Third Wheel (Elton Hall Chronicles Book 3)

by Sarah Fischer

  “Sounds complicated. The commissioner must keep some crazy books to deal with all that.”

  “Well, actually, Frank does it. He went to MIT and has a bachelor’s degree in mathematics. During the day, he works for the State helping to develop aircraft and monitor what models work best and shit.”

  “That’s kind of hot,” I said, looking at Frank a little different now.

  “Calm down, sparky. He and Emma have a thing right now and she’d slice you if she even heard you were looking at him.”

  “Oh, yeah, and what will you do if I were to go over and talk to him?”

  “Well, I’m certainly not going to break up the fight if Emma attacks you. That’d be one hot chick fight.”

  “Shut up. Emma seems nice. I don’t think she’d kill me.”

  “No, never kill, but I can’t make any guarantees she’d leave your pretty face intact.”

  “Aw, you called me pretty,” I teased, nudging him in the shoulder.

  Shane rolled his eyes at me and walked up to the van to talk to the commissioner.

  “Hey, what’s up, Max?” Shane and Max did some weird handshake thing that looked cool but was probably really nerdy.

  “Not much. You gonna make me some money this year? I could use a new engine in my Nova.”

  “I’ve got the Subaru with me, so no stress. I should have no problem lapping Newbie Troy.”

  “Okay, I feel you there. How much?”

  “Five hundred,” Shane responded and handed a wad of cash to Frank.

  “You sure there isn’t any extra cash rolling around on the floor of that car? Your girl might not be impressed by only five hundred dollars.”

  Shane shrugged his shoulders and looked at me. I smiled big, with a hint of mischief in my eyes, and turned to look at Max. “I’m not his girl yet. That’s why he bet so little. If I was his girl, he’d know exactly how much would impress me.”

  “Well, if you’re looking for the big man on campus, come find me after call outs. I know how to throw money around for a pretty lady.” He reached out and took my hand, placing a little kiss on my knuckles.

  “I just might do that.”

  Shane sighed heavily and raised his eyebrows at us. “So, five hundred for Newbie Troy?”

  “Yeah, I got it. Get out of here so I can finish up.” Max dismissed us and we walked away.

  Shane dropped his arm from my shoulders and walked toward the car. “Okay, I have a couple things to check on before I race. Why don’t you hang around or see Emma? I just need a couple minutes with my boys.” He pulled the hood of his car up and leaned under it.

  “Seriously, you’re irritated about that little comment to Max?” I asked, ignoring his request and also leaning under the hood.

  “No, I know you were kidding, but I need to get into race mode. Just give me a couple minutes and I’ll be back to the playful idiot who brought you here to impress you. I take racing really seriously, because if something goes wrong, someone could die.”

  “All right,” I said and backed away from the car. As I turned around to go find Emma, I heard Shane call my name.

  “Just wait. When you see me race, you won’t be thinking about anything other than me. I’d even bet on it.” He had spun around too and was leaning against the side of the car.

  “What are we betting?” I walked back over to him, and stood in between his legs.

  “If after I race, your body doesn’t burn for me, I’ll let you drive the car home and I’ll teach you to drive my motorcycle tomorrow. But if after I’m done racing, you do want to jump my bones, then give me one night to rock your world any way and every way I want to.”

  His hands were holding my hips, his thumbs slid just inside the waistband of my sweat pants. This was obviously a dangerous bet. Just feeling the slightest touch set me on fire. Sitting in his car as he sped down the road excited me. Add competition to that and there was no way I wouldn’t be a goner. But then again, maybe that wouldn’t be the worst thing.

  “Deal. But just know,” I started and leaned in to whisper in his ear. “Losing will definitely be a turn off, and I don’t do sympathy bangs.” I walked away fast before he could respond and made sure to wiggle as I did it, so I could captivate his attention and give him something to fight for.

