“Um, as long as Leelee and Violet don’t ditch me I’ll be good. Go race.” Mitch opened his mouth to talk, but nothing came out. “Seriously, Mitch. I am more than OK hanging with Violet. I’m twenty-five, not five.”
“OK,” he said reluctantly. He leaned in, pressing a kiss to my cheek and whispered, “Wait for me,” in my ear. Talk about swoon worthy.
He backed away, Luke following him and they both disappeared into the crowd. “Fucking sweet. Sickening,” Leelee said, putting her finger down her throat. “I could handle Luke and Violet, but now I gotta watch you and Mitch get all cutesy? Not fair. I want my own Jensen brother.”
“Well, there is one left.” Violet hitched her thumb over her shoulder at Kurt and Leelee busted out laughing.
“Ha! Please, it’ll be a cold day in hell when Kurt and I get together.” Leelee shook her head and grabbed a beer out of the cooler. “Which really is a shame, because he has to be the best looking Jensen brother too.”
Violet scrunched up her nose and looked at me. “I’m pretty sure Scarlett and I have differing opinions on that.”
I just shrugged my shoulders. Although I did agree with Violet, I wasn’t ready to say out loud that Mitch was good looking. Or hot. Smoking hot. Oh lord. I had never been one to think bald guys were hot, but it seemed to work on Mitch. Throw in his sculpted body, massive arms, and his drop dead gorgeous smile and it was hard to deny that Mitch was hot.
“Hey, earth to Scarlett,” Leelee said, waving her hand in my face. “You wanna sit on the tailgate with us or stand.”
“You’re probably going to end up standing on the bed of the truck,” Luke said, coming back over to stand by Violet.
Mitch’s car slowly rolled by us, making a wide turn and pulled up next to Kurt’s car. I tried to see in the windows, but they were so heavily tinted that you couldn’t see in. “Is Mitch good?” I suddenly became very nervous and was worried that Mitch was going to lose.
“He’s one of the best out here,” Leelee said standing up. She held her hand out to me, “Haul your ass up here and you’ll get a better view of the race, and I’ll give you a crash course lesson about street racing.”
That sounded like an offer I shouldn’t refuse so I grabbed her hand and hoisted my ass up into the truck. Luke hopped up on the tailgate, throwing his arm over Violet and pulled her onto his lap. I could see where Leelee said those two couldn’t keep their hands off of each other, although I really did think it was cute and sweet.
“OK, let’s start from the beginning.” I nodded my head unsure of what to say. I really was in the dark when it came to racing. I was thankful Leelee was a walking encyclopedia of information. “Luke drag races, and Mitch and Kurt street race. Street racing came about back in the 1960’s in Detroit where three car companies, one being Ford, always held drags and races on Woodward Avenue, or wherever they could. Street racing can either be spontaneous or planned. Nine times out of ten around here, you see two or three cars going fast, you know they’re racing.”
“But this one was planned, right?” I mean, there was a ton of people here. I doubt they just knew to show up without being told.
“Yes and no. Everyone knows there is a race every Friday, but they’re never in the same spot. The police suck on this side of town, but we still try to switch up the roads just so they don’t get a hair up their ass and decide to sniff around.”
“Are the cops going to show up?” I felt that since this was my first time going out in over four years, I should probably try to avoid being arrested.
“No, don’t worry. And if they do, just stick with me.”
“You planning on flashing the cops to get out of a ticket?” Luke asked, laughing.
Leelee flipped him off and stuck her tongue out. “No, these babies are only meant for tacos.”
“Um…” I had no idea how we went from talking about racing to Leelee flashing her boobs to get tacos.
“Ignore him,” she said, waving off Luke.
“You gotta be kidding me.” Luke hopped off the back of the truck, crossing his arms over his chest and watched a bright orange car drive by slowly, circling around to join the four other cars.
“Fucking ballsy,” Leelee said, shaking her head. “I can’t believe he would even think about showing his face here.”
