Pace Laps (Racing on the Edge Book 10)

by Shey Stahl

  I did get it. Didn’t mean I found it funny.

  Eamon stared at me, his face void of emotion. “No wonder you’re an asshole. Your family is weird.”

  “That’s funny. He’s the fishing guide too,” Aiden remarked, standing beside me as Eamon explained what we were fishing for in the middle of the ocean.

  “No, it’s not funny.” I think there was a reason as to why Aiden always wore socks. He had the ugliest fucking feet ever. “Why is your middle toe flipping me off?”

  “Fuck you,” Aiden grumbled, reaching for his wet socks. “I’m never taking my socks off around you again.”

  “Thank God.” I grabbed my beer I’d stashed in my bag. I didn’t care about fishing, but I cared about beer today. “No one should have to see that bullshit.”

  Aiden shoved my shoulder practically throwing me off the boat and into Rager, who was behind me. “You’re an asshole.”

  “I know.”

  I heard a splash behind me and then realized I’d knocked Rager into the water.

  “Hey, can I dump this in?” Willie asked, and then proceeded to dump the fish guts and blood into the water, right on Rager.

  There were a few problems with that. I mean, we were in Hawaii and we were there to fish. But there were also sharks in the water.

  “Willie, you fucker. Help me get back on the boat!”

  “You know, you’re a real jerk when you want to be.”

  “I’m in the water with fish blood and guts all over me. I think I get to be more than a jerk.”

  Naturally, with blood in the water, a shark became Rager’s best friend. Why wouldn’t it, right?

  “Don’t panic,” Eamon ordered, tossing Rager a flotation ring from the boat as he scrambled around trying to control the situation.

  “Panic?” Rager gasped, shaking water from his face as he tried to swim away from the shark, but further from the boat. “There’s a motherfucking shark in the water with me. How can I not panic?”

  I felt horrible, and then worried about myself. Arie would kill me if a shark ate her husband. Thankfully it wasn’t a big shark. More like Jaw’s infant son. If he had one. I was pretty sure even if it bit him, we’d at least be able to sew the pieces back on.

  “Yeah, don’t panic.”

  Rager shot me a glare, struggling to stay afloat. “You get in here then, Jameson. Don’t tell me not to fucking panic.”

  “Nah.” I leaned over the boat for a better look at the shark. “I’ll pass.”

  “What if it bites off his dick?” Willie asked, watching the shark swarm near him. “I bet then Arie might consider me. I mean, like as a last resort.”

  “The fuck she will!” Rager yelled from the water.

  It happened quickly and Rager was actually kind of badass about it when the shark tasted his calf. It was just a nibble if you asked me. He kicked the fucker in the head and I have no idea how, but he jumped out of the water and toward the boat. It was like he had super powers.

  Once he was on the boat, leg bleeding all over the place, he scowled at me. “I can’t believe you pushed me in.”

  I pointed to my chest, offended. “I did no such thing. Aiden did.”

  We, as in me and Rager, decided fishing was over after that and we headed back to shore.

  Rager reached for a bottle of rum he’d stashed on the boat. “This vacation fucking sucks.”

  “Oh don’t be so dramatic. It’s only because Jameson tossed you overboard.” Casten handed him a towel to wrap his leg up with.

  I glared at my son. “I did not.”

  As we walked back to the truck, Rager limping with a bottle of rum, and me and Spencer helping him walk, a girl in the parking lot caught Willie’s attention by flashing her tits at him.

  Willie watched the hooker closely. “Maybe I should go talk to her.”

  “Don’t even think about it.” Casten grabbed him by the shirt, yanking him toward the truck. “I’m pretty sure if she sneezed, her tampon would fall out.”

  His eyes went wide. “What does that mean?”

  “It’s like traveling with children,” Casten noted and then turned to Willie. “It means she’s loose.”

  “Oh.”

  He still didn’t understand.

  “WHAT HAPPENED TO you?” Arie asked when we were back at the house, staring at Rager’s bleeding leg.