  Emma was actually done with her car when I walked over to say hi, so we talked for a little while. She explained a little to me about the difference between a car that ran on nitrous, and a car that ran on turbo. I didn’t really understand, but I nodded like it all made sense.

  “So, how long have you and Shane been going out?” she asked me out of the blue.

  “We aren’t together. I mean, we’ve been hanging out a little bit, but nothing serious.”

  “Sorry, I just assumed. He’s never brought a girl here before, so I thought you guys were getting serious or something.”

  “It’s a long story. I have a boyfriend and he wants us to get married, but I’m not sure if that’s what I want just yet, so we took a break from the relationship, and then Shane happened.”

  “Well, just don’t play games with Shane. He’s good people.” She fixed me with a serious look and, though her arms were by her side, she ground her hands into fists. Then, without another word, she went back to her car.

  I took this as a dismissal and went back to Shane’s car, a little more afraid of her than I’d been earlier. I couldn’t help but wonder if there was something going on between the two of them before.

  When I showed up at Shane’s car, he and his boys, which were actually just two guys we went to college with, had just closed the hood and were closing up a laptop. I recognized one of the guys from my history class last semester, and the other one was playing football with Shane when he tossed the ball at me.

  “Ready for the call outs?” Shane asked, his same goofy smirk back on his face.

  “Yes,” I replied, trying to push the guilt away. What Emma had said shook me up. Shane and I weren’t anything. There was no promise of more, or exclusivity, so technically I wasn’t doing anything wrong. Besides, Shane had even only asked for one night. He knows this is a temporary thing. But then again, it’s not like I was being completely fair to Rob. It was probably time to figure out what I wanted in life. However, tonight I just wanted to live in the moment. And in this moment, Shane had on a racing jacket and his jeans were clinging to him in a way that glorified his ass.

  I walked over to him and he slung his arm over my shoulder as we headed to the group of drivers. With heat radiating from his touch, I didn’t think I’d have the power to turn away from him even if I’d wanted to.

  Max called out the races and decided that Shane would be going second. He’d honored Shane’s call out and the race would be against Newbie Troy. Chuck was pissed, but there didn’t seem to be anyone who wanted to listen to him complain except Heather.

  The rest of the call outs were presented, but Shane heard what he’d wanted and started to briefly explain how the race worked. “It’s a straight line race. We’re just trying to see who can go the fastest from point A to point B. We pull up to the line they’ll draw on the street and drive a quarter mile to where a flag will be set up in the middle of the yellow lines. If you cross, you lose. If you go too early, you lose.”

  “Oh, does some hot chick stand in the middle of the street and pull a scarf out of her bra to start the race? Or does someone shoot a gun?”

  “No, I feel like the hot chick would be a major distraction, and the gun would draw too much attention to us. Frank shines a flashlight and that is how we know to go. Someone stands just behind the cars, and at the finish line, and takes video so we can tell that all the rules were followed.”

  “There are a lot of rules,” I complained as we headed back to his car.

  “Well, I have another one for you. There is no way you can ride with me while I race. I’m not gonna put you at risk. When I pull up to the starting line, you need to climb out of the car and go watch the race with everyo
ne else.” He sounded serious and any playfulness was long gone from his eyes.

  “You’re no fun.”

  Shane blinked, and just like that, the goofball was back. “Remember our bet? I’ll be a lot of fun then,” he promised, and opened the door to his car for me as I rolled my eyes.

  The first race went down while Shane was pulling his car into position. He told me that they liked to get the races moving so they didn’t have to spend a lot of time on the road. The engines were loud and could draw the wrong kind of attention.

  One of Shane’s boys motioned for him to pull his car forward and I climbed out, as promised. I stood off to the side and Emma walked over to me.

  “Ready to see your first race?”

  “Yes, I feel like it’s gonna either be crazy intense or a huge let down.”

  “The only way it’d be a huge let down is if one of their engines stops. If the race goes down, usually it’s a good time.”

