Chapter 10 Xavier
XAVIER
Three circles. Three motherfucking circles I had to endure with her in his car as he drove like a motherfucking lunatic. Like a man who had nothing to lose, because in reality, Rhett had nothing to lose.
He was as reckless as they came in everything, especially with these races, and I knew that the one today was an extremely dangerous one.
Why the fuck she went over with him, I had no idea, but I hated every fucking second of this. I could understand why he did it. Why he pulled her in, because Rhett always wanted everything I had.
Girls, cars, money, you name it, but I couldn't allow him to take her. Not her.
Not the one girl that had my heart in her fucking hands, even if she didn't want it.
I begged her, pleaded, but she still sat inside his car.
If she wanted to participate in the race, she should've told me.
Instead, she ran from me the moment we came here, ignoring me, letting motherfucking Cassie run her hands over me.
I wanted her to come over, to claim me, to show everyone I was hers. I waited, begging her silently to show me that what I felt wasn't just something existing in my head.
But my silent prayers went unanswered, and she did the last thing I expected her to do.
She went with one person that made me see red.
Rhett wasn't the type of guy I would trust with anything, least of all with the girl I loved.
He wasn't blind, none of them were, and he knew there was something there between the two of us, between Yara and me.
The fact that she came with me was a claim in itself, until she fucked it up by going with him.
We were in the last round, with me close behind, letting him lead this one last time, but the moment we stopped he would see what happened to people who dared to touch what was mine.
And I wasn't fucking around when I told her she belonged to me.
I wasn't fucking around when I promised her the world, if only she would ask for it.
I wanted to rip Cassie's hands off me, but I wanted to see what Yara would do. I wanted her to fight for us.
I could see she was nervous. I could see she wanted to hide, but I thought she was stronger than the demons whispering in her ear.
God knew I needed her to be stronger, because I refused to let her go.
I refused to let this goddamn city dictate who I could be with and who I could love. She was the one.
I was certain of it. More certain than I ever was of anything else, and if she thought I would let go just because she went with Rhett, she had another thing coming.
I was coming for her, one way or another.
She could fucking run to the end of the world, and I would still come after her.
Her fears weren't going to be stronger than the two of us, that much I could promise.
Her fucking fears, the ones I saw every single day in her bright eyes, wouldn't be the deciding factors in the rest of our lives.
They could fuck off, and once this race was finished, I would show her exactly what she meant to me.
It wasn't every day I claimed someone as mine, and she had no idea what kind of beast she had awakened in me.
She had no idea that I couldn't wait to spend the rest of my life with her.
She also had no fucking idea that the contraceptive pills she kept on taking weren't going to be effective anymore.
I could feel the smile spreading on my face as I chased after Rhett, letting him think that he was winning this time. My little trouble had no idea that in three days she would forever belong to me.
She had no idea that in three days I planned to not only take her as my bride during the Harvest, but to also put the baby in her belly.
My baby. There was no running from me once that was done, and I couldn't fucking wait to see her round belly, and the fire in her eyes when she figured out I had her right where I wanted her.
My cock hardened just at the thought of her full with my child, with our future.
I shook my head, focusing on the road ahead of me. We were coming close to the curve right before the finish, and there was no fucking way I was letting this asshole win.
I pressed on the gas, my right hand changing gears just as Rhett slowed down, entering the curve, too unfamiliar with this road.
But I knew it like the back of my hand. I spent hours here, fucking around with the rest of the guys, trying to beat each other as we raced in the cars we just got.
Rhett wasn't hanging out with us back then.
Rhett was never supposed to be a part of our group, but as Ezra's cousin, he got in even though he didn't grow up with us.
Now he would understand what it meant when he tried to go against me.
I swerved in the last second, passing his car just as we exited the curve on the road and pressed harder on the gas as my eyes focused on the finish line.
An old house that once belonged to McAlisters came into view first, then the crowd gathered around the finish line and the faces of Ryder and Caleb.
Worried faces.
