“Why are you asking me to take you? I mean we are talking about my brother.”
“Because we’re a lot alike, and I know that I can trust you.” I felt the scowl on my face leave as my expression relaxed. “Plus you’re the closest I’ve ever had to a sister, and I kind of want to see what that’s like.” I didn’t say it out loud, but Harley was the sister I’d always pictured having, and it was the first time I’d even considered the possibility that we could have a sisterly relationship.
“Fine. I’ll take you.” A smile tugged at the corner of my mouth.
“Cool!” Harley jumped up and clapped her hands. “Let’s see if we can convince Hal to close up early tomorrow night, and we’ll go up to Charleston and be back before Drew will miss me.”
“Harley?” As if on cue, Drew called her name as he stepped out of the kitchen while shrugging on his jacket. “You ready to go, baby?”
“Yeah,” Harley answered, then turned to me with a conspiratorial wink and a quick wave before she hurried across the dining room and into Drew’s outstretched arms. He gave her a kiss on the lips, then pulled her against his side.
“Night, sis,” he called over his shoulder just before they left through the front doors.
“Good night,” I replied quickly, then pulled out my phone, no longer able to resist the urge to check for missed calls or messages. My face fell with disappointment when there was no new activity.
****
“So, has he called yet?” Tayia asked as soon as she answered the phone.
“Well, hello, Tayia. I’m doing well, and you?” I seethed with sarcasm as I flopped down onto my bed. It had been seven days since I gave Mack my phone number, and he hadn’t called. A fact that Tayia wouldn’t let me forget.
“Sorry, Jonna. It’s just killing me. Why can’t you just call him?”
“Because you know about my rule.” It was a principle I’d formed out of stubborn pride. I was never the first to call a guy. It was almost an assurance of his interest in me and that he wasn’t blowing me off. He had to make the first step. Maybe I was allowed to ignore them, but they couldn’t ignore me. Plus I wasn’t sure exactly what I was getting myself into with Mack, and as much as I wanted him to call, I was also a little terrified that he would.
“Besides, you’re one to talk. Have you ever called a guy in your life?” I mumbled as I picked at a loose string on the inseam of my worn yoga pants. I was annoyed that Tayia seemed to have all the suggestions but would never follow through on them for herself. Sometimes I was convinced that she liked to live vicariously through me.
“You’re right. There are a lot of things I haven’t done that I regret,” Tayia agreed after several moments of silence, much to my surprise. “Hey, I need to get out of this house. Let’s go do something.”
“What are you talking about, Tayia? This is Sea Whisper Island. There’s not much to do.”
“Let’s go to The Spot. It’s Friday night. I’m sure something is happening up there.”
“What about Blake?”
“What about him?”
“He doesn’t like you going up to The Spot, especially without him.”
“Blake’s not here, and even if he was, I don’t care. He’s not in charge of me.”
The fact that she had to make that last statement proved to me just how in charge he was. I’d always thought he was too overprotective of her and that she never stood up for herself with him. It almost crossed boundaries sometimes. I grew up with two very vigilant brothers, but I’d seen Blake go crazy before when it came to his sister. But it was a sensitive topic where Tayia was concerned, so I learned a long time ago to just drop it.
“So I guess we’re going to The Spot,” I said with zero enthusiasm.
“Okay, I’ll pick you up in thirty minutes.” Tayia squealed. I looked over at the clock in horror and saw that it was almost ten. I knew there was no way I’d be ready in thirty minutes. I had way too much hair to tame.
“Uh-uh. Don’t you even think about getting to my house before eleven, Tayia. I’m serious.”
“Fine,” Tayia grumbled, and then hung up the phone.
Chapter Five
I sat there feigning interest, still unable to believe that I let Tayia talk me into going to The Spot. Partly because I’d already searched for Mack’s car, and it wasn’t here. I knew that it probably wouldn’t be, but I’d hoped anyway.
