Labeled

by Jenni Linn

  "I'm not so sure," Chase sounds uneasy.

  "Please, can we just figure us out first?"

  "Okay," He sighs. "But for the record, me and you...it's gonna work out."

  "Yeah?" I question, totally infatuated with the future of us.

  "Definitely," he confirms.

  "Okay, whatever you say," I sing.

  "See? You keep that up and we'll be golden."

  I laugh. "Don't count on it."

  "Good. I love that sass of yours."

  "Noted."

  "Okay, I'll see you in a couple of hours."

  "Can't wait!"

  "Me either. Bye, babe."

  "Bye," I whisper, feeling warm at his term of endearment. I squeeze my phone and lean my head back on the headrest, allowing myself to bask in the warmth he brings all over my body. I look over at Taylor, who is smiling wide.

  "What?" I ask.

  "That was so sickly cute."

  "It was." I nod.

  "I am so happy for you."

  "Me too." I bring my feet up and kick them wildly while screaming my excitement for a solid five seconds. Taylor laughs at my unexpected outburst. I collect myself and then turn to face her, bringing my legs up under my butt.

  "You agree that we should wait to confront my brothers?" I ask.

  "Yeah. Your brothers are cray-cray, especially Vance. And you're right! You guys are so new. What if you guys don't mesh, or get along or …whatever the reason. You guys can part and no one would be the wiser."

  "He doesn't want to sneak around," I tell her.

  "When you guys decide that it's becoming serious, then you let them know."

  I subconsciously nibble on my bottom lip. This is starting to stress me out. "How will I know?" She looks at me, her smile growing wide. "You'll know."

  "What if it takes too long?"

  She shrugs. "By then, your brothers not agreeing won't matter. You guys are already in it, they'll see it, and they'll get over it."

  I think it over. I don't want to worry about what they'll think because what they think doesn't really matter. I may have known Chase for a long time, but I've never gotten to know him. This is on a whole different level, and I'm excited to explore this with him. I snuggle into myself, feeling all kinds of giddy.

  Taylor drops me off at work and I, unfortunately, spend the next couple hours filing customer invoices. After clocking out, I catch a ride home with Vin. Wes, Vaughn, and Vance are already hanging out in the garage.

  "Hey!" I greet them as I walk inside with Vin close behind me.

  "Hey, V." Wes is the first to greet me, followed by a head nod from Vance, and a wave from Vaughn.

  "Whatcha doin?" I ask, halting beside Vance at Wes' car.

  "Just doing a quick tune," Vance offers.

  "Nice. I hear you got a money run tonight?" I turn my attention to Wes.

  "Yeah. Easy money," Wes states, calmly. There’s not an ounce of nervousness emanating from him.

  "Oh, yeah?" I laugh.

  "Definitely. They ain't got shit on me."

  "Should be a good one then. I'm gonna go up to my room. When's Tay coming?"

  "Not sure. She should be here soon," Wes responds.

  "Alright." I turn and walk through the door of the garage, through the kitchen, and into the living room where Mom is lounging.

  "Hey!"

  "Hey, honey."

  I take in her appearance. "Where are you going all dressed up? And where's Dad?"

  "We're going to bingo!" she says excitedly, "He's upstairs getting dressed."

  "That sounds like fun."

  "A five-hundred-dollar pot? Yeah, that's fun!" Dad speaks from the top of the stairs. He's wearing a ‘Victor's Garage’ shirt. He’s never one to not advertise his business, even though everyone in that bingo hall is most likely already a customer.

  "Hey, Dad."

  "Hey, sweet pea," he says, opening his arms as he reaches me. I move into them so he can pull me in for a big hug. He squeezes me and leaves a kiss on the top of my head. Moving back, I take a couple of steps up. "Well, you kids have fun! Good luck."

  "Be safe!" Mom yells.

  "Of course!" I respond, head down the hall to my room, and drop my bag near my closet. I take a whiff of myself, knowing that I'll be seeing Chase soon. I don't want to smell bad.

