I shouldn’t have been surprised he was there. In truth, other than his garage, the most likely place I’d run into him was the shop.
How did you not notice his truck? I always seemed to be looking for him, even when I was a kid. I was off my game, I wasn’t myself. That’s what he was doing to me.
“I brought my grandfather’s sixty-five to be put on the dyno,” he said gruffly when I came in.
My gaze slid to the thick glass that separated the shop from the front office. The old truck gleamed with new red paint and chrome. I gave a low appreciative whistle. “I’m betting you didn’t spend all of your restoration fund on cosmetics.”
He grunted in response. I tried to ignore the arrogance in his stance or the dark way his eyes glinted.
It wasn’t easy to ignore the angry statement in his silent presence behind me, nor the tiny rush of adrenaline surging through my system.
“What’s your deal?” I failed.
“I don’t have a deal.” The air crackled with the tension of his voice. Yeah, he was pissed.
“Okay, sure you don’t.” I could be just as sarcastic as my sister when I wanted to be.
For several long seconds, all I could hear were his deep breaths and the ticking of the large clock on the wall.
“After everything that happened between us…and
still Hunter?” There it was, his deal.
“It was lunch with a friend.” That was true, truer than it ever had been. My heart beat a hopeful rhythm.
“Would you go to lunch with Devin?”
I could have lied, said that I would, but right now I knew I couldn’t. Not at the risk of letting Devin think I thought more of him than I did. “You know I wouldn’t.”
“Because you wouldn’t want him thinking it was a date.”
It was my turn to grunt, because he was right. Though, Hunter was very different from Devin. Hunter didn’t think he was in love with me, he was safe.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” came Jordan’s snarling reply. His jealousy was evident, but there was something more. Round and round we went, I was getting dizzy and still I didn’t know what I was supposed to do. I didn’t know what I wanted to do.
“Is Hunter racing this weekend? He hasn’t called me out.”
I looked up from the service orders I’d busied ьyself with. Jordan hooked his thumbs in his pockets and all but glared at me, as if daring me to answer.
“Actually no. He burnt out a piston. So, he’s replacing it this weekend.” I shoved the papers in a file. At that moment, I didn’t really care if Hunter raced Jordan.
He grinned, puffing out the large expanse of his chest proudly. His silence on the matter of Hunter’s race car problems told me everything. Jordan had never been concerned with Hunter and his truck. He had the fastest car on the street.
It was Hunter’s relationship with me that concerned him.
I gave up an exasperated sigh. “Jesus, you’re cocky.”
His full laugh came with an ease born in that arrogance. “Nah. I’m confident. There’s a difference.”
“Keep telling yourself that.” I stopped just short of walking back into Hadley’s office. I couldn’t bring myself to walk out of the room and leave him standing there.
Aiden gestured at Jordan through the glass.
“That’s my cue.” He stopped at the door and turned back to me. “If you aren’t seeing him to piss me off anymore, then why are you still seeing him at all?”
There wasn’t any arrogance now. I fidgeted with my fingers in front of me. “It’s really not that way. He’s a friend and right now I really need one.” Really, if I had to say that one more time, my head might explode.
This time I didn’t wait around to see what he had to say and left him standing there, instead I turned and went off to find Hadley. Jordan’s attitude or not, I had a job to do. I still had a life to live.
I couldn’t remember how old I was when Jordan’s opinion of what I did started to matter. I suppose, as with everyone else, at some point it just did. Jordan’s opinion weighed heavy on all of us. He was the core of our group, the part that was steadfast and honest. We all wanted to emulate that and to appease it. We wanted to be worthy of his friendship, of his high regard.
It was stupid. He wasn’t any better than any of us.
Yet, here I was, worried that he was insulted or threatened by my relationship with Hunter. A relationship I had started to get his goat. A friendship I found myself relying on. Especially now, when I couldn’t trust myself around Jordan and couldn’t risk Devin taking our friendship the wrong way.
****
Saturday night came quickly. Admittedly, I was the Raelynn of old leaning against Jordan’s rig, watching the grudge races. In the distance, Rascal had a small group of spectators at the finish line. We had so many people in the vacant industrial park that more than a few police scanners were fired up and being monitored. A crowd this large attracted attention, no matter how many powers-that-be you paid off.
Two pit-bunnies flounced by as Devin readied the Camaro with Jordan. Jealousy narrowed my eyes, though not for Devin who flirted easily with them. I was jealous because it was Jordan’s attention they sought. Jordan glanced across the hood of the black car to see if I’d seen the two girls try to flirt with him. When my lips tightened, he smiled.
Cocky bastard.
Frustrated as much with my own reaction as the two flirty chicks, I pushed off the truck and went in ыearch of my sister.
“Hey, don’t run off too far we’re up in two!” Devin called after me.
I gave him a thumbs-up without looking back. I wouldn’t give Jordan the satisfaction of me turning back to see if the bunnies were still there.
I found Breanna not far away, talking to Vic by her truck. I was surprised to see Hadley turn from beside her and wave.
“This is exciting!” The cute little blonde was in awe.
“First time?” Though I could tell by the spark of excitement in her eyes, it was.
“Yeah, to a street race. I feel…rebellious. It’s cool though, I’ve met a lot of these people, now I get to see them in action.” She laughed. I couldn’t help but let her obvious excitement rub off on me.
“I can’t believe you’ve lived here this long and haven’t gotten sucked into one of these yet.” Vic gave her signature ponytail a tug. “It’s about time we got you out.”
Hadley shrugged. “I went to the track a few times to watch Aiden.”
I followed her gaze to where Aiden stood amidst a group of women with far too much makeup and far too little clothing. The bunnies were often cute, younger, and weren’t sucking on menthols and chugging from solo cups filled with vodka. At one time, these women had been classified as pit-bunnies. Those days were long gone, however. My sister-in-law held court among them, plastered against my brother as if she actually gave a damn.
It made my stomach roll.
Yeah, me too.” My sister read the look on my face and clutched a hand to her flat stomach. “Makes me want to vomit when I see her here.”
We both ignored the sort of sad, weary look that crossed Hadley’s face. How would I feel if Jordan dated someone else? If I had to sit back and watch him interact with his wife? I snapped back to reality like a whip. I had to stop thinking of him like that.
When I looked back he was standing there, watching me. I could read the heat in his gaze even at that distance. My skin tingled with gooseflesh as I followed Vic up to the start line. There was arrogance in Jordan there too, he knew what he could make me feel.