This place no longer had the appeal that it used to. In high school it was the place to be. Having brothers who raced made me pretty popular among the kids in my class, so imagine being the only person whose parents forbade her from being here. Of course I had my ways around it and even my brother’s weren’t aware of how often I was here. I got very good at hiding and evading. I knew most of the racers. Many had come and gone. Mostly wannabes who focused more on the appearance of their cars but not the performance of them. Those guys liked to sit with the hood open, music blaring, and engine revving. And completely oblivious to the guys with the cars that looked like old beat-up clunkers who were smart enough to put their money into making the car fast, not pretty.
One of my favorite things to do was to watch races where flashy cars were outrun by cars that were real sleepers, which meant they looked boring on the outside but had a whole lot going on under the hood. Especially the cars no one thought could win. And flashy cars never made it on Mack’s list.
Racers were also some of the cockiest men around, especially when it came to women. I’d gotten pretty good at turning them down, that was, until Dylan. He was my first love and the only real boyfriend I’d ever had. When I was sixteen I’d lost my virginity to him on a secluded area of the beach while we watched the Fourth of July fireworks. He was sweet to me, and my family seemed to like him. Dylan’s father was a prominent and well-respected doctor who ran the small hospital on the island. He had high expectations that his son would follow in his footsteps. Dylan loved cars and confessed to me that he didn’t really want to be a doctor, but wanted to get into serious racing. He never had the guts to stick up to his father. I told him that if he went off to start the premed program at his father’s alma mater when it wasn’t what he wanted to do, then we would be over. I refused to even consider being with someone who couldn’t stand up for himself. Dylan didn’t fight for himself or for me. He went off to school at the end of the summer and crushed my heart. A year later and with Dylan nearly a thousand miles away in Maryland, I’d realized that the choice I’d given him wasn’t fair. I looked him up online and saw that he was in a relationship with someone else and seemed happy. Letting him go was the only thing in my life I’d ever regretted. It’s funny how you don’t realize you’re making a mistake until it’s too late.
Speaking of mistakes.
“Jonna, oh no. There’s Travis,” Tayia whispered next to me, and I immediately turned my head in the direction she was looking. Travis Frye was my rebound guy. I’d hooked up with him for a little while after Dylan left. He was cute and cocky as all get out. He drove a flashy yet surprisingly fast car, and he was the first to disprove my theory that the two didn’t mix. At first, being with him was a lot of fun. I wasn’t looking for anything serious, and he seemed to want the same. That was until he started developing stalker tendencies.
In the beginning, he would show up unexpectedly at the restaurant while I was working. He and his crew would hang out for hours and be obnoxiously loud, much to my complete and utter embarrassment. Several times my dad or Drew had to make them leave. Travis also had a sweet side. He wrote little poems for me that he would leave on my car or taped to my front door. While I wasn’t a girl who appreciated poems I still thought it was cute until I started finding the poems inside my apartment, obviously left there when I wasn’t home. I’d find them on my nightstand, inside the refrigerator, and I even found erotic poems in my underwear drawer. He’d also started a routine of showing up at my front door usually around three in the morning wanting to do exactly what he’d described in his notes, every
night. At first all of these things, while a bit extreme, made me feel oddly special, but the sweetness quickly evaporated and was replaced with feelings of creepiness. Little notes in my underwear drawer? Creepy shit, indeed.
“Let’s get out of here,” I said to Tayia, but it was too late.
“Jonna?” Travis called out as soon as he spotted us.
“Get away, Travis. I have a restraining order against you.” I did my best to sidestep his approach and maneuver around him.
“You know it’s impossible to enforce that thing. We live on a tiny island. Plus I hang out here, and I’m not going to leave because you freaked out over a few notes. You know I would never hurt you.” He added that last sentence in a low voice meant to sound sexy, but all it did was make my skin crawl.
“Yeah, but being loved to death isn’t appealing either,” I mumbled under my breath. “Listen, I’m just going to end this conversation and go.” When I stepped to his left, Travis grabbed my hand, and I tried to tug it out of his grasp.