  I definitely need to shower. I rid myself of clothes, toss my hair in a bun, wrap my body in a towel, and rush to the bathroom. I quickly wash until I feel certain I no longer smell like a grease monkey. Turning the water off, I grab the towel and dry off my body as much as possible before I wrap it around myself. I peek my head out the door, making sure the coast is clear before running to my room. I burst through the door and turn around to lock it.

  "I could get used to this."

  I scream at the unexpected male voice, whirling around to find Chase sprawled on my bed. He looks completely comfortable with his socked feet crossed at the ankles, hands behind his head, and a large smile on his face. His eyes are on me. His blue shirt is riding up, showing a bit of his toned stomach.

  "Holy shit! You scared me," I grab at my chest, my heart pounding. Chase swiftly moves so he's sitting at the side of my bed, his feet now on the ground.

  "What are you doing?" I question.

  "I wanted to see you."

  "What about my brothers?" I ask, worriedly.

  "I told them I was going to the bathroom." He stands up and approaches me, reaching me in three strides. He pulls me to him and embraces me in his stronghold. I love the feel of our bodies so close together--his warmth is so caressing.

  "Okay. I need to leave this room, and you need to get dressed." He releases me quickly, moving me so my back is to the bed, and he's closest to the door. I hang on to my towel as his eyes sweep over me. "Yes, I need to go." He quickly unlocks the door and leaves me standing in the middle of my room.

  I stare at myself in the mirror in front of me, pleased. The cute jersey top fits my frame nicely, as do the dark wash skinny jeans. I wore shorts to the track once--against Vance's advice--and learned why pretty quickly. My legs had a nice, thick layer of dirt on them by the end of the night and my socks looked way more gray than white. Vance found it hilarious while I definitely did not. I chalked it up to just his disapproval of me wearing anything remotely revealing. I remember telling him to shut up before he could even explain why. Lesson learned. Now, I’m amused when girls wear skirts or shorts.

  My door bursts open, and I'm ready to yell at whoever’s entering without knocking, but the words die on my lips when I notice it's Taylor.

  "Hey, girlfriend." She comes to stand next to me and we look at our reflections in the mirror. Our outfits are eerily similar. We burst out laughing.

  "Cute," I tell her.

  She taps my temple lightly, "Great minds think alike."

  I grab my boots from the closet and slip them on. I usually wear my Converse since they're good when racing, but I know I won't be doing that tonight.

  "Did you just get here?" I ask her.

  "Maybe a couple of minutes ago. Chase is looking mighty good tonight."

  "He always does," I point out.

  She ponders on that for a second. "True."

  "He snuck into my room earlier."

  "Say what? Did you guys get it on?" She sits next to me on the bed, waggling her eyebrows. I reach over to smack her on the arm. "No!"

  She rubs the spot on her bicep. "I was kidding! Jeez."

  "I didn't even hit you that hard," I muse.

  "Anything good happen?"

  "No, no way. We just started. I don't even know what we are. I was in a towel. He was pretty adamant about getting outta my room."

  "He wanted to ravish you."

  "Who wants to ravish you?" Vance asks, violently pushing through my door.

  "No one! What are you doing?" I stand up crossing my arms over my chest.

  "Who the fuck are you talking about?"

  "Are you guys ready to go?" I ask, dodging his qu
estion.

  "Yeah. I'm riding with Wes. Vin's not going. So you can go with us, or Chase said you can ride with him."

  "Vaughn?" I ask curiously.

  "He didn't offer." Vance cracks a smile.

  I shake my head. "Go figure."

  "Where the hell is Vin going?"

  Vance shrugs, "Not sure, just said he had plans."

  This is a no brainer, but I'm really surprised that Vance even gave me the option to go with Chase. It's almost so easy it's scary. I glance at Taylor while putting a pout face into play. "You okay if I ride with Chase? I'll get shotty."

  "Ugh, you're gonna leave me with this one?" she asks, pointing to Vance.

  "Wes already said you got shotgun," Vance puts in.

  "Damn straight. He knows better," Taylor says.

  "Whatever…let's go," Vance says, then turns to walk out my room. I give Taylor bug eyes.

  "Holy shit. That was close!" I whisper-yell to her. She nods wildly.