  “Shark attacked me,” Rager grumbled, tossing himself on the couch dramatically. Knox walked over to him, his hand on his dad’s shoulder, bending down to examine his leg. At two years old, he still didn’t talk much, but he did rub his dad’s head like he understood what was going on with him. And then he proceeded to show him his elbow where he crashed on the pavement earlier today. Sympathy sharing, I supposed.

  Rager leaned forward, ruffling his thick black hair and kissed his scrapped elbow.

  “It wasn’t a full-blown attack,” Willie explained, sitting down on the edge of the couch beside Rager. “The shark just took a little nibble because this fucker kicked him in the head.”

  Rager lifted his good leg and knocked Willie off the couch. “Fuck you. It was an attack.” Sitting up, he gestured to his leg. “I need fucking stitches.”

  Arie examined it, as did Sway. “No, you don’t need stitches, but we should clean it.”

  Rager’s eyes met mine and he glared. “Oh, don’t worry about that. My kind father-in-law did that for me by dumping a half a bottle of vodka on it. Pretty sure it’s fuckin’ clean now.”

  I lifted my hands. “Hey, I was only trying to help. I was bitten by a shark once.”

  “Sure you were.” Rager flopped back on the couch, his arms over his head. “Someone hand me a beer.”

  Jonah, who thought the blood was awesome, poked at his leg. “Does it hurt?”

  Rager glared at Jonah like he wanted to punch a child. “It does when you poke it. Stop touching me.”

  With Arie sitting beside him, he noticed her bright red leg. “What happened to her?” I whispered to Sway, smiling at Arie and Rager and thinking to myself they were exactly like Sway and me.

  “Just wait.” She pointed to Casten, who came inside with Rowyn on one leg and Ryder on the other, Gray trailing close behind with an iPad in her hands, barely aware of anything around her. “This is going to be good.”

  Rager noticed Arie’s leg, too, and Casten’s grin when he asked, “What’s that smell, Arie?”

  You would have thought someone lit my daughter on fire with rage. “Fuck you, Casten. Fuck. You.”

  “What’s that all about?” Rager asked, still staring at her leg. “You kinda smell funny.”

  “I was stung by a jellyfish and Casten straight up pissed on my leg.”

  Gray snorted and high-fived Casten. “Nice, Dad.” And then walked out of the room.

  Arie scowled at Gray. “See if I ever take you shopping again, Gray!”

  Gray did nothing but flip her hand up, blowing Arie off, her wild mess of brown hair tangled in the wind as she walked out to the pool.

  Rager turned his attention to Casten, who sat across from them. “I wouldn’t sit so close to her,” Rager warned.

  Too late. Arie lunged for her brother, tackling him to the ground to rub her piss-soaked leg on his face. “How does it smell now?”

  And this is why she’s my daughter.

  AFTER THE SHARK and jellyfish incident, I think everyone was ready to relax for our last night in Hawaii. After dinner, we took a walk on the beach just before sunset.

  “Do you think either of them will go in the water again?” Sway asked, sitting next to me in the sand with another beer she handed me.

  “Probably not.” As I watched everyone, I smiled seeing Spencer and Alley, hand and hand on the beach. I glared at my mother walking with Bill and then focused on my kids.

  Axel had Savannah on his shoulders, swinging his only daughter around with Jonah, and Jacen tried to keep up with Gray on the sand carts. That girl, Gray, no one could catch her. At seven now, she’d beat every record
I ever made in quarter midgets. Impressed the hell out of me in a car because she was so damn little, but there wasn’t anything she couldn’t do in a race car for sure.

  Casten was nearby, proudly watching and holding Rowyn, their newest little one, away from the sand because the damn kid wouldn’t keep it out of her mouth.

  Ryder ran up to me, hugged me and then took off back to his cousins, Pace, and Bristol. Funny enough, out of all the grandkids, Ryder was the most affectionate. He would cuddle with just about anyone.

  “Can you believe all these people are here because I got laid?”

  Sway raised an eyebrow. “Maybe you should stand up and say that.”

