Happy Hour (Racing on the Edge)

by Shey Stahl

  What the hell had this girl done to me?

  I couldn’t get her out of my mind. I couldn’t escape the sound of her voice, the feel of her touch, the smell of her skin, and I vividly remembered the way she felt under my hands, against my body, the way she tasted. I was a mess without her.

  I’m pathetic, really fucking pathetic. After the race, I should call her and ask for my balls back.

  To make matters worse, I started humming Purple Rain, which wasn’t helping, so then I started belting out the lyrics at the top of my lungs. All of this did was remind me of a time when Sway was with me.

  “How’s the car handling?” Kyle asked. “Did the wedge help?”

  Instead of answering him, I belted out the lyrics as loud as I could while Aiden laughed.

  “You’ve lost your mind!” Kyle laughed.

  “I know,” was my only answer because I had in fact lost my mind.

  “Get your shit together Riley and win this race for me,” a soft voice ordered over the radio.

  My face broke into a wide smile at those words. “Sway?”

  She came for me. My girl came for me. If I didn’t already love this woman so much, I just fell in love all over again.

  “Nope, it’s Mandy Moore, now stop butchering prince and bring me home some candy.” She giggled.

  “That I can do, honey.”

  After that I was on a mission to show my girl I could win this one for her and became the same hasty version of myself I could be on the track.

  “Come on, bud. Stay focused.” Kyle insisted as I was ranting continuously about the slower cars in front of me. “Be patient.”

  “Yeah right,” I mumbled. “Give me lap times.”

  “Twenty seven last time, even with the leader,”

  My heart was pounding vigorously battling with Harris for ninth. My car was awesome but I couldn’t get out of the traffic and Tate wasn’t giving an inch of room beside me. Not that expected him to.

  “The ten is outside—keep low,” Aiden advised me as we came out of three. “At your door, still there, still there,”

  “What the fuck is his problem?” I grumbled when Tate once again bumped me coming across the backstretch. “I give him room and he just pushes right back.” I glanced over as he flipped me off.

  Real mature Tate.

  “He just flipped me off.”

  “What did you expect him to do?” Kyle asked. “He thinks you’re messing around with his girl. Just drive through the windshield, bud. Don’t pay any mind to him.”

  “Cole...you got me? Am I lifting?” I felt like I was lifting too soon allowing him to catch me in the corners.

  “Yeah, 10-4 Riley, wait longer coming out of four. He’s holding back but when you lift he’s right there.”

  “I can’t wait any longer...I’ll be hung out to dry.” I huffed.

  “GET DOWN, get down, fourteen spinning in turn two, stay low.” Aiden cut us off. “Cautions out,”

  I saw Darrin in the wall as I drove past, smiling to myself.

  Darrin’s car was junk which made me smile wider. He was walking towards the aide car when I passed by and like the child I could be at times, what did I do?

  Flipped him off.

  Now who’s immature?

  “What do you think, bud?” Kyle asked. “Any changes?”

  “I’m tight coming out of two and three. Maybe free it up but other than that, I’m good. If I could get past Tate I could get up there with the leaders.”

  “All right, let’s do four tires, air pressure adjustment, down a round, and fuel.” Kyle ordered. “Pit roads open...watch your speed, keep coming...keep coming...here you go. Three...two...one...wheels straight, foot on the break.”

  It seemed silly for him to say that, I knew to do all those things but in the rush of everything on pit road, those little reminders were appreciated.

  The crew went to work as I watched the rest of the field come by in the pits. I had an excellent pit stall right before the entrance to the garage, leaving the stall directly in front of us open—it made it easier on the exit.

  “Spencer, watch the right rear. Gentry tear the tape off the front...” Mason shouted orders at the crew as I took a drink of my water. The inside of these cars easily reached over a hundred during a race leaving you incredibly dehydrated towards the end.

  The front left tire changer reached over the windshield yanking the tear-off and then scrapping along the nose of the car to brush away any debris that gathered. If kept there, it raised the engine temperature by creating less fresh airflow in through the vents on the bumper.

  Keeping my right foot securely on the clutch, my left foot slipped from the break when the jack let go and moved to the throttle revving the RPM’s in anticipation.

  “One lane, one lane...hard, dig dig dig!” Kyle yelled as I jostled out of the pits, other drivers doing the same all trying to avoid a collision that could ruin our day. “Nice job! That’s how you do it!”

  “Fuck yeah guys.” We gained four spots on the pit stop. “That’s how you do a pit stop—you guys are awesome!” I told them feeling hopeful.

  No doubt about it, I was amped. Not only did this put me ahead of Tate, but I had only six cars in front of me and I knew none of them had anything on my car today.

  “Coming to the green this time by,” Aiden announced.

  “How many laps left?”

  “You’ll have forty to go when you take the green.”

  Forty to go and six cars to pass...I could do that.

  How awesome would it be to have Sway here and win, on my birthday?

  When I took the green, I was on a mission. I said little, only asking for lap times occasionally. This was my way of seeing how close I was running to the lap times on the leader. With twenty to go, I was running in second and battling with Paul for the lead. Getting a nose under him, he put up a good fight for a while.

