Racing hearts, p.3
Racing Hearts, page 3
I didn’t even have to look back at Riot since he was resting his big head on my shoulder.
“As long as no one bites,” I said, looking at him out of the corner of my eye.
“Only if you give us a reason, too.”
“I’ll do my best not to.”
She gave a tight smile and looked back out the window, seemingly fine with the silence as we drove back.
“Alright,” I said, parking and getting out. “Let’s get your bags up and try to get some sleep.”
She took the bag out of my hand just as fast as I had picked it up.
“I only need this one for the night.”
“Are you sure? I don’t mind bringing up the rest.”
“No, it’s fine. No need to carry them up, only to bring them back down tomorrow. Let’s get inside. Where would I be sleeping, by the way?”
“One of us gets the bed, one gets the couch.”
“I will take the couch. I don’t want to kick you out of your room.”
“Whatever makes you more comfortable. I do have a lock on my door if you need.”
“A lock that I’m sure you could get into if you wanted. Locks do not make me feel safe.”
I pushed open the door, letting them both in, and trying to figure out what could have happened to make her say that. It sounded…terrifying.
I wasn’t surprised when Riot began inspecting every inch of the apartment. Luckily, I was one step away from being Monica Geller with my level of cleanliness. I had watched all the seasons with the girls and hadn’t heard the end of my obsessive cleaning since.
“Wow, this was nicer than I expected,” she said, stopping to look around.
“What were you expecting?”
“Honestly? A cave of an apartment with various mattresses on the floor that you share with your friends.”
“And you still came back here? All I can picture with that description is a murder dungeon.”
“That’s what it looked like in my head. This looks normal. Nicer than normal, actually.”
Riot jumped onto the couch, flopping his body down and growling as he rubbed and rolled against it.
“Riot, no!” she yelled, running over to pull him over. “Get down.”
“It’s fine. Let him get comfortable.” I grabbed him water from the kitchen before heading to get some pillows and blankets. It was only for one night. I hoped the dog wouldn’t rip the entire apartment apart in less than 24 hours, but he was the size of a small horse. I could imagine the damage from him would add up fast.
She didn’t need another reason to feel uncomfortable, though, so I held my tongue.
“Are you hungry?”
“I could eat. I was too nervous to eat all day.”
“I can imagine why. I’m no cook, but I have chicken nuggets.”
She sat back on the couch as Riot settled next to her. The dog was obviously obsessed with her, every motion from him seemingly out of pure love or protection. She still seemed uncomfortable. Not that I blamed her. It’s probably better that she was on guard a little. I would be pissed if any of the girls went home with a random guy they met on the side of the road.
By the time I sat back next to her with the food, they were both almost asleep.
“Still want to eat?”
“Yes, please. My growling stomach will wake me up if I try to sleep now.”
She grabbed for her plate and for the first time, I took in her features.
Long dark hair, flawless skin with a spatter of freckles across her nose, emerald eyes, and a body that I was working hard to try to ignore.
“So,” she said, interrupting my thoughts. “When you pick up girls with giant dogs broken down on the side of the road, do you always bring them home for chicken nuggets?”
“So far? 100% of the time.”
She laughed, the sound soft and honest, which I liked. I hated it when someone had a fake laugh. The sound was the equivalent of someone scraping a fork on a plate.
“Riot looks like he wants to take my plate,” I said.
“He does. What dog wouldn’t want a plate of chicken?”
“Will he?”
She laughed again, looking at the dog. “No, unless you hand it over, he’ll stay put. I’ve never been able to stop the begging for food, not that I can blame him much, but he won’t get any closer.”
When she looked away, I slipped him a piece of chicken and he nearly swallowed it whole, but hopefully he understood the peace offering.
We ate, and by the time we were done, I was the one nodding off.
“Alright. Get some sleep. I’ll bring the truck over first thing in the morning and we will both get to work.”
“What about the food I need to cook?”
“One of us will run to the store. Do you need to go to pick everything out?”
She nodded, her face pinching like going to the store would be another nightmare.
“No problem. We’ll see who can go tomorrow with you. No one here will bite, unlike you, even if they all look like it. Promise. And I highly doubt any of the people looking for you will be looking at a grocery store first thing in the morning.”
“Okay. And thanks for all of this. This is a lot better than trying to walk anywhere or going back.” She had leaned back, looking exhausted as her eyelids grew heavy.
“Or sleep in the freezing woods while scared to death? No problem. You’re safe for the night. Security in our building is great, and any noise you hear is probably one of my friends.”
“Did you need help cleaning your hand or anything? You punched him pretty hard.”
“All good.” I held it up, my knuckles already red but not split open.
She nodded hard and turned away. “Thanks for doing that.”
“I would say anytime, but I try not to go around punching people.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. Goodnight,” she said, her lips pressed into a tight smile.
I shut myself in my room and laid down. I hadn’t been sleeping right for weeks, but I figured that sleep would come easily from pure exhaustion from the nights events. I still laid awake for what felt like forever, and the moment I did start to fall asleep, I heard Riot start walking around.