But they should have known I never would've let him win. They should've known that there was no way in hell that he would get to take my girl with him and beat me in this game.
This was my town.
My game.
My fucking woman. And Rhett better get in the fucking line or he isn’t going to be a part of our circle for much longer. I always knew he held a grudge against me, but this was a new low, even for him.
I glanced at the rearview mirror, seeing him far behind me, pushing through the cloud of dust I left as I raced down the road.
I could feel the anticipation rising in my veins.
I could feel the adrenaline bursting through me, and I couldn't fucking wait to get out of here with Yara if only to show her who she was fucking with.
I was tired of these games, of chasing her, trying to ignore her, trying to ignore the fact that my blood sang every time she was near. She was fucking with my mind, and until I had her, I wouldn't stop. I couldn't.
The sound of a music blasting welcomed me first, the cheering followed shortly after and as I passed over the finish line and pressed on my breaks I could feel my heartbeat in my fingers, in my temples, and instead of immediately opening my doors as the crowd swarmed my car, I kept my hands on my wheel, breathing heavily.
I needed this, even if it did piss me off.
I looked up, seeing Caleb standing right in front of my car, shaking his head and laughing.
My lips pulled into a smile when an unmistakable sound of a car crashing into something reverberated through my skull, freezing me in place.
Caleb looked at something over the roof of my car and then back at me, his face getting paler with each passing second.
The crowd was no longer interested in me but in whatever was happening somewhere behind, and I knew.
I fucking knew.
Something sharped pierced through my heart as I pushed my door open, getting out on shaky legs. Whether it was the adrenaline or the fear of what I would see once I got out, I had no idea, but I had to see. I had to make sure she was okay.
Please, God. Please let her be okay.
The crowd suddenly started running toward something, and as I turned around as I exited my car, I almost collapsed to the ground.
Rhett's car has somehow hit the side of the old house, not too far from the finish line. The car with the love of my life sitting in the passenger seat.
"No," I murmured.
And I ran.
I fucking ran like the hounds of hell were after me. I pushed through the crowd, through the whispers, and confused faces.
I pushed through the fear clogging my throat and the terror taking a hold of my body. Rhett's car slammed straight into the house, with smoke billowing from its hood, but neither of the doors opened. I could see the airbags had deployed, but there was no movement. Nothing.
Fucking. Nothing.
"Xavier!" Somebody shouted my name, but I didn't care. I didn't care about anything but making sure she was okay. I no longer cared about the race, or the fact that she went with Rhett. I didn't fucking care that she didn't want to stay by my side, choosing to ignore me.
I only cared that she was okay.
I fucking needed her to be okay.
My feet ate the pavement as I ran toward the car, along with a couple of other people whose names I didn't know. Whose faces I couldn't even register, because I only had one person in mind—Yara.
Skidding to a stop just next to the passenger side, I could see her in her seat, her head turned toward the window, with her eyes closed.
"No, no, no," I kept chanting as my hands shook, trying to open her doors.
Somewhere in the back of my mind other voices registered, but I wasn't letting them anywhere near. I wasn't letting them touch her.
She could be seriously hurt. She could be—
"Xavier," somebody murmured behind me, wrapping their hand around my bicep, but I couldn't stop myself from trying to open the door. "Wait, hey." I was suddenly turned around, facing Ryder whose eyes filled with sympathy. "Let me help you."
My head started shaking, my throat burning, but none of the words came out. I couldn't... I couldn't fucking speak. I couldn't—
"It's okay," he mumbled. "Hey." His warm palms landed on the sides of my neck, making me focus on him. "Look at me. She's gonna be okay. I'm gonna break the window on the back door, and I'll open it from the inside. I'm pretty sure that the car is locked, but she's gonna be okay."
I wanted to believe him. I wanted it to be the truth, but I couldn't stop myself from shaking. I couldn't stop the darkness from creeping in from the edges of my sanity, throwing in the worst possible outcomes for this.
Rhett was driving too fast. He must have slammed at the same speed, which meant... Which meant—