PowerShift: Skid Row Kings Series, #2

by Winter Travers

  “OK, then what are you two doing here? I was just about to feed Levi.”

  “Perfect. I can help.” Frankie walked over to the counter where the pizza was cooling and picked up the pizza cutter. “Does he like triangles or squares?”

  “Um, he only eats squares,” I mumbled.

  “Good thing I asked. I’m a triangle girl myself. I’ll cut half in squares and the other half in triangles.” Frankie finished cutting the pizza, putting two slices on a plate and headed down the hallway to Levi’s room.

  “What the hell is going on, Mitch? I opened the door, and it’s like I stepped into the twilight zone.”

  “Get away from the car,” he yelled as he leaned out the window. “Damn savages around here. They see a shiny car and all they can think about is putting it on bricks and stealing the damn rims off of it,” he muttered.

  “Mitch.”

  “Yeah?” He asked, half turning away from the window.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “Frankie needs money, I want you to come and watch me race tonight.”

  Was that supposed to make sense, because it sure as hell didn’t. “Can you repeat that but maybe with a few more words in between.”

  “Frankie has been eyeing up some shoes she’s wanted, and Luke won’t buy them for her.”

  “And that brings you here because?”

  “Because I want you to come and see me race.”

  It finally clicked what was going on. Frankie was here to babysit Levi so I could go out with Mitch. Sneaky. With Frankie here, I couldn’t use Levi as an excuse as to why I couldn’t go. “And you think I’m just going to say yes and run off with you.”

  “Well, that is what I was hoping, but I figure I’m going to either have to convince you or tie you up with the rope I have in my trunk.” He glanced out the window and hollered again for someone to get away from his car. “They’re like God damn flies circling food. So, I need you to decide how this is going to go. Are you coming with me, or am I going to have to get the rope?”

  “Frank!” I heard Levi shout down the hall. That was the happiest I had heard Levi in the past three days. Every morning he begged me to spend the day with Mitch and when I told him no, he was a bear the rest of the day.

  Frankie walked down the hall carrying Levi on her hip and balanced the plate of pizza in her other hand. “Mama! Frank is here!” Frankie laughed as he called her Frank again and set him on the counter.

  “I see that, big man.” Frankie moved around the kitchen like she had been here fifty times before and I glanced at Mitch, who was just staring at me.

  I had no clue what to do. “Clock is ticking,” Mitch called.

  “Frank said you’re going to watch Mitch race, Mama,” Levi said around a mouthful of pizza. “I wish I could go, but Frank said we’re going to play games and guess what?” He asked excitedly.

  “What?” I asked, happy to finally see Levi smile again.

  “She brought ice cream!” Levi shouted.

  “I sure did.” Frankie walked to the front door, leaned out and grabbed a bag she left by the door when she surprised me. “Sprinkles too,” she said, winking as she opened the freezer and emptied the canvas bag. “Shouldn’t you guys be heading out?”

  “Scarlett?” Mitch asked.

  Frankie, Levi, and Mitch all looked at me. I knew what I wanted to do, but was it the right thing to do? Mitch tossed his keys up in the air, and I watched them go up and down. Would it hurt to go out with Mitch for one night? Didn’t I deserve to have a bit of fun once in a while? It had been over four years since I had done anything that was just for me.

  Levi munched happily on his pizza, and I looked at Frankie, who had a small smile on her lips. I didn’t have one reason to say no.

  “Well, I guess we’re going racing,” I shrugged my shoulders, and Levi let out a cheer. This would be good not only me but for Levi, too. It was time for both of us to have a bit of fun. Levi was going to have a night of fun with Frankie eating ice cream, and I was going to hopefully get to know Mitch a bit better.

  Lord help me.

  ______________

  Chapter 12

  Mitch

  “How am I supposed to get in?” I was standing outside of Mitch’s car, the passenger door open, debating how I was going to get in the car. It was so close to the ground it looked like I was going to basically have to do the limbo to get in.