  As she said that, the flashlight turned on and the cars were off. Shane’s car barreled down the road, easily overtaking Newbie Troy. But that didn’t seem to matter to me. He flew like he was on air, and a rush hit me with the power of a hurricane. The moment he took off, I knew I wanted Shane to win. I wanted that one night with him. The adrenaline of cheering him on when he crossed the finish line settled in my core and he was right. I wanted to jump his bones right there. He’d just won $500 bucks, but he’d won a lot more with me. Crap.

  Shane pulled the car around and parked it back in the spot from earlier. He climbed out and picked me up, spinning me around. “Did you see me? The car was at her best. I’ve never gone that fast that quick. You have to be at every race, I’ll buy you a frickin’ motorcycle, if that’s what it takes.” He put me down and kissed me, both hands grasping the back of my head, teeth nipping at my lip lightly.

  I slid my hands under his unzipped jacket and felt up his back. In the bottom of my heart I knew what I needed to do. I needed to be at all of his races too. But I needed our night together first.

  Chapter 6

  The rest of the night went pretty well. Shane won a stupid amount of money betting on the other racers and I really saw him loosen up. He was in his element, spouting facts about the cars like he was a horse race gambler, surrounded by people who seemed to hang on his every word. This was him having fun, and I desperately wanted to feel this connected to something or someone. As he drove me home that night, I hoped I would find my own world where I fit in like this. Maybe the charity world wasn’t as good of a fit for me as I wanted it to be.

  “So, about our night together…” he brought up as he pulled up in front of my house.

  “What about it?”

  “You say when, and I’ll have the place all picked out. Maybe a cabin in the woods so no one will hear you scream,” Shane pondered out loud.

  “Why, are you going to try to murder me? Way to take all of the sexy out of it.”

  “You don’t think I’ll make you scream? I’m deeply offended.” He brought his hand to his heart and sighed loudly.

  “Well, I guess we’ll find out on Friday. But I really hope you’re as good as you think you are. Otherwise, it’s going to be a long night, and I can only fake it so long,” I said, and opened the door to get out of the car.

  Shane grabbed my arm and pulled me back in. “Don’t worry, I’m better than that boyfriend of yours.”

  My mouth dropped open and I silently cursed my big mouth. Emma and Shane were friends. Of course she had told him.

  “Look, he isn’t…”

  “You don’t need to explain it to me. The way I look at it, it’s his loss and my gain.” He clicked his teeth and then let go of my arm.

  I thought about trying to explain it to him, but I decided I was done trying to make people understand. All they did was judge me. I guess the truth was, I was judging myself even harsher than they all were. It was finally time to do what I knew I needed, but could never get the courage to do.

  I headed into the house, tiptoed quietly as my parents were sleeping, and then went to my room. I closed the door and sat on my bed, willing myself to dial Rob’s number. Holding my breath, I hit the send button, and then quickly the end.

  Damn, now he is gonna see the missed call and know I tried to reach him. I stood up and started pacing the room. Going over tonight in my head, I’d never felt more alive, had more fun, or been so turned on as I had with Shane. If I felt that way about another guy, I couldn’t leave Rob hoping that I’d come back to him. To be honest, I think I knew things were over with Rob when he didn’t fight me when I suggested the break. There was no passion in our relationship anymore, and it was all just responsibilities, and plans. I didn’t want to settle down, and even when I do, I wasn’t sure the dutiful wife and mother was a role I wanted to play. It worked for some people and I was happy for them. But I wanted the chance to find out what ignited my soul. I needed to find my dream, and I needed a man who respected that to find that dream, I’d need time. For some reason, that was the one thing Rob wasn’t willing to give me. He wanted to get married in June, and I couldn’t change his mind.

  I dialed Rob’s number again and waited breathlessly for him to pick up the phone. Just before his voicemail chimed in, a tired voice came over the phone.

  “Hello,” he answered, half asleep.

  “Rob, it’s me. I can’t do this anymore,” I confessed.

  “I know. This break is killing me too, but we’ll be together again soon. It’s just another two and a half months.”

