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CHAPTERTWENTY
LENNOX
Graduation was an absolute bust.It honestly sucked major balls. No surprise considering Daddy’s men were up our asses and we couldn’t get out of their sight. Juniper stayed royally pissed off all day and when my sister is pissed, the entire world knows it. This time it was completely justified, though. I can’t blame her. Our moms have softened to the idea of protection hanging around, mainly because they’ve been there before. When Daddy was racing, they had their own security detail, so it’s like falling back into an old routine for them. The only thing that makes me feel better is their clear distaste for it.
My sister and I, however, are having a rough go with the idea. Thompson has tried his best all day to be the best guard that he can while juggling all the pissed off personalities of the Ford household. That’s a big ask, but he managed just fine and did it without making me even more upset. We’re being childish, I know, but I think we’ve put up with enough over the years to warrant a little backsplash. And the way Daddy is acting about all this… cagey and pushy, it doesn’t hurt me to show some rebellion.
Back and forth I’ve moved around the room, annoying the crap out of my sister. I can’t help it. Since I made it back to my room last night after storming out of the guest house, I’ve concocted the plan to sneak out to the club. It’s probably a terrible decision, but I feel like after everything I’ve been through, it’s something I need to do. As soon as night fell, which for summer is late, I slipped my bike in neutral and pushed it out of the side door to the garage and down the driveway. It’s waiting for me to hop on and take off. If I have to start my bike and wait for the garage door, I’ll never make it in time before Daddy locks the gate to keep me here.
Do I feel awful about all of this? Absolutely. I’m going to make some major enemies out of my parents tonight, and possibly my sister. Not my fault that she doesn’t have a bike or a car and uses a driver. But Benny is going to be the one that I really rock the boat with. My safety is something he takes seriously, and this is probably a dumb decision, one of the dumbest I’ll ever make, but I can’t help it. Everyone reaches their limits, right? He’ll have to understand. It isn’t like I’m not telling him we’re going, it’s just he doesn’t know that I’m evading protection to do it. My selfish moment. I think I’m allowed to have one of those.
I went from being scared of life after the attack, to needing to live it again, as if having my ability to do so stripped from me has lit a fire under me. Add in my dad’s obsessiveness and I’ve got the perfect recipe to fight against. Plus, I refuse to live in fear any longer. They may have gotten the best of me, but they won’t keep it. I’ve had enough.
I never do shit like this, so my hands are trembling, and I’m sweaty as I decide to go through with my plan.
“I’m going,” I declare to my sister, who is on the couch in her room, scrolling through Netflix. She straightens and looks over at me. “I’m going to the club.”
“Toss in a little rebellion and now you can’t wait to get to the club? What has gotten into you?”
I shrug in her direction. I thought she’d jump at the idea. Maybe she’s going soft on me as well. “At least it’s getting me there, right?” For a while she watches me, her mind clearly running through something.
I’m about to tease her about turning into our moms when she says, “Fuck it, let’s do it. I’m going to text Thompson to have the car ready after all.”
“He hasn’t left the car yet. He’s been in the driveway waiting for us to come down even though we told him we weren’t going,” I explain after I’ve watched him through the window while I pace my sister’s room.
“That man is too good for this world. We don’t deserve him,” she tells me as she climbs off the couch and shuts her television off.
“Agreed.” Truer words couldn’t be spoken, especially after he hears my bike start up and me pull out of the driveway while my sister takes the car. It isn’t fair to do that to him after the peace he’s tried his hardest to instill today, but I can’t help it. I need a dose of rebellion in my life. Ugh, my nerves are going haywire. “I’ll be in my room. Ready in like ten?”
Juniper presses her lips together in thought. “Eh, give me like twenty?”
“You’re such a girl.” She sticks her tongue out at me and flips me off, her long red fingernail shining under the light.
“I’m sorry I want to look good for my first time at the club. Is there something wrong with that?” I don’t argue because I know I’m about to hurt my sister by leaving for the club without her, so it’s better not to piss her off even if we are just teasing.
“No, Junie, there is nothing wrong with that.” She huffs a slightly confused breath, her brows scrunching together. Dang, am I going to give myself away by not bantering with her? “I’ll see you in a few,” I rush out and dart toward the door, leaving my sister blustering in the middle of her room by her lonesome.
I take approximately ten minutes to throw something decent together, run a brush through my hair, and put on the tiniest bit of makeup. Before I can question what I’m about to do, I send Benny a text telling him we’ve decided we are going to the club and we are leaving in ten. Well, at least Junie is. I’m leaving in about two minutes while everyone is distracted enough that I can get my bike out.
My plan is going to work. It has to.
With a fortifying breath, I stand at my open door and tug my phone from my jeans pocket to send Benny a text.
Me: Going to the club. Leaving in ten.
His response is immediate, and after putting on my leather riding gloves and jacket, I read it.
Benny: I’ll meet you at the car. *smiley face emoji*
Well fuck, that makes me feel wonderful. Benny is too good for this Lennox, the Lennox that is about to do something reckless and insane but can’t find it in her right now to care. Shit. My hands and feet are tingling and I feel high. Is this what it feels like when people rob a bank or something? I like it. Which shouldn’t be a surprise, considering I put myself on death traps at breakneck speeds and race them around a track for a living. I’ve always been a fan of adrenaline, but this… Shit, this is a heady mixture running through my veins.
Counting down from twenty to calm down, I give myself a moment to run through my pre-race breathing warm-ups before I stuff my phone in my pocket and ease out of my room as if on a stealth mission.
My descent down the steps leading to the kitchen is damn near silent. My parents were exhausted when they got home from graduation and aside from trying to fix things over a takeout dinner of pizza and wings, they’ve been scarce most of the day. They’ve been in their room for hours.
When I reach the back door, I let out a sigh of relief. I have to keep to the sides of the house and on the opposite side of the bushes lining the driveway to avoid Thompson seeing me. But I make it to my bike and pluck my waiting helmet from my seat. That rush of adrenaline is making me giddy and clumsy. I almost drop my helmet because of my shaking hands. Thankfully, my gloves have soaked up all the sweat in my palms or else I’m sure the helmet would be slipping right out of my grip. Ridiculous. Clearly, I’m not built for rebellion.
I laugh to myself, shaking my head. I can do this. It’s all about timing. Quickly, I use my phone to command the gate to open before sticking that in my breast pocket, and with another deep breath filling my lungs, I swing my leg over the bike and turn the key. It roars to life, so loudly with the cold start that I’m wincing. With only a moment to make it through the gate before the app alerts Daddy of its opening, I waste no time in dropping it into first and taking off.