  “Just slide in, Sparky. I promise it won’t hurt.” He winked at me over the top of the car and managed to slide into the driver’s seat without looking like a fool. I knew that I wasn’t going to be as graceful.

  I managed to get one leg in the car and basically fell in, sprawled out on the seat. “We’ll have to work on the landing, Sparky,” Mitch laughed. He reached around me, grabbing the seat belt and clicked it into place. “Safety first.” He winked at me again, and I swear to God I felt my panties melt off.

  He started the car, not realizing the effect he was having on me. Although, most women probably didn’t swoon over a wink. To say that it had been awhile since I’d been taken out for a ride was an understatement.

  I had to distract myself from the perfect man who was sitting mere inches away from me. “So what kind of car is this?” I asked stroking the lush leather on the door.

  “‘09 Chevy Corvette V8 with a 7.0 liter. Fast and handles like a dream.”

  “I have no idea what that means,” I laughed. “Cars aren’t really my thing. As long as it gets me to where I need to go, I’m good.”

  “Well, this car will get you to where you’re going and more.” He shifted the car into first gear, pulled away from the curb and stomped on the gas, shifted the car into second then cranked the wheel, spinning the rear end of the car around and rocketed down the road.

  I gripped the armrest on the door, my fingers digging in, and held on for my life. “Are you crazy?” I gasped. Mitch blew through a stop sign, barreling through the intersection and skidded around the corner.

  “This is nothing, Sparky. I’m just warming up for the race tonight.”

  “What the heck kind of racing do you do?” I slammed my eyes shut as I saw another turn coming up and knew I didn’t want to watch. My life had flashed before my eyes on the last turn, and I didn’t want to go through that again.

  “Street racing.”

  “What exactly does that mean?” I felt the car skid to the right, and my body slammed against the door. I couldn’t decide if it was better to close my eyes or keep them open.

  “It’s like NASCAR but a hell of a lot harder. In street racing, the course changes all of the time. It’s on public roads and illegal as hell.” Mitch winked at me, his eyes off the road which made me panic even more.

  “Um, maybe you should keep your eyes on the road,” I wheezed. I looked out the windshield seeing tons of cars lining the street and Mitch thankfully slowed down.

  The road became clogged with cars and people walking that we slowed to a crawl and I was amazed that Mitch was able to go so slow and shift with ease to where I couldn’t even tell he was driving a five speed.

  “Who are all of these people?” The car was surrounded on both sides as we made our way through the crowd.

  “They’re here to watch the race, Sparky.”

  “All of these people are here to watch you?”

  “Well, me and the other five guys that are racing tonight. If you asked Kurt, he would say they’re all here to watch him.”

  “Kurt races?” We pulled next to another sleek looking car, and Mitch pulled the emergency brake and turned off the car.

  “Yup. Kurt and I both do actual street racing and Luke does the drags.”

  “Um, what are drags?”

  “Quarter mile. Straight shot. Whoever makes it to the finish line first, wins.”

  “I guess that makes sense.” It really didn’t, but I didn’t want to look like a complete idiot. “So where am I going to be while
you race?” If he was going to say that I would be in the car with him, I was going to run away as fast as I could.

  “I figured you could hang out with Violet and Leelee. Luke will be there too. Kurt and I help him when he races so he repays the favor when we race.”

  “Yes, that sounds perfect.” I reached for the door handle, but Mitch grabbed my arm.

  “In a hurry to get away from me?”

  “Not so much you as your car.”

  Mitch laughed and leaned in. “So that means you like me?”

  “Um, I plead the fifth.” I tried pulling my arm out of his grasp, but he didn’t budge.

  “No running, Scarlett. You agreed to go out with me tonight, and I can’t help but think that you’re here because you want to get to know me better.”

  “I think you should be thinking about the race and not me.”

  “Hmm, I guess I’ll accept that for now. After the race is a whole different story.” He let go of my arm, opened his door and hoisted himself out of the car. He ducked back in, a smirk on his face. “I’m just happy you decided to come out with me tonight.”

  “You and Frankie actually didn’t leave me much choice.”