  “I’m just saying.” Leaning back in the sand, I rested most of my weight on my right elbow. “They should really thank me. They’re literally here because of me.”

  “Okay, well”—she leaned back in the sand with me—“let’s say hypothetically I didn’t play a role in any of that… despite my crankcase remembering it, anyhow, what are you saying, that your balls did good?”

  I laughed, remembering Jack’s theory on getting a girl pregnant, as did Sway. “Yep. My balls did good.” Shifting in the sand, I nodded south between my legs. “They created a family.”

  Sway rolled toward me, laughing. “This conversation is getting weird.”

  “Well, you played a role in there too.” Kissing the top of her head, I let my lips linger there for a moment. “None of this would have been possible without you.”

  Sway thought about that for a minute, then smiled at our hands joined in the sand.

  “It’s a beautiful life we have, honey.”

  Leaning in, she pressed her lips to mine. “It is.”

  Gauge – An instrument, usually mounted on the dashboard, used to monitor engine conditions such as fuel pressure, oil pressure and temperature, water pressure and temperature, and RPMs.

  I knew Alley was enabling Cole. She’d been doing it for years. What I never expected was my own brother going behind my back to help him out after I specifically told him not to.

  They purposely went behind my back to protect him again. I wasn’t having it. Not anymore. If this was the way they were going to act, I was done with them.

  For the first time in my life, I considered walking away from my family. Not because I wasn’t man enough to take care of them, but because I was trying to and Jameson constantly found it in my best interest to go behind my back to protect my son. Didn’t they realize what they were doing to him?

  I mean, I was his fucking father for shit’s sake. I knew what was best for him even if he didn’t.

  Slamming the door to my truck shut, I stormed inside the house barely able to keep myself from shaking. The moment I entered the house, Alley was of course on the phone. “I need to talk to you.”

  She held up her finger to me.

  Nope. Not happening. This wouldn’t wait any longer.

  Taking the phone from her, I slammed it down, glaring at her. “I need to talk to you right now.”

  She looked at me with disbelief. “Spencer! That was the president of NASCAR.”

  “I don’t care. We need to talk.”

  She went to my brother after I asked her not to. And the only reason I knew that was because Cole slipped and told me they helped him.

  Crazy as it was—when I found out—it was as if she had cheated on me. I knew she hadn’t but the betrayal was there and fucking ugly.

  The moment our eyes met, I realized I needed to calm down. No way did I want to come in and talk to my wife like this, but she had to know I would have this reaction. It should be my wife and me making this decision about Cole, not her and my fucking brother.

  “Whatever you need to say could have waited, Spencer.”

  “Yeah, I suppose it would because I don’t matter, do I?”

  Alley’s head jerked back in horror, my words slapping her face. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  If she didn’t know…. Fuck that shit. She knows!

  Taking her cell phone off the counter, I sent it flying toward the wall. Her brow scrunched at the sound it made hitting the wall, the screen shattering and echoing through the kitchen.

  “What is your problem?”

  “My problem?” Admittedly, I never treated my wife like this. I was raised better than to do that, but I was at my breaking point.

  “Yes, your problem.”

  “Funny you should ask that.” Leaning into the counter, I crossed my arms defiantly over my chest. “I had a talk with Jameson today. Actually, I’d call it more of an argument.”

  “What’d you do to piss him off this time?”

  “It’s nothing I did. It’s what the two of you did.”

  Her expression was one of curiosity. “Spencer, I don’t have time for this today.”

  “Okay, so you don’t have time for us. Got it.” And then I began to walk away.

  Her arm caught mine just before I passed her. “What is it that I did?”

  Swallowing over the adrenaline pulsing through me, I stared at her, hoping my glare spoke for my irritation. “You went behind my back and asked Jameson to bail Cole out of jail. That night, the one you told me nothing was wrong, you went behind my back when I told you not to. I’m done. I’m fucking done with this bullshit.”

  “How did you find out?”

  I laughed, bitterly. “Cole told me.”

  “Spencer….” Alley sighed, attempting to block me from leaving with her hands on my chest. “Calm down. I only went to him because I knew you wouldn’t help. I couldn’t let our son be hurt by those men. I can’t believe you were willing to turn your back on our son.”

