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“Did you win?” I blurted out the question, unable to contain my excitement but needing verbal confirmation.
“Yeah, darlin’. I won.” He put the car in park then opened the door. I squealed and threw my arms around his neck.
“Thank you! Thank you!” I pecked kisses in the side of his face. Unaware of just how heavy the weight of worry over my future was until that moment. I felt a thousand pounds lighter and it was all because of him.
“Here's your money, you son of a bitch.” The man said from behind us. When I turned I saw that he was grinning. “Goddamit, Heat. I thought I had you this time. There was a dip in the road towards the end that fucked me up. I should have chosen the right lane.”
“Yeah, yeah. Save the tears and pay up, Risto.”
The man called Risto handed over a big wad of cash.
“I'm coming for you next week, Heat. That Camaro can't be number one forever.”
“You've haven't been able to catch me yet, Rich Boy.” H shook his head and stuffed the wad of cash into his jeans pocket.
“You ain't gonna count it?” Risto asked with amusement.
“Nah, I know which fancy house you live in.” Both men shook hands and chuckled before parting ways. It was clear they held a mutual respect even if they were competitors.
Once we were settled in the car I couldn't resist talking about the bit of information I'd just learned.
“Heat? H stands for Heat? Did your parents not like you or something?”
“No, that's not what my Mama named me. It's a racing name. I didn't choose it. That has to be earned.”
“Earned? How long have you been racing?”
“A while.” He answered but didn't seem like he was going to provide me with any more information.
“So your plan all along was to meet up with this Risto guy and race for the money? What if you lost?”
“I never lose.” He stated flatly and I rolled my eyes at his overly confident remark. “He’s been whining about racing me for a week. He just got that new car so he wanted to test it out. I wasn’t worried about losing, that car still needs lots of work to be any threat to me. A lesson he just learned.”
“Yeah, but what if you did lose? What would we have done since we didn't have the two grand to pay him.”
“I never said I didn't have the money. I just couldn't access it on a Sunday and you said you needed it first thing Monday morning.” He pulled the wad of cash out of his pocket and handed it to me. I stared at the money for a moment, trying to make sense of it all.
“Why, H? Why would you just give me this kind of money? You barely know me.”
“Because you needed it and I know you'll do what you said you would with it. Besides that ain't my money,” he nodded down to the cash in my hands. “It's Rich Boy Risto's. He's got plenty of it and judging by the way he keeps losing to me, he likes parting with it.” He threw his head back and laughed as he increased his speed.
As I sat there with the two grand that would help me start my life over I couldn't take my eyes off him. His smile, the control he had over a car going nearly a hundred miles an hour down a dark road or maybe it was the leftover adrenaline from his wild stunt. Either way, I'd never been attracted to anyone this much before. I allowed myself to soak in the brightness that surrounded him and hoped to one day find my own light again.
“Thank you, H. You have no idea what you've done.”
“It's nothin’, darlin’.” He replied without taking his eyes off the road. “The name's Hal Fox. Call me Hal.”
Chapter Ten
Things couldn't have gone any better the next day. Following the race, H drove me to the motel so I could gather all of my stuff. He insisted I wouldn't spend another night there. Then after getting a good look at my old beat up Corolla, he drove me straight to Haventown in the Camaro. To him it was a hell of a lot safer.
Mama answered the door at six in the morning, with curlers still in her hair and a bathrobe tied into place.
“Annetta?” She asked looking a bit bewildered. Her eyes shifted between me and H, but her gaze stayed glued on him. “What on earth?”
“Mornin', Mama. I'm here to get the boys and take them to their new home.” I announced proudly.
“Oh,uh…well, good.” she said, still looking at H. “Who's this?” Her voice came out shaky as she clutched her robe tighter around her chest.
