Chapter 17
It’s really weird being on the other side.
I’m usually one of the crowd, walking around and hanging out as I watch others prepare to race.
Not tonight. Tonight, I’m standing next to my Hellcat with its hood up, as kids from Fallen Brook and Highland stop to inspect my engine and ask me questions.
Rap music thumps a heavy bass from a couple of cars to my right and compete with the thrash metal screaming from the Mustang Boss to my left.
Several girls from school came over a few minutes ago, disbelieving that another girl was racing and excited that I was brave enough to take on the boys.
That got me thinking. Ryder said that girls had raced here before, but I couldn’t for the life of me remember ever seeing a race where that was the case.
I went up against Marshall here last month.
It would be awesome to see more girls doing this.
Ryder’s Hellcat is parked two cars down from mine, but he’s a bit occupied at the moment.
It didn’t take long for everyone at school to find out about his cancer once Maria heard.
Not saying that she’s the cause of the gossip wildfire, but…
yeah. Speaking of Maria, she’s the reason why my feet remain firmly planted next to my car.
“If looks could kill,” Hailey says, stepping up beside me and giving me a hip bump.
Hailey never liked coming out to the Friday night races, so I was happy when she asked if she could come with me.
“Ryder said he politely told her that he wasn’t interested in rekindling any type of friendship with her,” I tell her.
“Yet, there she is.”
“There she is,” I repeat with a bit of a snarl added.
Maria showed up a half hour ago and hasn’t left Ryder’s side.
Oh, I’ve noticed the blatant smirks and pointed glances she’s been giving me.
They are the same ones she threw my way when I found her at Ryder’s house sitting close to him on his couch.
It’s why I’m still standing here, trying my best to ignore her.
She knows now that I’ll fight back. I guess her new tactic is trying her best to make me jealous. And, not going to lie—I am.
Maria looks gorgeous. She left her hair down tonight in loose curls and she’s wearing a pale-pink wool pea coat that hugs her curves.
Curves I wished I had. Her olive skin makes her look like she has a year-round tan.
Yes, I’m envious of that too. I can’t keep a tan to save my life.
My complexion does two things. It’s either pale or sunburned red.
Too bad what’s on the inside of Maria isn’t as beautiful as what’s on the outside.
“I wonder why he hasn’t told her to take a hike yet.”
I hum in answer. As long as she keeps her hands to herself, I won’t do anything. It’s not like I can tell Ryder who he can be friends with. Maybe he has changed his mind. I guarantee after the races when we get back home, he’ll have a lot of explaining to do. I don’t like feeling blindsided.
I hook my arm through Hailey’s. “Not going to let her ruin my YOLO night. I’m glad you’re here,” I tell her. “Where’s Brea?”
Hailey tilts her head to the right. “I’m giving her a minute. Didn’t want to ruin her meet-cute.”
Sure enough, Brea is chatting with a cute guy I don’t recognize. And blushing. She’s doing a lot of blushing. Good for her.
Any other time, I would start teasing Hales and encouraging her to find a guy to chat up and have her own meet-cute.
But not tonight. She’s not ready to explore a new relationship with any guy after what Bryant did to her.
She’s still healing. God, I hate him so much.
He hurt my sister. He broke her. Heaven help him if we ever come face to face.
“Daniel was acting a bit twitchy this morning. More so than usual,” Hailey randomly states.
Overall, I thought he took the news about my pregnancy well. He made the same assumption that Mr. Montgomery did about me and Fallon, which led to another bout of uncontrollable laughter between us. I guess I can’t blame him since Fallon was with me when I told him.
“Not every day your underage niece-turned-ward tells you she’s knocked up and there’ll soon be a new member of the family to feed and clothe,” I say. “I just don’t want him to be disappointed in me. I feel like all I do is make his life more complicated.”
“I agree the man deserves a medal for putting up with the both of us.”
It’s been tougher on Hailey to accept Uncle Daniel as our guardian.
Mom and Dad were still alive when she ran away.
When she finally came back home, not only were our parents gone, but I wasn’t here either.
I was with Fallon in Spain. It was like she woke up in the Upside-Down from Stranger Things.
Everything was the same but different. Scarier.
The crunch of tires over dirt frozen by the cold temperatures crackles as Jayson’s truck slows to a stop. The passenger side window rolls down and Julien’s head pops out. Jayson leans over the steering wheel trying to see past him.
“Hey, hot girl next to a hot car. We’re going to park and then we’ll be right over. Hey, Hailey. S’up, Ryder!” Julien yells.
Hailey and I both wave at the twins as Jayson continues down the road.
Just like the Friday race after Thanksgiving, there are a lot of people here tonight, so finding a place to park nearby will be almost impossible.
The larger than normal crowd is because we’re all off from school on holiday break. Christmas Eve is only two days away.
I hear Maria’s loud laughter and turn my head.
Ryder is bent over the engine of his car, talking with a couple of guys.
At least she isn’t stuck to his side anymore like a pesky limpet, but she’s still standing close by talking to a girl.
I groan. It’s Samantha. Please don’t let Jacinda be here too.
That’s all I need is the bitch trifecta skulking around.
Seeing as Maria and Jacinda aren’t on speaking terms after Maria caught her with Marshall, perhaps my night might be salvaged after all.
“Do me a favor and stay as far away from those two as possible tonight,” I warn Hailey.
“When’s Fallon going to get here?”
“I’d say about now,” Fallon says, walking over. He’s wearing a black leather fleece-lined jacket and blue jeans. I don’t think there is ever a time he doesn’t look handsome as sin. The mussy dark blond hair and bright blue eyes just enhance the overall picture.