  I grab my bag as I pass where it lays on the floor, then follow behind Taylor. We make our way downstairs, through the kitchen and into the garage. Wes' car is no longer inside but all the guys are standing around. They all turn to look at us and my eyes immediately meet Chase's. I quickly look away in hopes that my attraction to him isn't as obvious as I think it is.

  "Alright, now that the girls are ready, we can head out," Vance announces.

  We all head in different directions. Chase is parked further back, allowing us to walk together. "You look nice," he whispers, "But I definitely prefer the towel look."

  I bite my lip at his compliment and innuendo. "Maybe it'll make another appearance one day," I flirt.

  He groans and I laugh as I round the front of his car to the passenger side door. He unlocks it and we both get inside. I grab the seat belt to buckle up as I hear him say, "You're going to be the death of me, woman!"

  I look at him as if I heard him wrong, but he's looking at me as if I'm the best thing on this planet, a small smile playing on his lips. "But I'll die a happy man," he adds. My eyes stay on him, watching him as he starts his car. I can confidently say I haven’t ever felt the way I’m feeling right now. Chase has caught me by surprise in more ways than one. I never, in a million years, would have thought that Chase would say these things to me--that he would be the one to risk the wrath of my crazy brothers. At the same time, though, it couldn't feel more right. Like this is exactly what was meant to happen.

  We drive in comfortable silence as I watch the streetlights zoom by. I startle at the touch of Chase's hand flipping my hand over--so my palm is facing upward--and his long fingers thread through mine, weaving them together perfectly. I look at our joined hands and feel a smile creep over my lips. My heart swells at the small gesture. It reminds me of all that happened this morning--our conversation. A small squeeze of his hand pulls my attention to him. "Is this okay?" he asks.

  "Yeah, of course. It's perfect."

  "Okay good. It's going to be hard not to touch you all night."

  "I never pictured you as a touchy-feely kind of guy."

  "I'm not. Not really. It's just you."

  This guy. He has all the right words to say, and I'm beginning to feel inexperienced.

  "I bet you say that to all your girlfriends," I joke.

  The light turns yellow but Vaughn's car precedes to run through it. It quickly turns red and causes us to stop while my brothers keep going. Chase doesn't release my hand as he downshifts. Another pull on my hand has me looking at him in question, the light shadowing reflects his features in red. His brows are furrowed as his eyes scan my face. "No," He says, sternly. "It's just you." His admission causes my breath to catch. I am so surprised. But, at the same time, I’m so relieved to hear this. "Understood?"

  Nodding, I exhale. "Yeah."

  "Good."

  Chase's face is now showcased in green. He uses our joint hands to shift, continuing until we're in his last available gear, then places them on his lap. This causes me to lean closer to him with my arm resting on the center console. I'm overflowing with emotions. I feel like I could cry. I push them aside--feeling overwhelmed and slightly embarrassed. I'm not a very emotional kind of girl, but this is all so new to me. I lean my head back on the side of the headrest since I'm too far over. I take in his features quietly from the side--his perfectly shaped ear, his sideburns that reach his ear lobes, his eyelashes that seem insanely long, his sharp nose, and his perfectly kissable lips. I cannot believe that I am lucky enough to be sitting in his car, holding his hand, and that I will one day get to feel those lips on mine. I'm too busy studying him to notice that the car has stopped until he looks at me.

  "What are you doing?" he asks. I glance in front of us. We're stopped at the stop-light right outside the small town near the track. I smile wide. I’m slightly embarrassed, and for the first time, I'm sure I'm blushing. He smiles, "Well?"

  I peer up at him. His face has moved much closer to mine. "Do you have any idea how handsome you are?" I ask.

  "Well, I do now. Thank you. I could say the same about you."

  "I'm handsome?" I joke.

  "You're beautiful." His eyes are moving between my eyes and lips and without even realizing, I'm moving closer until we're a mere inch apart. I can feel his breath on my face and I know without a doubt, I want to kiss him more than anything. I decide not to hesitate one more second. I move in to close the gap and our lips are touching in a soft, tender kiss. It's innocent until our mouths are moving sensually together. His hand is tangled in my hair, while I have no idea where my hands are. I feel this kiss down to my toes. All of a sudden his tongue traces my upper lip, asking for permission to enter. It causes an unexpected moan to escape my parted lips.