  “Paul’s spotter just came over,” Aiden said. “he said go high, and Paul will let you go.”

  “Yeah right,”

  “No, they think they’ve got a problem, engine maybe.”

  “He smoking now,” I replied and went high.

  Sure enough, Paul’s engine blew coming out of four but thankfully didn’t bring out the caution.

  “How many laps now?”

  “Fourteen to go,” Kyle told me. “Hit your marks and stay focused. You’re running lap times a second faster than the rest of the field.”

  I went back to singing Purple Rain.

  “Two to go this time by, it’s all clear in front of you. You’ve got a 2.1 second lead on the forty-eight.” Kyle said when I passed the start/finish line.

  I was quiet again aside from the rumble of the engines. It was the only way I could focus on hitting my marks I set and keeping the car straight. The last few laps were also the crucial ones because drivers tended to get carelessly aggressive, me included.

  When the white flag was displayed, Sway came on the radio again singing in her best Prince voice.

  “You are so adorable.” I crooned back at her when she finished and as I came out of turn four to the checkered flag, I yelled, “This one’s for you, honey!”

  The emotion of the last few weeks got to me as other drivers that passed, waved and congratulate me.

  So much had happened with Sway, Charlie...everything.

  Doing a burnout, I knew that was Sway’s favorite part so I did an extra-long one until the smoke was so thick I couldn’t see and I was sure the engine let go.

  Once I made it to victory lane, Sway was there waiting for me along with my mom, Emma, Alley and Lane. When I pulled the car in and killed the engine, Kyle stuck his head inside and ruffled my hair. “Nice fucking job, bud!”

  “Thanks for giving me a good car, and great pit stops. It’s a team effort, always.” I reminded him.

  Most thought it was all on the drivers but really, every person within a race team contributed to a win. From the engine specialist to the tire specia
list, from the crew chief to the pit crew, it was a team effort and if all those aspects lined up, your team was unstoppable. We were unstoppable. They could fine us, challenge us or whatever else but I knew then we were unstoppable as a team.

  Taking my time removing my gear, I tried to gain some composure again. When I pulled myself from the car, my team roared to life, beer sprayed, cameras were flashing but I only wanted to find my girl.

  Glancing over my shoulder, I saw her making her way over to me with a huge grin that mirrored my own.

  Once Sway reached me, I wrapped her into my arms for a tight hug. “Thank you so much for coming.” I whispered in her ear pulling back to kiss her.

  I didn’t care that the entire world was watching this on television or that there was a crowd of people gathered around, I only cared that my girl came for me.

  She was choking back tears when I pulled away so I gently brushed them away with my trembling hand and drew in a shaky breath, holding back my own emotions. It’d been one hell of a week.

  Sway smiled again. “Happy Birthday, baby,”

  “Thanks,” I grinned. “You’ve made it the best yet.”

  Reporters were hovering, wanting their interviews so I shifted Sway to my side, keeping a firm grasp around her waist when Neil with ESPN asked his questions.

  “First off, happy birthday!” he told me patting my back. I leaned into him because everyone was still screaming around us making it difficult to hear him. “So tell us, how’d you pull of your fourth cup career win?”

  “We had an awesome car all day. I couldn’t have asked for a better car here. The crew did great there on the last stop and got me four spots, which helped. I really need to thank them on this one. Not only do they give me excellent pit stops but these guys never stop.” Shifting my weight towards Sway, I continued on, “When I get to go home they are still at the shop getting ready for the next race so I owe this to them, truly I do. I need to thank my sponsor Simplex for standing behind me, they allow me to come out here each week and compete for the win, so thank you.” I took my hat off and bowed my head towards Melissa standing near us to which she gave me a wave. Turning towards Sway, I winked. “I’d also like send a quick hello to Charlie Reins. He helped me get started in racing and I owe a lot of my experience to him for letting me race even when the track was closed for the season.” I said with sincerity towards the camera. “Thanks Charlie.”

  Sway couldn’t hold back the tears any longer; I felt her shake beside me.

  Cradling her closer, I leaned over to kiss the top of her head.

  “We hear you’re the new owner of Grays Harbor Raceway as well.” Neil evoked. “How did that come about? Was this something you’ve been planning for a while?”

  “No, it wasn’t planned but the opportunity just kind of fell into my hands and I couldn’t pass it up.” I didn’t dare say anything about Charlie being sick on national television.

  Neil patted my back. “Well congratulations on the win and the new ownership birthday boy.”

  Soon the rest of the family made their way over to congratulate me as well. The next two hours were spent between pictures, kissing Sway a tad inappropriately at times, the contender’s conference, more kissing, and now finally we were back home in Dirty Mo celebrating the win and my twenty-third birthday.

  Oh, and more kissing.

  I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with my family and team but I wanted to be alone with Sway, so around one in the morning, we finally made it upstairs to my room.

  The moment we were alone, I captured her in my arms and carried her over to my bed. I’d been waiting to get her alone all day that I almost forgot and let me hormones lead me.

  “There are some things you need to understand.” I murmured against her neck, tracing my nose along her jaw as we lied on my bed, slowly I removed the last bit of her clothing that remained.

