Driving Wild: A Stock Car Racing - Frenemies to Lovers Romance (Driving Series - Stock Car Racing Ro

1. Matt

“Well, what do we have here?” my best friend says. Groaning, I roll over just as he comes into view. The room is dark from the curtains being pulled closed, so it takes a little for my eyes to adjust to him turning on the bedside lamp.

“What the hell do you want? It’s too early for you to be this happy.”

“Oh, I’m just here to make sure that you get up and get to the shop on time.”

“What are you talking about? I’m always on time.” Sitting up a little too quickly, my head pounds from the night before. What was in those drinks that woman kept giving me? And my next question is why in the hell had I kept accepting them?

Ryan stopped dead in his tracks like he’s seen a ghost. “Matt, man, have you looked at the person next to you?” I slowly turn my head, trying not to make too much of an abrupt movement that’s going to send me running to the bathroom from the way my head pounds. Shit! Resting my head on my knees, this is not at all the way I thought my night would have gone. Then I notice the smug look on his face. “You better get your ass out of that bed now because Tinley is going to lose her shit when she finds Grace here.” Shrugging, I pull the covers off as I try to figure out what happened last night and how I ended up with Grace in my bed.

“Well, thank God you have underwear on, bud. I really don’t need to see all of you this early in the morning,” Ryan says.

Slowly shaking my head to try to get my bearings, I don’t even remember talking to Grace, let alone bringing her back to my apartment. When I pulled the covers back, I noticed she still had all her clothes on from the night before. There is no way we did anything. I mean, I would remember doing something with her. She is just that hot. The woman has been living rent-free in my head for months. We had one ridiculously hot, hate-filled night at the track when I happened to stumble into her coming out of Ryan’s trailer after seeing Tinley one weekend. She’d broken up with her long-term boyfriend a few weeks before. Even with the fact of knowing she was using me to get over him, honestly, I didn’t care. I’d had a shitty race weekend and needed a release. It was one of the hottest nights I’d had in a long time. And since then, I could go for a repeat, but she’s made it clear that she sees me as a playboy or, as she called me, a fuckboy on all levels. I drag my eyes slowly away from her perfect ass that’s barely covered in the skirt she’s wearing.

“Come on, bud, go shower because you smell like a brewery. We can figure this out on our way to work. I’ll get the coffee going because I have a feeling you”re going to need it after what I just walked in on.”

A few minutes later, I’m standing in the shower, water pelting me as I try to remember what happened last night, and nothing is coming. Why can’t I remember anything after getting a beer at the bar? Just as I start to wash my hair, I glance down at my hand.

WHAT THE FUCK?

I stare at my left hand, trying to figure out exactly why I have a platinum band on my ring finger and who I could be married to. Standing under the shower for longer than humanly necessary, the water has turned cold, and I take that as my incentive to get out. Only to be confronted by the one woman who I can’t for the life of me figure out if I’m married to or not.

I stumble to grab a towel and get my bearings. Grace stands in front of me with a look that most men would bow down to, but little does she know, I’m not that man, and it’ll take a lot more than a gorgeous set of legs and a smart mouth to make me bow, even though The General is trying to tell me differently. But we have some other issues that need to be addressed.

“What the hell, Matt McCall?” Grace practically yells at me, making me rub my temples; my head’s about to explode.

Giving her a once-over, the woman is gorgeous, with platinum blonde hair that she’s decided to cut off and long legs that I want wrapped around me again. She’s missing her red lipstick. Those perfect lips have driven me wild since day one. So hot and vibrant, making her nickname so easy. But she’s such a natural beauty that she doesn’t even need it.

“I was hoping you could tell me, Red, because just as I was taking a shower, I noticed I’m wearing a piece of jewelry that sure as hell wasn’t on my finger yesterday before I went out.” Crossing my arms over my bare chest and putting the noticeable ring on display, I watch for any type of reaction from her. Nothing, and I do mean nothing, changes. This woman is going to be a pain in my ass, just as I thought.

“Well, I can tell you one damn thing—my left hand is bare, so you sure as hell didn’t marry me. But for some ungodly reason, I woke up in your house with one of the worst headaches I think I’ve ever had. So I’m going to need you to fill in some blanks for me,” she states.

I rub my head yet again in frustration at the way this morning is going.