  A loud noise startles us apart--the light has turned green, and the car behind is honking. Chase quickly pulls himself together and puts the car into gear, gunning it. I rub my face. I am completely flustered. There's a pressure on my leg and I look down to find Chase's hand the source. I look over at him, "I'm sorry. I wanted to wait until a good moment to do that but you were feeding me compliments, all while looking gorgeous."

  "Don't apologize," I tell him. "That was everything," I confess.

  "Now, now. That's just gonna go right to my head."

  "It's true. I'm jealous of every girl who's ever kissed you."

  We reach the entrance for the track and he grabs my hand, placing a soft kiss on it. I feel it down to my core. "Don't. I don't want any other lips to touch mine and anyone before you don't matter."

  "Okay," I whisper because he has rendered me speechless. I don't think I'll ever get used to this.

  Seven Twenty-Five

  The line for entry into the track is about as long as to be expected. I spot Vaughn and Wes' car not that far ahead of us. The line moves smoothly, and when we reach the pay booth I pull out my wallet to pay for my way in.

  "Put that away." Chase pushes my hand away.

  "You don't have to pay for me," I tell him.

  "I know, but I want to."

  "Thank you," I say with a smile.

  "Racing?" asks the young guy standing inside the doorway of the booth.

  Chase takes a second to think about it before giving an answer, "Sure."

  The man grabs the window marker and steps out from inside, "Number?"

  "Seven, twenty-five." I watch as the worker writes the number on the side window, and the top front, then steps back into the booth.

  "That'll be thirty."

  Chase hands him the money. "Good luck," The guy says, handing Chase the track rules and regulations. He hands me the paper, and I place it in my lap.

  "Seven twenty-five?" I question.

  "Yeah. My birthday."

  "Ohhh. Right! I knew that."

  He puts the car into first then drives towards our usual spot near the chain-link fence. Vaughn and Wes' car are parked--they're already standing around with their hoods popped up. There's an orange Subaru parked on the other side of Wes. "I
s that the guy he's racing?" I ask.

  "I'm not sure," Chase says, shutting his car off. As we both get out, I catch Taylor looking our way and wiggle her eyebrows, making me laugh. I come to a stop next to her and Chase moves over towards my brothers and Wes, putting some space between us.

  Vaughn is talking to the guy I don't know, so I can only assume that he's a friend of his. He introduces Chase but doesn't even bother to acknowledge me. Okay. "Aren't you going to introduce me?" I ask, annoyed that I'm being ignored.

  "No," Vaughn says, and I catch Chase’s eyebrows rise. So I move towards them and put out my hand to the unknown guy. "Hey, I'm Veronica,"

  "Brandon. Nice to meet you." He smiles, showing nice white teeth. He has a head full of hair--not in any particular style--and black glasses. His shirt says ‘Gamer’.

  "Are you done hitting on my friend?" Vaughn barks.

  "I am not hitting on him!"

  "Hey, she can hit on me any day," Brandon says, playfully.

  "Uh. No," Vaughn says, as another voice adds in, "Get the fuck outta here," from behind me. I look over my shoulder at Vance who's glaring at me and glance at Chase who just looks amused.

  "I was being polite!" I throw my hands out, shake my head, then stalk back over to Taylor. "They're so freakin' stupid." She shrugs and laughs. "Psychos.”

  "For real," She leans in and asks, "so how was the ride?"

  A large grin breaks upon my lips. "That good, huh?"

  I just nod and she loops her arm around mine. "Let's go for a walk,” She whirls around and yells, "We're going to the bathroom!"

  As soon as we're far enough away I can’t help but squeal, "He kissed me!"

  "Ah!" She squeezes my arm.

  "Come to think of it, I think I kissed him."

  "Who cares who kissed who first--it happened! More importantly, how was it?"

  I sigh dreamily.

  "That good?"

  "Yes."

  "I knew it!"

  I scrunch my face, "You knew he'd be a good kisser?"

  "Uh, yeah? You’ve seen his lips."

  I laugh. "True."