  “Calm down? I wouldn’t have to calm down if you would have came to me that night and not Jameson. And I can’t believe you did this. You went behind my back to my fucking brother! My brother! I mean, fuck, Alley, you might as well have sucked his dick with how this feels to me.”

  “Okay, now you’re being dramatic.”

  “You’ve thought about it, haven’t you?” I knew I was being juvenile, but I was fucking pissed.

  That pissed her off. “Fuck you, Spencer. You know goddamn well I wouldn’t.”

  “I didn’t ask if you would. I asked if you’ve thought about it.”

  “No. Never.”

  “And you know, I can’t tell if you’re lying because I don’t know you anymore.” Shaking my head, I watched helplessly as tears streamed down her face. “For years I’ve sat back and let you take the lead on parenting Cole. I let you take the lead in every part of this relationship because it’s who you are. You take control and I love that about you, but this… I can’t fucking do this with you anymore. I specifically told you not to help him. I fucking begged you to stay out of it and let him learn this one his own.”

  “They were going to kill him!” Alley shouted, her tears slowing as the rage took over in her heated cheeks. Brushing tears aside, her hand slammed down on the counter. “Jesus Christ, Spencer, do you really think I could stand by and let something happen to him?”

  “How is he supposed to learn anything if you’re constantly protecting him? He’s twenty-seven. At some point, he has to fucking grow up!”

  “So you’re telling me if Lex came to you and was in trouble like this, you’d turn your back on her?”

  “Lexi is different. She wouldn’t do this shit.”

  “If she did, would you?”

  I couldn’t believe she didn't see the whole picture. “With as many times as we’ve bailed Cole out, yes, I would tell her it’s time to learn a lesson. You’re missing the fucking point. This is my family, and you went to my brother for help. How do you think that makes me feel?”

  “This is something I’m never going to agree with you on. He’s my son, and I can’t turn away from him.”

  Shaking my head, I drew in a heavy breath and let it out slowly. “But you can turn away from your husband?”

  “I didn’t want to turn away,” she had the nerve to say.
“You forced me to.”

  “Well, then, if that’s the way it is, I suppose there’s nothing left to say, is there?”

  “What would you have done then? Leave him in jail and let him get killed by those guys?”

  “That’s something you and I should have discussed, not you and Jameson. And then you two go and send him to rehab without even talking to me about it?”

  “Jameson made the arrangements. I didn’t, and Cole went straight to rehab.” She said this as if I should be okay with it. “I didn’t have a chance to say anything before it was done and I figured since he was safe and everything was okay for now, it wasn’t worth mentioning.”

  “Wasn’t worth telling me you went behind my back to decide what’s best for our son with my brother.”

  “You keep bringing up your brother like it’s some kind of betrayal. Jesus, he’s been there for us through everything and constantly supporting us. If it wasn’t for your brother, I wouldn’t have a job, neither would you, or Lane for that matter. Think of what he’s done for our family.”

  “I know exactly what he’s done. Which is why for once I would love to make a decision for my family and not have it run through Jameson Riley.”

  “Oh Jesus, Spencer. You don’t have to run everything through Jameson and you fucking know it. You’re being dramatic.”

  “Am I?” I saw red. “Fuck this. I’m leaving. I can’t be here with you right now.”

  “What do you mean you’re leaving?”

  Pacing the kitchen with my hands behind my neck, I needed to leave. Now. “I’m… I think we need some time apart.” My words shook with thirty years of love for this woman, but annoyed she couldn’t see past our son and what this was doing to the two of us. Our eyes met: apprehension in hers, confusion in mine. I didn’t know what leaving meant. It couldn’t mean divorce, could it? At that point, I didn’t know but I wouldn’t go on like this.

  Upstairs, I grabbed a bag and some clothes knowing it was the off-season and I wouldn’t be traveling to Charlotte much.

  “Where are you going to go? We need to talk about this, Spencer. I was trying to do the right thing.”