yes. I was going to make some bad decisions, but what did it matter?
My entire life was one wrong decision after another.
What was one more?