  She giggled when I tossed it aside.

  “You listening?” I ran tongue along the column of her neck. “Don’t get distracted on me now.”

  “I can’t...focus when you whisper like that.” Sway confessed arching her back against me. “I need you.”

  “I’m not going to fuck you, Sway.” I whispered in a low gravelly voice I knew would send her over the edge, taking my lips away for just a second.

  “But you said—”

  I placed my fingers against her soft lips. “I’m going to make love to you and I’m not going to stop until you’ve past out.”

  She giggled.

  Raising her chin, I forced her to look at me. “No laughing during this...you’ll...bruise my ego.”

  “Well, we wouldn’t want that, would we?” She giggled yet again.

  “No, we wouldn’t.” I smirked leaning back on my heels to remove my shirt tossing it on the floor.

  I watched as her eyes took in my bare chest. Her hands started at my shoulders and made their way over my chest muscles and down towards my hips where she unbuttoned my jeans.

  Once she removed my jeans, she straddled my hips and began to move against me, with no clothing between us it was easy for her to slide against me.

  Sway moaned at the contact and arched her back. It took every ounce of self-control I had, to one, not to flip her over a fuck her senseless and two, not to blow my load before we even got to the good stuff.

  I had to get her to slow down, so I took a firm grasp on her hips, halting her movements. “Sway,” I panted. “Honey, you’re going to make me come if you keep that up.”

  Gently I rolled her over covering her delicate body with my own. Her hands clung to my shoulders as I began entering her, moaning against my lips until we were one.

  Her back arched against me and her head fell back into the pillows, a gasp escaped her carefully parted lips, her palms pressing against my back urging me forward.

  Hitching her leg higher on my hip, I began moving slowly with her. She felt so good. Never had I been with a woman that completely consumed me like this. Everything from the way she felt around me to the smooth skin of her leg as it moved along mine, the smell of her hair and the sweet taste of her skin. I could lose myself in her forever and it still didn’t seem as if it would be enough for me to feel content.

  I paused, trying to regain some sort of composure and not come instantly when she whimpered, clutching my shoulders. “No,”

  I had to stop for a minute and regain control; it was too much.

  “I’m not stopping, honey.” A shuddered breath escaped me as I fought the urge to move. “I just need to...calm down for a minute.”

  She said nothing but smiled at my confession, her fingers threading in my hair, a reminder she wanted everything I was giving her.

  Sway was determined to move faster and I had to keep reminding her to slow down. I wish I could say I was perfectly fine and that I wasn’t scared to death about what was supposed to be happening. But I was. I was unsure and scared. I was nervous and fumbling. I had never made love to someone and I wasn’t really sure how to.

  This wasn’t fucking anymore and this wasn’t friends with benefits. I needed to show myself to her in the most intimate ways and that really did scare the shit out of me.

  She watched me moving above her, trying to appear calm and collected even though I wasn’t. My body was trembling all over, my breathing was shaky, my heart pounding.

  You’d think I’d never had sex before but really, I’d never had this type of sex before.

  Melting into her, all my fears broke through the surface. “Tell me,” I begged her. “Please...tell me...”

  “I love you,” she whispered against my lips as they brushed over mine.

  She reassured me over and over again as our bodies moved together. Our eyes stayed connected the entire time. There was a hunger in her eyes but there was also trepidation.

  The fact that she seemed just as nervous assured me this was new to her too.

  I closed my eyes and relished in the sensation of her warm body beneath me, our bodies movi
ng slowly in the most intimate way, even with our steady breathing.

  Bending forward, I kissed her forehead and pulled her closer. I was going to hold on to her as long as I could.

  Before long, I couldn’t hold back much longer. I was losing the battle quickly and Sway was determined to push me faster and faster until finally she just blurted it out squirming underneath me.

  “Go...faster...” she moaned. “Faster.”

  My stomach tightened in preparation. “I can’t...” I grunted reaching for a tighter hold on her. “If I go faster...I’ll come.”

  “I will too...just go faster...please.” She begged with a whimper.

  I couldn’t stop now, my forehead fell to hers and it was over. I completely lost any will I had and let go when she begged me. I couldn’t even focus; my body was shaking embarrassingly so along with my heavy panting. I was a mess.

  The rush consumed everything, the pleasure, the reminder that she was finally mine, left me breathless. Not more than a mere second later, Sway was moaning my name. Thankfully, my bedroom is on the third floor and no one could hear us up here, with the sounds coming from this woman you’d think I was killing her.

  Staying true to my word, I didn’t stop until Sway had literally passed out. She was lying on her stomach with her hands curled under the pillow her head rested on.

  On my side next to her, I watched as her back rise and fall with each breath she took, my fingers gently tracing over her glowing skin.

  I kept asking myself how I had gotten so lucky.

  I didn’t want to move, think, or feel anything but her, as if she would disappear. Everything was so perfect, right here in my room.

  When the sun began to rise, basting the room in a soft orange glow, I pulled Sway closer.

  She sighed contently and snuggled in. Sway had this way of worming herself into my arms in the middle of the night without me noticing but when I awoke, I was always surprised at how close she was, not that I was complaining.