“Red, if I could tell you why you’re here, believe me, I would, but until Ryan came to get me so we could head to the shop, I didn’t even know that I was in the world. The last I remember, I was talking to a dark-haired woman at a bar, and then bam, I woke up with a ring on my finger and you in my bed, so your guess is as good as mine. Now, if you will let me get ready, I’ve got to head to work. Not all of us can live on Daddy’s money while we figure out what job suits us best.

Grace just stands in the doorway for a few more minutes until she makes a noise I’m sure only dogs can hear, and then she storms away.

By the time I finally get dressed and make it out to the kitchen, Ryan is waiting with a shit-eating grin on his face. Smacking him on the back of the head as I pass by, I reach for my coffee, which is now cold, of course, because I took longer than I should have, all because of the blonde-headed siren who stormed into my bathroom.

“Care to explain now? What the hell happened, bud?” Ryan asks. Releasing a long breath, I pour the cold coffee into the sink and elect to make a new cup. Hitting the button on my coffee machine, I spin around to hold up my left hand. “Any chance in hell you might know why I have a ring on my left hand?” Ryan nearly chokes on his drink as he just stares at me.

“Wait, did you marry Grace? Is that why she was in your bed? Dude, North Carolina isn’t like Vegas; you can’t just go to any little white chapel on the corner and get married. I have so many questions and none of them start with congratulations.” Ryan continues with his little twenty questions as I try to finish drinking my coffee. But I hate to break the news to him: I don’t have answers to any of them.

“Would you stop with the questions? I have zero, and I do mean zero, memory of last night, so I can”t answer a damn thing.” Grabbing the bottle of aspirin, I pop two in my mouth. “Let’s go to work. We need to get ready for the race week.”

Rolling my shoulders that are already so tense, I can tell it’s going to result in me being in a crappy mood all day as we head down to my car. My baby is an orange Dodge Charger, just like Bo and Luke Duke had. I grew up in Alabama, so I’m a country boy all the way. This car is the one thing that I had to have when I made it into the Cup Series. Ryan hates it more than life itself, so that makes me love it even more. He thinks it’s too loud and too noticeable to drive around town, but I love it. “Get in the car, asswipe. I’m driving. You can leave your truck here,” I tell him. Having the Twilight Zone morning I’ve had, it’s the least he can do for me.

“Okay, one last question, then we can go. I just need to know one thing. Have you and Grace hooked up before, or is this just an ‘I was drunk and she helped me get home’ type of thing?” he asks.

With a smirk, I slide into my seat and bring my baby to life with a roar.

“You didn’t answer my question, asswipe.”

“Sorry, can’t hear you over the car.” I turn onto the highway and head toward Mac Motorsports.

Walking into the shop, I’m met with some odd looks and hushed whispers. We make our way to where the crew chiefs’ offices are located.

“Ryan, Matt, I need you both in my office,” Brad says.

“Great, I haven’t even done anything in months, and now I’m being called into the office with you. Thanks, man,” Ryan states.

“Hey, I haven’t done anything either. Well, not that I know of.”

“Yeah, tell that to the ring on your left hand. And why are you still wearing it?” Ryan points out.

Shit. Shaking my head, I follow him into Brad’s office. When the PR guys call you in, you always feel like you’re in the principal’s office because they usually only want to “talk” when you’ve done something to embarrass the company.

Walking into the office, Brad is at his desk, papers flooding it with stats, updates, image photos, and articles about the company. He’s reading the morning paper as we take a seat across from him, so it can’t be that bad if he’s relaxed enough to read the paper, right?

“Brad, you wanted to see us.”

“Yeah, I sure did. Just had a question for you both.”

Bracing for what’s to come, I look over at Ryan, who’s as cool as a cucumber. With the way the media’s been to him over the last few months, I’m sure he’s not even worried about what they could say anymore. He and his now girlfriend, Tinley, have been put to the test over the last few months by an ex-girlfriend who had claimed that she was pregnant, only to have made the entire thing up to get extra attention for her career.

“First, let me get one thing back from you, Matt.” Reaching his hand out, he says, “I’d like my ring. The wife didn’t much care for me coming home without it last night. But I figured you needed it a little more than me from the way that woman wouldn’t leave you alone.”

Staring at Brad for a few minutes, I try to wrap my head around the fact that he was the one who put this ring on my hand. Working the ring off my finger, I hand it back to him and sit back in my chair, breathing a little easier now that I know I’m not married to some stranger.