“And wouldn’t you know it that he brought my favorite person with him,” Violet mumbled. The passenger side door of the orange car opened, and a blonde girl popped out, smoothing down the short skirt she was wearing. I’m sure she had to have flashed the crowd when she got out. Hell, if a slight breeze came she was going to flash everyone.
“I’m gonna punch her lights out, this time, Vi. She shouldn’t have gotten away with what she said to you before.
“What?” Luke asked, looking between Violet and Leelee.
“Shit,” Leelee cursed under her breath. Violet buried her face in her hands and shook her head. “I sooo should not have opened my mouth.” Leelee winced.
“What did she say to you, Violet?” Luke demanded.
“It was nothing, Luke. Just Ginny being Ginny. It wasn’t anything I hadn’t heard before.”
“Except this time she talked shit about Luke, too,” Leelee said out of the side of her mouth.
I watched Ginny as she stepped away from the crowd and her eyes zoned in on us in the back of the truck. A sick and twisted smile spread across her lips, and I could tell that girl was nothing but trouble.
The three other guys started their engines, a low rumbling going through the crowd. “We’ll finish this conversation later,” Luke said, looking at Violet and Leelee. I had to admit that I was glad that I wasn’t included in that order. Luke had a rather intimidating way about him that I was thankful that Mitch was nothing like that. He was one of the most laid back people I had ever met. It seemed as if nothing could rile him up.
Leelee saluted Luke, irritating him even more. I couldn’t help but giggle at the outraged look on his face. “Who’s Ginny?” I whispered to Leelee.
“Ginny is Violet’s high school nemesis and the town bicycle.” I tilted my head, not knowing what she meant. “Everyone’s had a ride.”
“Ah, gotcha.”
“So, Ginny said some stupid shit to Vi, then she told us she was dating AZ.” I felt completely lost, but I was trying to keep up as best as I could. “So, Luke raced AZ and won. AZ got pissed and challenged Luke to race for pinks.” I at least knew what that meant. I had to give credit to all the movies I watched growing up. “AZ lost again, but that time he didn’t take it so well. He’s the one who totaled Luke’s car and then just left. Luke got his smashed car, too, but that’s not how it’s supposed to go. So as of right now, AZ still owes Mitch a car.” Wow.
“So what is he doing here tonight?”
“Not a clue, but I’m sure Mitch, Luke, and Kurt are going to find out.” Leelee turned her eyes back to the cars and crossed her arms over her chest.
I wanted to ask more questions, but I could tell that now was not the right time. AZ showing up had completely changed the vibe of the night. Things were tense, and it didn’t look like that was going to change.
A tall blonde clad in a short skirt and a tight, white tank top walked in between the cars and stood in front of them. She pulled a white handkerchief out of her bra, and I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. That explained why her boobs looked so big, she had them stuffed with handkerchiefs and apparently had one to spare. She raised her hand over her head, the cloth blowing in the light breeze and looked at each car, nodding her head.
“She’s checking to make sure they’re all ready,” Leelee said absently. I could tell she wanted to concentrate on the race, but it was nice of her to throw me a bone and tell me what was going on.
“How long does a race usually take?” Before I could get the last word out, she dropped her arm, and all five cars took off, AZ taking the lead.
“Asswipe,” Leelee muttered. “He’s got the faste
st reaction time, but that doesn’t mean shit.”
“Reaction time?” I asked.
“He was the first off the line. That only matters in drags, what Luke does,” Leelee explained.
“Except my reaction time is a hell of a lot faster than his. That’s why I whipped his ass twice.” Luke turned around and headed into the crowd.
“Where the hell is he going?” Leelee asked.
“I don’t know, but I’m gonna follow him. I’ll be back,” Violet called as she faded into the crowd.
“So, now what?” I was all amped up for the race, but now with Mitch gone, well, racing, what the hell were we supposed to do now?
“Now we wait.” Leelee put her arm around my shoulders, a wonky smile on her face. “And you can tell me how good of a kisser Mitch is.”