  “No, I mean us. I don’t want to get married in June, or try and make this work. I’m too young. Why do I need to give up school to be with you?”

  “Honey, you aren’t giving up school. You’re going to finish your degree online. We’ve gone over this. Why are you reneging on this now? I thought we agreed.”

  “We did. But I’m not happy with it. I don’t want to leave my friends, and I like school. I’m actually doing really well, and—”

  “Christie,” he said, cutting me off. “I know you’re doing well. I wouldn’t be with a stupid woman. This is just cold feet. I have to be up early for training tomorrow, so I can’t go over this again.”

  “You don’t have to, I’m done,” I said, with as much finality as I could.

  “I’ll talk to you at Thanksgiving,” he promised, and hung up the phone.

  This man was infuriating. I hopped in the shower and decided to sleep on this. I didn’t want to fight with him anymore. He made it seem like my feelings didn’t matter. No, if anything, this phone call confirmed that we really had drifted too far apart.

  After a night of restless sleep, I went over to Annabelle’s. Coffee in one hand, I knocked on her door. There was some shuffling and she called out to wait a minute. She opened the door in her robe and quickly stepped outside.

  “Do you and Jason do anything else?” I asked, handing her a coffee.

  “Yes, sometimes we sleep,” she teased. “What’s going on?”

  “Remember how we said we’d do the movie next week? What are you up to today? I need some girl talk and a distraction.”

  “Sure, is everything okay?”

  “No, I broke up with Rob…well, I tried to, but he didn’t seem to hear me.”

  “Right, movies in my room or in the theater?”

  “Theater, because I need some greasy popcorn, and I’m afraid to sit on your sheets.”

  “Shut up,” she said, glaring at me, but still managing to blush bright pink. “Let me get dressed and I’ll kick Jason out. Why don’t you head over to the cafeteria and I’ll meet you there? We can get some breakfast in us before the junk food.”

  “That’s probably a good plan.” I said goodbye and headed to the cafeteria. London is five hours ahead, so I knew that Violet was up. Instead of going to the cafeteria, I sat on the bench outside Annabelle’s apartment and messaged Violet to see if she was there.

  “Hey beautiful,” she cooed when she called me almost instantly.
/>   “Hey, you look cold,” I responded, taking in her heavy coat and scarf.

  “London thinks that September is almost winter. They are a little confused about summertime here.”

  “That sucks.”

  “I know, but now I just have a really cute scarf collection. But I’m pretty sure you didn’t call to talk about my fashion sense. What’s going on?”

  I told her everything and she politely listened without interrupting, though I saw her fidget every now and then as she fought her will power.

  “Well, he might have thought that when you said you were done, you meant like done doubting or something. I think you should maybe send him a text message, just be super clear that you want out of the relationship.”

  “Right, I didn’t want to be the coward who did that over text message, though.”

  “I know, but you tried by phone, and that was a hot mess. So try text. Maybe it will be better because he can’t interrupt you.”

  “That makes sense. I’ll try that and let you know what happens.” She nodded her head and smiled at me sweetly. I saw the pity written over her face and I couldn’t help but dread it. I didn’t want the pity. I wanted to be strong, but there were doubts circling my mind. “Do you think I made the right decision? What if I screw up my future with Rob? Is it so wrong that he wants to take care of me? Maybe I should just let him do it.”

  “No, I think you’re right. If you feel that way with Shane, then you shouldn’t be with Rob. It’s not fair to anyone. This thing with Shane may be over after next weekend, but another man still made you feel alive. If Rob doesn’t do that anymore, you’re going to spend the rest of your marriage looking for it. Besides, if Rob loved you as much as he says he does, he’d want to make you happy. Clearly, this rushed proposal and wedding aren’t your dream of wedded bliss, so why is he forcing it?”

  “You get all these perks in the military if you’re married. He’s trying to make our lives a little easier.”

  “But he’s trying to make them easier at the risk of taking away your happiness.”