“Well, with that little bit cleared up, any chance you might be able to tell me anything else about last night? The last thing that I could make out was the brunette giving me a drink, and then nothing.”

“Well, that brunette was a reporter, and she was digging for information on the team. Things are starting to change around here, and I’m going to tell you both now. Starting next season, we are going to bring on a third driver, and it’s going to be a female; her name is Mila. So somehow, that has gotten out, and you would think we’re the royal family with how many phone calls I have received this week alone asking about it. The reporter must have thought she had a chance to get some answers out of you by getting you drunk. Luckily, Grace and Tinley happened to be coming for drinks at the same place and saw her putting something into a beer she bought you. So Grace stepped in and stated that she was your wife,” Brad tells us.

But I’m so lost in my thoughts that Grace did something to help me that I can’t begin to figure it out.

“So that’s why I called you both in here. The reporter has now taken the story of you and the little missus and run with it. It’s time for us to do some damage control.”

I sit up and lean over so my head is in my hands, trying to wrap my brain around the events of last night.

“Let me get this straight, just so I can make sure I heard you correctly, okay?

“First, I was talking to a pretty woman who happened to be a reporter.

“Second, she put something in my beer to get me to talk about something that I had no idea was even happening until just now.

“Third, you gave your ring to Grace, which she then put on my finger and acted as if we were married.

“Yet Tinley said nothing to you about this whole scene when she got home?” I look over to Ryan who’s just shaking his head like he has no idea what’s going on either.

“Fourth, the press now think I am married and have decided that it is the most interesting thing today because the real reality stars have done nothing overnight for them to report, so they’ve resorted to talking about NASCAR drivers?

“Did I get all that correct?”

“That about breaks it all down,” he confirms. “Now, I’m going to need some damage control from you. I don’t want to babysit you because I have enough on my plate with the new driver coming in,” Brad continues.

A knock pulls me from my thoughts.

Lifting my head, the woman in question walks in the door. I was raised to always be respectful and offer my seat to any female, but Grace has landed herself on my shit list. But of course, Ryan, being the good guy, offers her his.

“Okay, kids, I am going to say this once and then we are going to go about our day. Grace, I’m sure the team has caught you up to speed since you are going to be working here with our new driver coming in. Normally, the policy is that drivers are off-limits to date, but it looks like the little stunt you pulled to get the reporter away has now resulted in the press thinking you are married. So guess what we’re going to do now?” Brad asks.

What the fuck? I am going to make Grace’s life a living hell. She knew exactly why I had a ring on my hand. She was playing along with what happened, yet she said nothing. She let me spin out this morning, trying to figure out what happened.

“Back to my original purpose of calling you both in here. Mila will be coming in from New York in the next few weeks to get settled into joining the team. Also, she will be doing a few promotional things with the PR team. So I need you on your best behavior. I don’t need extra attention on us when we already have this announcement coming. And I don’t have the time nor the energy to get you out of the messes you seem to magically find yourself in,” Brad says.

“Brad, do you really think this is necessary? You don’t think the media will let it go, especially with the announcement coming about Mila?” Grace states.

“Honestly, I would love to say yes, that they will just move on, but I don’t want to take the chance with all that’s on the line coming up. I have spoken to the higher-ups, and they suggest we have you look like a model married couple for the next two months. That will give us time to put Mila in the spotlight and show that we are one big racing family. Since you”re already a growing star within the sport, we also need to change the public opinion of you being a playboy. Time to grow up, son, and be a family man. Mila will need the help between you and Ryan coming into the male-dominated world. And Grace, with you working with her, this will be the perfect time for you to show that aspect,” Brad explains.

“She’s already coming from a family team to join ours, so what better way to show how connected everyone is?” he continues.

Turning to face my “wife,” I can’t help but feel on edge. She’s been a pain in my ass for months with her remarks about the life I lead and being the fuckboy of NASCAR. But Grace is about to get the awakening of a lifetime with me as her husband.

“Well, this has been a great morning, but if you will excuse me, I need to get to work, and honestly, being called someone’s husband wasn’t high on the list of things to check off today,” I say, standing up and heading toward the door. Turning around, I look at my beautiful, blonde bombshell of a fake wife and leave her with my parting words.

“See you later tonight, WIFE.”