  Mitch shrugged his shoulders, “You had a choice, Sparky. I’m just glad you made the right decision.” He stood up, slammed his door and I had no idea what to do.

  I was completely lost. I liked Mitch, I really did if I let myself admit it, but I just couldn’t let go. I was terrified that the hell I had just escaped was going to come back and haunt me. I knew Manny had no idea where I was going when we left, but the nagging feeling I had just wouldn’t go away. Mitch knocked on the window, and I had no other choice but to get out of the car.

  “I thought you might have changed your mind.” Mitch opened the door and held out his hand. I grabbed onto it because I didn’t think I would be able to haul my butt up without his help.

  “You need a pulley system to get out of that car,” I huffed.

  “Or I’ll just be here to give you a helping hand.” He pulled me up into his arms and rested a hand on my hip.

  “I’ve come to find that’s your MO.”

  “Only when it comes to you, Sparky.”

  “Every being in my fiber is telling me to run, Mitch.” I felt like a deer stuck in the headlights. Mitch was saying all the right things, trying to make me feel comfortable, but I couldn’t let go, not yet.

  “Do you want to go home?”

  “Um…” That was not the question I expected him to ask.

  “I don’t want to force you to do anything. You wanna leave, go get pizza, play mini golf or go home to Levi, I’ll take you.” He reached up, cupping my face and stroked my cheek with his thumb.

  “What about your race?”

  “Making sure you’re comfortable is more important than the race. I can always catch the next one.”

  “And you have again completely blown me away.” I leaned into his hand, a brick falling from the wall that I had built around Levi and I. “I wanna stay although mini golf sounds like fun.”

  “Tomorrow. We’ll bring Levi along and get pizza.”

  “I hesitantly say yes.”

  “Hesitate all you want. I’m not going anywhere.” He leaned in, kissing me on the cheek and his hand trailed down my neck and arm and he laced his fingers through mine. “Let’s find Violet. You two can be clueless about cars together.”

  Mitch tugged on my hand, and we started walking into the crowd. “Violet is Luke’s girlfriend, right?” Mitch nodded his head. “She doesn’t know anything about cars either?”

  “Violet is more clueless than you are. She’s learned a bit from being with Luke, but cars just aren’t her thing.”

  “But I’m assuming Luke is her thing so she’s trying to learn.”

  The crowd parted, and we came to three cars that were parked in the middle of the road. There was a sleek black one that was so close to the ground it looked like it was touching it, a bright green one that had a paint job similar to the Hulk and the last car was bright yellow like Bumblebee that Levi went on and on about. “It goes both ways with those two, Luke will listen to Violet drone on about books only because he gets to hear her talk.”

  I looked up at Mitch. “That’s sweet.”

  He shrugged his shoulders but didn’t say anything else.

  “Are these the guys you’re racing?” Each guy was leaned up against their car as people milled in between the cars oohing and ahhing over them. They were each impressive in their own right, but I still like Mitch’s midnight blue car.

  “That’s Guy, Crank, and Kurt.” Mitch pointed at each car, but I couldn’t help but notice how pissed off the guy leaning against the yellow car looked.

  “Wait, you are racing against Kurt.”

  “Yeah, and that’s the asshole right there.” Mitch nodded at Kurt. You could tell behind Kurt’s sunglasses that he was looking at us, but he didn’t nod back at Mitch.

  “Um, is there a reason why your brother looks like he’d like to murder you right now?”

  “Because I’m sure he would,” Mitch mumbled. “There’s Violet and Leelee. I’ll take you over there and then I need to get my car lined up.”

  Mitch led us over to Violet and Leelee who were sitting on the tailgate of a white truck and Luke was standing to the side talking to a group of guys.

  “I see he didn’t take no for an answer,” Leelee smirked.

  “Um, I actually said yes. Levi was so happy to see Frankie, and he had been a bear all day, so it’s probably for the best that we have a break from each other.”

  “You didn’t tell me Levi was giving you a hard time.” Mitch looked at me like I had run over his puppy.