“Let me go!” I warned.
“I just want to talk to you.”
“No.” I yanked my arm a lot harder this time.
“What’s the problem?” I heard Mack’s voice out of nowhere, and then he stepped right between Travis and me. “Is he bothering you, Jonna?”
Travis instantly let go of my hand and shook his head. “No, everything’s good here, man.” He raised both hands and backed away a few steps. I wrapped my arms around myself and shivered. I hadn’t realized that Tayia was standing beside me until I nearly bumped into her as I tried to turn away. Mack stared at me for a moment before his eyes turned cold as he shifted them back to Travis.
“I thought you wanted to race for the number ten spot? I ain’t got all night.” Mack’s voice sounded tight as the muscles in his jaw twitched.
“Yeah, yeah. I’m here to race. I’ll go get ready,” Travis answered quickly as he tried to cover up his nervousness with a grin, then walked off without looking at me.
“Are you okay?” Mack’s face softened a little as he turned back to me. I nodded just as Tayia wrapped an arm around my shoulder and gave me a squeeze.
“I’ll just be over here,” she said and turned back to a group of our friends, all of whom were casting curious glances our way.
“What did he want?” I turned my attention back to Mack.
“Me.” I shrugged and lowered my eyes. There was only silence for a several moments, and when I lifted my gaze the impatient look Mack gave me said he was waiting for me to say more. So I told him about the notes, the stalking, and the restraining order. I didn’t know how he would react to my story, but I certainly didn’t expect him to throw his head back and howl with laughter.
“Wait a minute, you dated Cool Guy Frye and he turned into a fuckin’ stalker?”
“Cool Guy Frye?” I asked, but Mack’s laughter was so contagious that my words came out in a giggle.
“Yeah, that’s what everyone’s been calling him. A rich boy with a fancy car, but he ain’t got nothing for my list. He was on it for a week before he got knocked off. Then he wouldn’t stop whining about it so I came out here anyway to give his import another shot. He’s always running his mouth and bragging about all the chicks he pulls, and it’s annoying as fuck. But come to find out he’s been writing love poems and shit. Then putting them in underwear drawers?” His shoulders shook as the laughing subsided. Honestly, I really didn’t think it was as funny as he was making it seem. I mean I could see the humor in it now, but not when I was going through it.
“Well, I’m glad you’re amused.” I twisted my mouth at him and crossed my arms over my chest while I waited for him to collect himself. “It was very creepy, Mack.”
“I know, I get it but oh, that’s just too good.” He looked over in the direction Travis left and shook his head. “The fucker.” He swiped a hand across his eyes and inhaled a long breath as his expression sobered. “I’ve had a taste of you so I can’t blame him. If I were a different man, I’d stalk you, too.” Unsure how to take that comment, I scrunched up my face and looked away, although the idea of Mack King being hooked on me was slightly intriguing. But instead I asked him the question that had been bothering me all week.
“I guess being a different man is also the reason I didn’t get a call from you either?” As soon as the words left my mouth I felt like kicking myself. I had no idea how to be the girl who had casual sex with a guy like him. He stared at me but didn’t give much of a reaction.
“I was going to call.”
“When?”
He shrugged.
“You’re here on the island where you know I live, and I bet you never even thought about it once.” I took a step closer to him. “Admit it.” His eye twitched as he held my gaze, but his expression gave no indication of his thoughts.
“I was going to call, Jonna,” he repeated flatly. “I just had some things come up.” I wanted to ask what sort of things, but I felt like it was none of my business. I decided that it was probably time for me to leave before I said something else jump-offs aren’t supposed to say.
“Right, well it was cool running into you, but I guess you’re pretty busy with everything, so I’m just going to go.”
