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She grips the steering wheel and takes a deep breath. “No. I want to at least try it once. I just like talking to you.”
Her words hit me like a warm beam of sunlight. “I like talking to you too, kid.”
“Okay.” She takes a deep breath. “I’m ready.”
“Foot on the brake,” I say.
At first, she touches her left foot to the brake pedal but before I have a chance to correct her, she switches. Her cheeks redden but she doesn’t say anything.
“Take your time,” I say. “You’ve got nothing to be nervous about.”
She sets the key fob in the middle console and stabs the start button. The engine roars to life and she curls her fingers around the steering wheel in a white-knuckled death grip.
“It’s okay. You’re in park.” I tap the shifter. “Keep your foot on the brake. This will be easy. I just want you to get comfortable with controlling the vehicle. We’ll worry about parallel parking, three-point turns, and defensive driving next time.”
“You’ll take me driving again?”
“Sure. You need more than one lesson.”
“Cool.”
The track is clear. Nothing blocking our way. No hazards or distractions. More people have joined the others but besides Emily, no one’s really paying attention to us.
“Okay, shift it into drive.”
She struggles with the shifter for a second, then clicks it into place.
“Ease off the brake and slowly press down on the gas pedal,” I advise. “You’re in control of a lot of power here. Hit the gas too hard and it’ll throw us back against the seats.”
Unlike a lot of teenagers, Libby isn’t a daredevil and she takes everything I say seriously—not as a weird challenge to do the exact opposite. She barely taps the accelerator enough to rev the engine.
“Little more,” I encourage. “Slow and smooth.”
The vehicle lurches forward, then stops.
“It’s okay. You’ve got it,” I encourage.
She tests it out a few more times, then finally seems to get the hang of it.
“Okay, slowly take your foot off the gas. See how the car starts slowing on its own? Now gently press the brake pedal until the car stops.”
She works the pedal until we crawl to a stop.
“Good.” I point to the windshield. “Keep going. We’ll do a few laps so you can get used to moving this much steel.”
We make one loop at a crawling pace. On the next lap she seems to settle into the seat and relax a bit more. We go around one more time where she seems more comfortable, then stop to put it in park.
“Geez, I didn’t think I’d ever want to get behind the wheel after the accident,” Libby says. “Thanks for this.”
“It’s good to be brave. You can’t let one bad event rule the rest of your life.”
EMILY
“Are you worried about her?” Heidi asks.
I don’t take my eyes off of Dex’s SUV. “A little.”
“Dex is patient, he’ll be a good teacher.” She huffs. “Unlike my brother who was a pain in my butt. Hope taught me how to drive.”
“She did?” Wow. The club is really tight. They all seem to share so much history.
“Yup. And Murphy had me drive the Hellcat here. It’s a good spot to get comfortable with a new vehicle.”
I throw her a grateful smile. “Thanks, Heidi.”
She squeezes my shoulder. “No problem. Ella and I are gonna do a few laps later if you want to ride with one of us?”
“Maybe.”
“Okay.”
I’m being ridiculous but I can’t help it.
“Emily Walker, is that you?” A gravelly male voice says from my left.
I blink and turn. My gaze lands on tall, muscular guy with a shock of bright, orange-ish red hair sticking up. He’s changed a lot since high school, but I’d recognize that hair anywhere.
“Torch! Oh my gosh. What are you doing here?”
Of all the strange places to run into someone from my past.
He leans down and gives me a quick embrace.
“It’s my family’s place.” He lifts his chin. “Eraser’s my cousin.”
“Wow. Small world.”
He stands close enough that our arms brush against each other and stares out at the racetrack with me.
“How’ve you been?” He peers down at me with a warm smile.
The heat of his gaze is so intense, I immediately blurt, “My boyfriend’s teaching Libby to drive.”
“No way your little sister’s old enough to drive.” He tilts his body to the side, placing his palm down toward the ground. “Isn’t she like five?”
Laughing, I shake my head. “Unfortunately not.”
He runs his gaze over Dex’s brothers over at the grill. All wearing their Lost Kings MC vests. He stares out at the track again. “Boyfriend, huh?”
Libby’s parking the truck now. A few seconds later she happily bounces out and runs over to Dex’s side. He smiles down at her and says something I can’t make out from here. They’re walking quickly. Dex’s hands jammed in his pockets, listening intently to whatever Libby’s saying.