“Does being kissed on the cheek count, because that's all I’ve got to go by.”
“Well, that certainly isn’t going to help the next five minutes go by. You know what that means?” She asked. I shook my head no, but I had a feeling of what was going to come next. “It means we have more time to drink.” She pulled out two more Coronas, handing me one and pulled a bottle opener out of her pocket.
“You really think we should drink more?”
“Hunny, after the day I’ve had, drinking is the only thing left.” Leelee grabbed the bottle out of my hand, popped the top and handed it back to me. She pried the top off hers and chugged down half of the bottle.
I looked around in the crowd hoping I would see Violet and Luke headed back over, but they were nowhere to be seen.
I did the only thing I could. I drank and waited for Mitch to come back.
______________
Chapter 13
Mitch
I glanced to my right, Crank running neck and neck with me, but I knew I could take him. Kurt and AZ were in front of me, close to swapping paint. I could tell by the way Kurt was driving that he was getting impatient. That was Kurt’s downfall, he couldn’t wait.
AZ had beat all of us off of the line, but I was biding my time, waiting for the chance to blow past both of them. I slammed on the brakes, drifting around the corner, inching closer to Kurt and AZ. Crank and Guy faded in my rearview mirror, my only concern was with what was in front of me.
Kurt slammed on his brakes, forcing me to slow down. I swerved to the left, riding AZ’s ass and saw my opening coming. There were only three miles left before the finish line, and I had to be flawless if I wanted to win. I flew around the next corner, lining my car up perfectly behind AZ and feeling the drag lessen. AZ glanced in his rearview mirror, knowing what I was doing, but it was too late. He swerved to the left into Kurt trying to get me off his ass. I cranked the wheel to the right, slingshotting past him and stomped on the accelerator. I power shifted into fifth, my foot not lifting from the gas and pulled away from AZ and Kurt.
We were in the second to last straightaway, the last turn ten car lengths and I knew I had it as long as I didn’t let AZ or Kurt get behind me. Kurt was swerving into AZ, trying to keep him off my tail. Even though Kurt was pissed off at me, he was still on my side. It had become unwritten between us that whoever was behind would help the person in the lead. We were brothers, we weren’t out here to beat each other. It usually worked out well with Kurt and I splitting the wins between us.
I picked my line through the corner, slammed the wheel to the right and I felt the wheels lose traction as I careened around the corner. I glanced one last time in my rearview mirror, smoke bellowing from my tires leaving Kurt and AZ behind and slammed back into fifth and rocketed down the track.
The sides of the road were crowded with people as I flew by, my only thought was crossing the finish line first. Time slowed the last one hundred feet as I felt the tires grip the pavement and the car growled underneath me. This was what I loved. Even if I didn’t win, it was always the last stretch of the race that made me feel alive.
I screeched across the finish line, the car whining as I downshifted, the horses under the hood winding down with each shift of the gears. I turned around at the end of the street, whipping the car around and headed back to the finish line. Crank flew by me, the last to cross the finish line with Guy just in front of him.
Crank and Guy both had good cars, but they were nothing like the ‘Vette. Corvettes weren’t typically street racing cars, but I had built the ‘Vette specifically for street racing. She was one of a kind.
As soon as I stopped the car I was swarmed by people and I could barely get my door open. I squeezed out of the car, everyone patting me on the back and talking to me at once but I wasn’t paying attention to any of them. I only had eyes for one person, and she was standing in the back of Luke’s truck a huge smile on her face beaming down at me.
She was a trophy I’d take any day.
______________
Scarlett
“Holy hell, that was fast,” I breathed out.
Leelee was laughing next to me, her third bottle of Corona dangling from her fingertips. “That was more than fast, and now it looks like King Speed wants you.”
Mitch got out of his car and was looking up at me like I was something special and for the first time in a long time, I actually felt that way. This man who had people swarming and wanting to talk to him had eyes only for me. I smiled down at him, and he made his way through the crowd, everyone moving out of his way.
“I won,” he said.