  “Um, I didn’t think you’d want to hear me complain how Levi was a butt all day.” Mitch shook his head and turned to talk to Luke.

  I winced, not knowing what I had just done but wished I hadn’t done it. “Whoops.”

  “Eh, don’t mind him. I’ve come to find these Jensen boys have their own way of thinking. Luke hated me for a couple of weeks before he finally came around.” Violet swung her legs back and forth as she smiled at me. “Although he made me cry before he came around.”

  “It was a misunderstanding,” Luke called.

  Violet rolled her eyes and shook her head. “A massive misunderstanding.”

  “You excited to see Mitch race?” Leelee asked.

  “Um. I guess so. I can probably count on one hand the number of times I’ve watched racing on TV, so I don’t really know what to expect.”

  “Well, I’m sure it’s NASCAR you saw on TV, and this is nothing like that. NASCAR is all left turns. This is left, right, and any which way.”

  “I’m just glad Luke doesn’t do this. Watching him drag race was torture enough. I can at least breathe easy knowing he’s right by my side.” Luke leaned over, placed a kiss on the side of Violet’s head and whispered in her ear. She blushed bright red and buried her face in Luke’s neck.

  “I swear to Christ those two need to get a room and not come out for a week,” Leelee reached behind her and dragged a cooler in between her and Violet, “Want a drink? I was going to get tacos, but the damn truck hasn’t shown up yet.”

  I peeked in the cooler and saw it was filled with beer, wine coolers, and a couple bottles of water. “Um, can I have a beer?”

  “Sure thing.” Leelee reached in, pulled out a Corona and handed it to me. “I didn’t know anyone else would drink them. I would have brought some limes.”

  “You would bring limes to a street race?” Violet laughed.

  “Wouldn’t be the first time,” Leelee winked.

  I tried twisting the cap off, but it wouldn’t budge. “That’s not a twist off, Sparky.” Mitch grabbed the bottle out of my hand, pulled his keys out of his pocket and pried the cap off with a bottle opener. Could you tell how long it had been since I drank?

  “Thanks,” I whispered as he handed
it back to me. I took a hesitant sip hoping that I remembered right and that I did like Corona. Thankfully it went down smoothly, and I took a long drink.

  “Thirsty?” Mitch smirked.

  “I forgot how good beer tasted,” I giggled. “I think the last time I had one when was before Levi was born. My bottle of Boone’s the other night was a long time coming. I woke up with a raging headache the next morning.”

  “Well, I’ll make sure you don’t wake up with a headache tomorrow.” I just shook my head because there was no way that Mitch could guarantee I wouldn’t wake up with a pounding head tomorrow.

  “You ready to go?” Leelee asked Mitch.

  “As ready as I’m going to be. Kurt is the only one I’m worried about.” I looked to the left and saw him still sulking by his car. “Fucker won’t even come stand by us,” Mitch growled.

  “Leelee told me what happened after Vi and I left. I honestly don’t know what the hell crawled up his ass. These past two months have been hell with him around the shop. I hate to say it, but something is going to have to change, or he’s going to find his ass on the street looking for a new job.”

  “You don’t mean that,” Violet said, looking over her shoulder at Luke.

  “I mean it just as much when I say I love you, Vi. Kurt needs to fucking shape up or ship out. I don’t have time to deal with his dumb ass and run the garage.” Luke crossed his arms over his chest and followed everyone's glance to look at Kurt. I had no idea what was going on, but whatever it was, it didn’t sound good for Kurt.

  “I gotta get in the car, Sparky. You good with staying here?” Mitch looked down at me, a small smile on his lips.

  “Um, yeah. But where is the finish line? Shouldn’t I wait for you there?” I figured there had to be a different place I needed to be.

  “Just stay right here. I’ll take off from here and finish here.”

  Oh, well that was convenient. “I guess that works,” I laughed.

  “Yo, you need to get your car lined up, Mitch,” Luke said nudging him.

  Mitch looked at me like he was torn between racing and staying here. “Are you sure you’ll be OK while I’m gone?”