“No, don’t. I’ve been dying to do this for a week.” He pulled me into his arms and placed his lips on mine. It was a soft kiss with our lips hovering close together. His tongue touched my lower lip, and I opened my mouth and let out a sigh as his slipped inside. I rested my palms against his hard chest while he wrapped his arms tighter around me. Being in his embrace was unlike anything I’d ever experienced before. It was as if he had the ability to wipe my mind completely clean of all rational thought, and I would give my next breath in order to remain this close to him forever. Wait, forever?
When our mouths separated it took me several seconds to gather myself and remember that I was in full sight of curious eyes, but I didn’t care. I knew gossip would most likely get back to my brothers, and I didn’t care about that either.
“Hey. Look at me,” he said softly as he lifted my chin up. “That guy won’t bother you again. I promise you that.” The finality in his words and the serious look on his face made me believe him, so I nodded. Then he grabbed my hand and pulled me along with him. “Come on, girl. It’s time to race.”
Chapter Six
I followed him to where a large crowd was gathered to start the race. Mack climbed up and stood in the flatbed of a pickup truck, and everyone huddled around him. He pulled a sheet of paper out of his pocket and began to read off names that would be pairing up, speaking in a way that commanded attention. I looked around at the group of faces as they listened attentively and nodded their heads. There were a total of three races scheduled.
“First up.” Mack glanced down at his sheet of paper. “The current number ten spot and the sentinel of the list, Jamie ‘Razor’ Risto, and his challenger, Travis ‘Cool Guy’ Frye.” There were snickers from the crowd, and I looked over to Travis, who didn’t look embarrassed at all; he simply nodded his head. He seemed to embrace the name that was given to him. I was also shocked to see Jamie Risto on the lineup, but he nodded confidently at Mack, and then glanced over at Travis.
“Alright, get your shit to the starting line then,” Mack called out, and then jumped down from the truck. He grabbed my hand again and walked us over to the race master and gave him instructions. Then he dialed a number on his phone and spoke to a guy who was posted at the finish line. I picked up from the conversation that his job was to pay attention and choose the race winner. Then he made more calls to each of his security guards who were set up at both entrances of the secluded road in order to look out for cops or unsuspecting motorists heading our way.
I did my best to ignore several pairs of eyes on us as we made our way through the crowd. I knew they were all wondering who the hell I was and why I was walking around with Mack’s hand in mine. Hell, I would have been wondering the same thing. I’d seen Mack here with ot
her girls occasionally, but never the same ones from what I could tell, but then again they were never where my attention was focused.
After he’d made his rounds we moved to stand on the side of the road just in time for the race to start. The race master, a retired racer who went by the name Jungle Jim, walked to stand in front of each car, and then waved both drivers forward until their cars were perfectly even with the crack in the asphalt that served as the starting line. When he seemed satisfied with the position of each racer, he turned, walked four paces forward, then spun around and clicked his flashlight on. Both cars immediately peeled off.
The smell of burned rubber and exhaust fumes filled the air. It was clear that Jamie was the faster car because he gained the lead instantly while Travis struggled to keep his car straight, his front tires lifting off the ground while his car bounced up and down. However, the time it took for him to gain control of his car cost him big time. Jamie’s pass was flawless as he shot down the road with expert skill. Before he even made it to the end of the road, his crew was already celebrating. Mack gave no reaction other than to pull out his sheet of paper and scratch Travis’s name off the challenger column.
“Like I said, nothing to see there.” He winked at me, and I smiled back. I was just excited to be witnessing the action this close up with the king himself. The rest of the races followed suit. Feeling pumped up from his win, Jamie immediately called out the number nine spot and won that race also, pushing a racer named Nitro from number nine to number ten, thus making him the new sentinel of the list, meaning that is was his job to protect the lineup. If a new racer wanted on the list, they had to at least be faster than Nitro, which was a tough thing for most newbies to accomplish. Jamie was the only one this year to make it.
I looked around at the crowd of people, observing the way several race crews were moving with efficiency as they prepared their equipment for competition, and the way everyone seemed to respect Mack. His rules were law here. All racers had to wear helmets and race jackets. He also required that all vehicles be equipped with a rollover bar.
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