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“Look, just forget it. I’m gonna, um, I’d better get back.” Then I took off running before he had the chance to stop me. God, what the hell was I thinking? I’m sure he was wondering what kind of nerve I had to ask the King of the Carolinas to throw a race to help my brother, who he doesn’t like, and the only leverage I had was that we’d spent a night together. One amazing night, but still. As if my phone number was worth ten thousand dollars.
Get over yourself, Jonna.
There would no doubt be a different girl in his bed tonight. Just thinking about it made me feel so insignificant, and it sucked.
“Where were you?” Tayia asked as she hurried up to me.
“Just talking to Mack. Why?”
“Is everything okay?” She eyed me suspiciously. “You look upset.”
“I’m fine. Can we please not talk about it right now?” It was hard to disguise the anguish in my voice, and Tayia instantly agreed to drop it.
“Sure, hon,” she said as she wrapped an arm around my shoulder and we moved closer to the activity.
A short while later both cars were up at the starting line. They had flipped a coin earlier and Mack had won the toss. He’d chosen the right lane, where he was now sitting while revving the engine and completing his burnout in the new red Mustang GT he used strictly for racing. Drew was working a test pass in the Viper. Suddenly loud horrible rattling noises were coming from the GT, and I knew it wasn’t a good sign. Mack’s crew threw open the hood and all gathered around talking and working quickly to find the source of the problem. After several minutes and a heated argument between several of the crew members, Mack stepped away from the crowd with a grim expression on his face. He walked over to Drew, who was already geared up and seated in his car. Mack mumbled something about car troubles and the word catalytic converter followed by, “I’m out, man.”
“You sure?” my brother asked, clearly stunned. According to the rules, since Mack wasn’t able to race and defend his spot, Drew won by default. This meant the ten grand was his!
“Yeah, it’s not going to make it down the road tonight, but I’m coming for you soon, so be ready.” With that, Mack strode away but not before his eyes found mine. The stare seemed to go on for several moments, or at least it felt like that as time ceased to exist. As soon as he was out of sight, I tuned back into the celebration that was happening around me. Everyone was cheering and hugging each other. Harley was pressed against the Viper with her long legs around Drew’s waist as he kissed her. I envied the way they just seemed to work as a couple.
I suppressed a yelp when I was tugged away from the group and pushed against the side of my brother’s equipment trailer out of view from everyone.
“You owe me,” Mack said against my ear.
“What?”
“You heard me. You owe me for that win your brother just got right now.”
“There was no race. You had engine problems. You didn’t know that was going to happen.”
“You sure about that?” I stared at him for a second because I wasn’t sure. Did he do something to his engine? Why would he? Then it dawned on me. He may have given up the number one spot but not because he’d been beaten on the road. He was still on record as the fastest, regardless of him forfeiting on a technicality.
“Mack. You threw the race?” I asked with disbelief.
“You owe me,” he repeated.
“Why would you do that for me?”
“Let’s just say, there is a way we can both benefit.”
Then, he pulled me in for a kiss. No, it wasn’t a kiss, it was a ravaging. Our tongues tangled together as his grip tightened on the back of my neck and he held me close. It reminded me of last night and the way he kissed me almost exactly like this as he pounded into me. He was powerful, virile, and wasted no time taking what he wanted. I also pushed away the nagging feeling that this entire proposition wasn’t about sex. Mack wasn’t the kind of guy who needed to worry about getting girls to sleep with him. Besides I’d already proven to him last night just how easy it was for him to have me.
With some effort, I pushed Mack away and took a step back to clear my head and draw in air. When I looked over at him, he appeared unaffected. In fact, he was reaching into his pocket and pulling out his phone.
“Yeah,” he barked. I waited while he turned his back and spoke in low clip tones. With shaky fingers, I combed back the curls that had fallen from my ponytail, and I started to worry that people would notice that I was gone. Tayia and Blake were my ride home and they were probably looking for me.
“Mack,” I whispered to his turned back. When he didn’t answer I repeated myself a little louder. He whirled around with an annoyed look on his face. Well, screw him.
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“I’m outta here,” I called out and made my way past him, but he grabbed my arm and pulled me to a stop.
“Look, just take care of it,” he ordered into the phone and ended the call. “Where the hell are you going?”
“I need to leave. People are probably looking for me.”
“What did you decide?”