He arrives at the same time Jayson and Julien do.
Again, not to sound like a record on repeat, but wow.
Jayson is wearing a hooded CU fleece, of course, but the way it molds to his torso is…
yum. And Julien has spiked his hair up in the way I love.
Ryder is the cherry on top of my hot guy sundae.
I’m a girl. Just because I have a boyfriend doesn’t mean that my eyes have stopped working.
Jayson stops to say something to Ryder, but Julien comes at me and picks me up.
“Elijah wanted me to give you this since he’s not able to be here tonight.”
Elijah is spending Christmas in South Carolina with his grandparents.
I guess Mr. Barnes is as well which explains why I haven’t seen him yet.
Mr. Barnes is a county deputy, and he usually comes out to help supervise the races and makes sure nothing gets out of hand.
The only time anything bad happened here was when Marshall tried to run Ryder off the track during a race.
I literally flipped out and attacked Marshall.
He took home a broken nose as a souvenir.
“Give me what?”
Julien kisses me soundly on the mouth.
“You guys are so weird,” Hailey mumbles. “Have fun with your boy harem,” she quips and joins Brea who’s still talking with the cute redhead.
“Boy harem. I like it,” Julien proclaims, offering a fist to Fallon in greeting.
“Fallon,” Jayson says, stopping to take the place beside me that Hailey just vacated. His hand brushes against mine, and like a magnet, I lean into him.
“Jay,” Fallon says back.
The cold tension between the two of them is frostier than the frigid night’s air. I don’t understand why they dislike one another so much. Then again, I’ve never asked.
“How long has that been going on?” Jayson inquires, watching Maria and Samantha hover around Ryder.
Cue my disgusted eye roll. “Since we got here. But we’re not going to talk about that.”
Instead, we talk about our Christmas plans, New Year’s, and the birthday party the guys are throwing for me and Ryder before he starts chemo in a couple of weeks.
“Babe, you ready?” Ryder calls over, slamming his hood down.
I look around and notice a lot of the crowd is already gathered around the perimeter of the track, excited for the races to begin. Ryder and I are up first. A flurry of nerves flaps around in my stomach making me queasy. It could also be morning sickness.
“Mind if we ride in back?” Jayson asks me.
“Yeah. It’s not fair that Fallon gets to have all the fun,” Julien chides
“You know where you can kiss it, right?” Fallon tells him, and Julien grins widely.
He opens his mouth to shoot back a rejoinder, but Fallon holds up a finger. “Don’t say it,” he warns Julien.
“But I had such a good comeback for that.”
Ignoring them, I say to Jayson, “I’d love that.” He helps me close the hood of my car. “Shouldn’t someone ride with Ryder?
Julien, who is always ready to help when needed, says he can go with Ryder as I get my helmet out of the back seat. It’s the one Ryder let me borrow the first time I drove out here
Ryder jogs over, all smiles at everyone. “Hey, when did you show up?” he speaks to Fallon.
“How could you let Maria be all up on you?” Fallon replies, and Ryder’s smile falls. “Look, man, kitten may not want to say anything or even care, but that was a total dick move not to tell your ex to move on, especially with your girl standing five feet away.”
I suck in a breath at Fallon’s bluntness. But yeah, it was.
“Maria knows I’m not interested. I told you what I said to her when she came to the house,” he directs at me.
“Well, apparently she’s not listening,” Jayson adds, and Ryder tenses up.
He looks down at me. “Elizabeth?” My name sounds both like a question and an accusation.
What can I say that won’t lead to an argument in the middle of a field in front of a hundred people?
So, I shrug it off. We can talk about it later tonight.
We’ve actually got a lot to talk about tonight.
I’ve kept my secret from him long enough.
The guilt is eating me alive, and I can’t stay quiet any longer.
He needs to know. But, more importantly, as much as I have Hailey, Jayson, Julien, and Fallon in my corner, I need Ryder there too.
I raise up and kiss his chilly lips. “Good luck.”
Ryder tilts my head back with his hands and bends down to give me a long, lingering kiss. “Hey, are we good?”
Again, I hold back what I really want to say. “We’re good. Now, prepare to eat my dust.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He gives me a flirty wink that has me laughing.
Tonight will be a good memory. One I won’t allow Maria’s presence to tarnish. I get to race against my guy in my Hellcat. What could be better?
Fallon slips away from the group.
“What are you doing?” Ryder asks him when Fallon mounts something to the hood of my car.
“GoPro.” He tosses one to Ryder.
I didn’t even notice he was holding them.
Julien walks with Ryder back to his car.
I drop down into the driver’s seat of mine as Fallon hops in the back and Jayson takes the passenger seat.
I really do love this car with its sleek cherry red paint and black leather bucket seats with the red stripes down the middle.
Amazing how, when I couldn’t remember anything, my subconscious remembered this. How it remembered a part of Ryder.
Hailey knocks on my window and both she and Brea yell, “Good luck, Lizzie!” I give them a thumbs up and a wave.
I wish that Meredith and Trevor were here to help watch over Hailey, but most of our friends are out of town visiting family for the holidays. At least Brea is with her, so that helps me not worry as much.
Jayson takes my phone out and selects my favorite song from my playlist. “Alive” by P.O.D. starts blasting from my speakers as the Bluetooth connects. He gives me a huge grin; one I return easily.
“Alright, boys. Buckle up.”
My eyes flit to the rearview mirror and catch Fallon’s bright blue gaze, his classic cocky smirk firmly in place. “Make Ryder cry, kitten.”
Engaging the clutch, I throw the car into first gear.