Chapter 3
THREE
DEAN
After Brady storms off with her blonde ponytail swinging behind her in anger, I laugh again, knowing that I’ve gotten under her skin.
I turn to Chase and Taylor, who are staring at me in disbelief. I shrug my shoulders at them. “What?” I ask, as if they don’t like annoying her as much as I do. Okay, I enjoy it way more than they do, but that’s not the point.
Chase rakes a hand through his red hair, just long enough on the top for him to do so, and puffs out a breath. “That was a bit harsh, bro, don’t you think?”
“You know how she is,” I exclaim, gesturing in the direction she walked off in.
“But bringing her dad up like that?” Taylor shakes his head, his blonde hair falling over his blue eyes. “A bit of a low blow, man.”
Seriously, whose side are they on?
“Whatever, y’all don’t get it.” I cross my arms over my chest. I can still feel where she poked me in the chest, and I start to rub it absentmindedly.
“I guess not. Beers at my place still?” Chase asks, trying to change the subject. That’s where we were headed anyway until I spotted Brady coming out of her hauler. I just couldn’t resist the urge to fuck with her.
We head to the infield where Chase’s RV is parked.
It’s a big bus—pretty much a home on wheels.
Most of the big teams can afford to have these extravagant RVs for their drivers, or the driver pays for their own.
I’m not in either of those camps. Sampson Racing is a smaller team that consists of just me.
A lot of the teams sometimes have two or three cars running at the same time.
I was lucky enough that Tom Sampson took a leap of faith with me when he saw me driving at the local dirt track in town.
I found my small truck-bed RV on Facebook Marketplace. It’s not lavish by any means, but it does the job. So, I spend a lot more of my time while off track in Chase or Taylor’s RV. Am I a little bit jealous about it? Sure, but I’m here, living out the dream that my brother Daniel wanted for me.
My whole family would sit down together to watch every race each season, and when the Cup series was in Charlotte, my hometown, we would always go see them run live.
As soon as I was old enough, I started to race karts. My parents did everything possible to keep me racing. It’s an expensive sport, but they saw how much I loved it. How much I still love it. When Daniel was old enough, he also began racing.
We were close before we started karting together, but after? We were inseparable. I always dreamed of getting into the Cup series, but Daniel was always content on sticking with karts and dirt cars. It was a fun pastime for him, but for me, it’s my passion.
As we got older, Daniel and I would always be seen in the pits and garage area when the other was racing, usually with the latest girl we were seeing that week.
Getting into SCORS was amazing. My career was finally taking off.
I was so excited to start my journey here.
But in the middle of last season, Daniel was in a racing accident.
It was the worst phone call of my life. Everything froze to a standstill as my mom told me what had happened, and there was nothing I could do. He was gone.
I only missed two races because of Daniel’s accident, and then I dove headfirst into finishing the season in the best position I could.
Though sometimes, keeping my emotions at bay during that first month back was hard.
I raced harder than ever, but that also caused me to make mistakes.
Daniel would have wanted me to keep my cool.
He would have wanted me to keep going and keep fighting for my dreams to be in the Cup series.
So here I am—still fighting, and I can almost touch it.
Chase breaks out the gaming controllers and beers. We start playing Mario Kart; it’s a classic, and one of our favorites to play together throughout the season.
I’m winning until Taylor hits me with a shell, causing me to spin out right before the finish line and taking the win for himself.
“Come on, man!” I exclaim. Taylor and Chase just laugh.
“You can’t expect us to watch you win in real life and virtually,” Chase says.
That makes me smile. Since coming to SCORS two years ago, I’ve been a force to be reckoned with. Especially with the spot opening up in the Cup series for next season. I will do all I can to keep it out of Brady’s pretty little hands.
She’s the absolute worst.
She’s a good driver, I’ll give her that, but she gives off an energy like her shit doesn’t stink.
All because she’s Karsen Brady’s daughter.
I bet she wouldn’t have gotten this far if it weren’t for Daddy.
That’s not a crack at her for being a woman in a male dominated sport—I’d feel the same way if she were a man.
She’s just as aggressive as I am out on the track.
Sometimes, she makes moves that if I did, everyone would lose their minds—but she is praised for them.
It’s infuriating. I bet she’s never even touched a wrench in her life.
She wouldn’t want to chip her perfectly manicured fingernails.
I put down my controller and head to the fridge to grab us more beers.
I hand them out and get ready to kick their asses on the next map that Taylor is picking, sans any flying shells.
“What’s your deal with Brady?” Taylor asks out of the blue. I take my eyes off the screen for a moment, and I fall off Rainbow Road.
I turn to look at him as he pauses the game. “What?” I ask, making sure I heard his question correctly.
“What’s your deal with Brady?” he repeats. Yep, I heard him correctly. “Y’all have been at this for two years now. It’s old,” he concludes, grabbing some chips from the bowl next to him.
“Yeah, very old,” Chase agrees. “You guys need to fuck already and get it over with.”
That thought makes my eyebrows scrunch together. Fuck? As in, have sex with Brady? Regan Brady? I would never. I mean, sure, she’s attractive, if you’re into blonde hair and hazel eyes that look like pools of caramel.
She’s my rival, everything I despise.
“Why would you even suggest that?” I ask. “We hate each other. Rivals, remember?”
Chase shrugs. “I don’t know. Enemies to lovers is a whole thing.”
Enemies to lovers? What the hell is he on about? I guess he can tell I’m lost with his comment, because he continues to explain.
“It’s a romance book trope. My sister is constantly talking about them.”
Taylor rolls his eyes at Chase. “You sure you’re not the one reading them?” he jokes. Chase hits him in the face with a throw pillow. “What’s your sister reading, anyway? I hear those romance books can get dirty,” Taylor continues.
I can see steam starting to come out of Chase’s ears. Chase is very protective of his little sister, Karla. She comes around the garage when she’s on break from college or for other big events. But he has made it abundantly clear that she is off limits.
“Watch it, Hart,” Chase says through gritted teeth, his cheeks turning almost as red as his hair. Taylor just smirks to continue to make him angry.
“Unpause the game so I can continue to kick your asses,” I say. Chase lets both topics drop, though he is still glaring a bit at Taylor as we continue playing.
Though, the comment about being with Brady swirls in my mind like a vortex. The thought coming back around over and over again. It’s ridiculous to even consider being with Brady.
Right?