“I saw,” I replied. My smile got even bigger and goofier as he held his hand out to me and he pulled me down from the truck and wrapped me up in his arms.
“I think I deserve a kiss.”
“Really? From who?”
He brushed the hair from my face, tucking it behind my ear. “You,” he whispered against my lips. I held my breath ready to finally kiss Mitch but not ready at the same time. His lips were firm yet soft as his fingers threaded through my hair, holding me close.
I moaned as he deepened the kiss, taking what I wasn’t sure I was ready to give. It ended before I could figure out if I wanted more and he stood back, his eyes shining down at me. “Let’s get out of here.”
______________
Chapter 14
Scarlett
“Um, when you said let’s get out of here, this wasn’t really what I thought you had in mind.”
“I always come here after a race. It’s the only place in town where you can get a chili dog after ten o’clock.” Mitch grabbed our tray off the counter that was overflowing with hot dogs, nachos, and sodas. He walked to the back corner booth and set the tray down.
I slid into one side of the booth thinking Mitch would sit on the other side, but he surprised me when he slid in right behind me. “Um, I can sit on the other side.”
“If I didn’t want to sit next to you, Sparky, I would have sat on the other side.” He took the food off the tray, setting it in front of us and my stomach growled. Mitch and Frankie had shown up right before Levi and I were going to eat pizza so I was beyond starved. I was relieved when Mitch had pulled up here after the race. “Hungry?” Mitch smirked.
“You have no idea. Plus, this looks ten times better than the frozen pizza Levi and I were going to eat.” I grabbed the hot dog Mitch set in front of me and took a huge bite. Seriously, heaven on a bun. I moaned quietly and closed my eyes.
“I see you enjoy Jim’s House of Wieners as much as I do.”
“You do know the name of this place is hilarious.”
“I do,” he said around a bite. “That is why we just call it Jim’s, otherwise it sounds like a porno.”
I snagged a couple of fries and set them on the napkin in front of me. Mitch was already halfway through his first hot dog and eyeing up the next. “So how long have you been racing?”
“Since I was old enough to drive I’ve been behind the wheel of a car. I got into racing a year or so after Luke did. After my first drag, I was addicted.”
“So, you, Luke, and K
urt all street race, right?”
“Yup.” Mitch grabbed his second hot dog and wadded up the paper from his first.
“But Luke doesn’t do what you do, right?” I had tried to keep up when Leelee was talking earlier, but with the crowd and trying to keep up with Leelee, I was still a bit in the dark.
“Luke drag races, Kurt and I do a street course with drifting. Both street racing, but different.”
“So do you drag race too?”
“Naw, Luke had Kurt and I beat every time. His reaction time is insane. He leaves that line, and it looks like the other guy is just standing still. Kurt and I learned early on that if we wanted to win we had to look elsewhere.”
I grabbed my drink, swirling the straw around. “So, since you and Kurt are in the same class, which one of you is better?”
“Kurt and I each have our own strengths. I tend to sit back, see how everyone is driving before I make my move. Kurt likes to be the first out of the gate and try to set the pace.”
“You won tonight. Does that usually happen?” I shoved the rest of my hot dog in my mouth and washed it down with a long sip of my lemonade.
“Eh, it’s a toss-up.” Mitch took a huge bite of his hot dog and set down the rest.
“So who won the most last year?”
Mitch turned in the booth, putting his arm around my shoulders. “I won the street class last year. Nudged Kurt out by two races.”
“Impressive.”
Mitch shrugged his shoulders. “It’s all in the past. Now I’m focused on the next couple of months.”
“So, you race every Friday night?” It felt like I was playing twenty questions with Mitch. Thankfully he didn’t seem annoyed.
“For the most part. There will be a couple of weeks where there isn’t a race.” I nodded my head and grabbed the napkin that was on my lap. “Is it my turn to ask questions now?”
“Nope, because I know your questions are going to be much harder than the ones I just asked you.”
PowerShift: Skid Row Kings Series, #2 Page 8