I assumed he was nervous in a new place, but it gave me time for my thoughts to run wild, thinking over Riot, Carly, the night, and what she was going to do next.
It was fine.
The big dog, the pretty woman, the broken truck, the food that I hoped would be good.
It was all fine.
I could handle the disarray for a day until it all went back to normal.
By the time the sun was up, I was ready to get moving. I showered, changed, and snuck out as quietly as I could, leaving a note with my number and where I was going. There was no point in lying awake in bed to stare at the ceiling, and the sooner I picked up her truck to get started on it, the sooner she could be on her way.
Riot watched as I grabbed a drink and something to eat before sneaking out quietly while Carly slept.
The guys were already waiting for me downstairs, ready to come with me in case any of the people after her were waiting by her truck.
“So why did I have to be up this fucking early to go pick up a car, and why did all of us need to come?” Kye asked, leaning against his car and looking half asleep. Fox and Ransom stood next to him, both interested in the answer. They had been my friends since we were kids and I knew they would come with me, no questions asked, but there was no point in hiding it now.
“Long story short, I found a girl broke down on the side of the road. She has someone, or apparently multiple people, looking to bring her back home where she doesn’t want to go, so I brought her back here, and agreed to help her fix her truck today in exchange for her cooking us all dinner tonight. I need you guys to come pick up her truck in case the people after her are waiting there. If it’s still there.”
Eyebrows shot up in surprise.
“You brought a random girl in trouble back here?” Ransom asked.
“Yeah, but no one followed us or anything. I punched the guy that was there, and if there were more with him, they didn’t keep up with us.”
“Where exactly did she sleep?” Fox asked with a giant smirk on his face. Of course this somehow wouldn’t be a shock to them, and even less surprising was Fox only worrying about the gossip.
“Why? Need to know so you can run and tell the girls all the updates?”
“Already texting them,” he said, pulling out his phone with a grin. “But you know the question has to be answered.”
“She slept on the couch and nothing else happened.”
“Really? Interesting,” Fox said, already tapping at his phone.
“Do you really think I’m going to sleep with a random girl I found on the side of the road and brought home?”
“Stranger things have happened,” Fox said, still tapping away. “Next question from Ash. Do you think she's good looking?”
I rolled my eyes, ignoring him. “Please tell the girls not to go invade my apartment to meet her yet. It's way too early for that. I was going to ask one of them to bring her to the store anyway.”
“Okay,” Fox said, quiet for a minute. “They are all bringing her to the store. They want to meet her.”
I could only shake my head. I should have known it would take all of ten minutes to have everyone know exactly what was going on.
“Come on. She only wants to stay for the day, so we need to get this truck and get it fixed. Are you all still coming?”
They all nodded, climbing into my car to head to the garage and get our tow truck.
“Good choice since that’s the only way you're getting invited to dinner,” I said.
“Perfect. I want real food. I’ve been warming up pizza for days now,” Kye said.
Great. One day. One dinner. Granted, it would be one large, loud, messy dinner in my apartment, but then life would be back to normal.
Everything would be back to normal.
With how hung up I was already getting on those gorgeous green eyes of hers, I knew that getting back to normal was the best thing for me.
FOUR
CARLY
It was barely five hours later, but I still forgot where I was as I opened my eyes. The warm blankets wrapped around me were cozy. This wasn’t even close to the same lumpy bed I had at home, and the woodsy pine scent was nothing like the lavender scent I usually smelled. The only normal thing to bring me back was Riot’s nose inches from my face, as he stared at me.
“Stop being a creep.”
He whined.
“Yeah, yeah. Give me a minute.”
I got up, finding the coffeemaker, but no coffee grounds, and the only thing in the fridge was flavored water and energy drinks. I think him saying that he didn’t cook much was a huge understatement. I snooped through the rest of the cabinets before realizing he really had the bare minimum.
A scribble of my name on a notepad caught my attention. Jax had already left and was heading to get the truck. There was also a horrible drawing of a truck and a wrench that I stared at a full minute before laughing.
Jax seemed nice enough, and for going home with a strange guy, he hadn’t tried to make me feel uncomfortable yet, which was a shock. I had honestly expected him to suggest we share a bed or make a joke that I pay him back sexually, but so far, all he had done was feed me and agree to get my truck. I didn’t really know what to make of it.
I had slept so hard that I had no idea when he left, but it was well past nine now. His number was written across the bottom of the note and let me know that someone would be taking me to the store.
My stomach rolled at the thought. What was worse than having to go home with a strange guy because you have nowhere else to go? Having to go out with his friends that you didn’t know. All the while making sure I didn’t run into anyone that I did know.
Jax had made it clear that him and his friends were in the street racing world, and I knew the type of people that went with that. Disgusting, crude guys, and mean, bitchy girls. Men that wanted to grope anything that moved and women who would yell at you for getting groped by their boyfriend. It was repulsive and exhausting, and I wasn’t sure I could take anymore of that right now. There was no world that I was going to get along with girls that hung around with street racers.
“I was kind of looking forward to us being alone today,” I said to Riot, who only stared. “Now we have random women coming here to interrogate me. I wouldn’t be surprised if I somehow stepped on someone’s toes by sleeping here last night.”
I couldn’t imagine at least one of Jax’s friends not having a crush on him or having a relationship of some sort. The guy was hot enough to make me look more than twice. There was no way these other women weren’t noticing.
“I hate this,” I mumbled. “I hate meeting new people, especially if they might already hate me.”
I grabbed his harness, clipping it on and heading out for a walk to hopefully clear my head.
As for the number, I had left my phone behind when I ran off. There was no way I was going to be found only because I wanted my phone, so his number didn’t help me much.
Not that I had any use for it anyway.
When I stuck my head out the door, I didn’t see or hear anyone, but I was still quiet as we stepped out the door and crept down the stairs. The entire place wasn’t that big, but I was surprised at how well they did turning the old brick building into their very own apartment complex. A set of stairs led up to another landing with two apartment doors, and the other brought me down to two more doors before I could turn right and go to the garage that we came in last night, or take a left and go outside.
We walked around the block a few times before heading back in. Riot seemed to be having a good time, but I couldn’t stop looking over my shoulder, worried Slaughter or Tristan's cars would show up any minute. Worried that somehow the world would turn against me one more time and lead one of them right to me.
I was quiet heading back in, slipping inside Jax’s apartment without passing anyone. When I turned to the kitchen, my heart dropped as I screamed.
“Whoa!” the small red-headed girl said, turning and raising her hands.
The other two jumped back and yelled out.
Riot barked and pulled forward, more surprised at my scream than by them.
“Sorry! I’m Quinn. This is Ash and Scout. Jax said you needed to go to the store and we all do, too. We didn’t mean to scare you!” she said, her eyes going wide as she yelled over Riot’s barking.
“Usually it’s the guys getting this reaction. I’m not quite sure what to do,” the blonde girl, Ash, said as she shut the fridge. “I mean, you are Carly, I assume?”
“Yeah, that’s me. Sorry, I was outside and got myself all paranoid, and I wasn’t expecting anyone here.”
“We knocked but didn’t hear anyone, and we were dying to meet the random girl that Jax brought home in the middle of the night,” Ash said, wiggling her eyebrows. “But then we were starting to worry that you left.”
“No, Riot has a very strict schedule for himself, so I had to take him for a walk,” I said, trying to relax.
They all looked at Riot, who was now sitting and panting, a smile across his face, looking ready to jump all over them.
“Sorry, he’s not a big fan of men, but seems to think every woman will fawn all over him. Do you guys mind if I let him go?”
“Not at all,” Quinn said at the same time Scout’s eyes went wide.
“Is he friendly?” she asked, the shock and horror in her tone making me stifle a laugh.
“Yeah, he’s a big teddy bear. Like I said, it’s men he doesn’t like much.”
Ash dropped down and Riot bounded over, nearly rolling into her lap.
“We can all agree on that, buddy.”
Quinn got down to pet him, but Scout stayed on her stool.
“If you’re scared of him, you can ignore him. He’ll get the hint.”
“I mean, I’m not scared of him, maybe a little…wary.”
I smiled at her hesitancy. “Understandable, but he really is a big baby.”
He was on his back, taking the attention and basking in the petting.
“So is Scout. You two will love each other,” Ash said, sticking her tongue out at Scout. “I saw that Jax has quite the selection here. Do you want coffee or food or anything before we go?”
“Actually, coffee would be great. It looks like he has none.”
“I have plenty downstairs. We’ll get some and then head out.”
“Already?”
“Yeah, we all have to get to the garage later this morning, so now is best.”
“Of course. That will give me time to cook, anyway.”
I went to change, pulling on leggings and a shirt, trying not to think about how pretty his friends were. It wasn’t that I was jealous. I liked how I looked most of the time, but some part of my brain could never stop comparing myself to other people. No, not other people, other women. It had become a habit, always comparing myself until I felt bad. It wasn’t their fault, it never was, but I could bring myself down so far that I ruined my own day. I couldn’t let it happen this time. I needed to force myself to stop before I let it get out of control.
Luckily, they started pulling me downstairs to another, similar apartment before I could spiral. Ash talked about who was in what apartment and more about the garage as she made us coffee, and then I was being pulled further downstairs to the garage to head to the store. I was happy they didn’t expect me to do much talking about myself. They seemed fine filling in the silence, telling me about themselves and the garage.
“My family owns Holt racing,” Ash said. “So we can go to the track if you ever want to. I’m not sure if you like driving and all that.”
“Oh wow,” I said. I had been staring out the window, taking in their excitement and stories. “I wasn’t expecting that.”
She flashed a smile. “No one ever is.”
“That’s really nice, but I don’t really like driving fast cars. More of a slow truck kind of person, which I hope will be done before I have time to even go to your track.”
