With All My Heart - Emilia Finn Page 0,11
down onto my shoulders and pulls me in close. “You’re mine for ten minutes, pretty girl. Let’s see if I can get the yes faster.”
“Hey!” No longer smug, Bryan turns back to his best friend with murder in his eyes. “I’m trusting you, Geo. She’s the most important thing I have. Do right by me.”
Geo rolls his eyes and loosens his hold. “You’ve got trust issues, man. Go, run. I’ve got her. Justin’s already on the line.”
Bryan’s dark eyes come back to mine. No longer murderous, now they hold a heady mix of desperation and regret. “Stay here, Bert. Maybe we can negotiate. Soon.”
“Take me with you.”
“No. I’ve laid down my terms. You’ve laid down yours. We’ll talk again soon.” Jumping into his car, he revs the engine so loudly, I jump back until my back slams against Geo’s broad chest. He laughs throatily by my ear. He thinks he’s so amazing with a girl under each arm and a dirty grin on his face.
Bryan backs away from us slowly, and as soon as the Mustang clears the crowd and moves toward the line, I elbow Geo in the ribs and step out of his hold. “Get off me! Don’t touch.”
He lifts his hand in surrender, but his smile remains. “This is how Bry feels, huh? Gets to hug you for a sec, then you turn into the ice princess and flick him off.”
“I have a boyfriend. I don’t hug Bryan, either.”
“Uh-huh, guess my eyes go wacky sometimes.” Two narrow dimples pop below his bottom lip and wink playfully. “Stop playing games, Nelly. You know you want him. You know Shane’s a pussy. We already know how this story ends. Why hurt him on the way?”
Bryan doesn’t look like he’s hurting. Mostly, he looks like a tomcat that’s having a bunch of fun playing with the scared little mouse.
I’m the damn mouse, and I’m terrified. “My daddy will kill me for being here, Geo. He’ll literally kill me if he learns of Bry’s existence. I can’t dump my boyfriend just so Bryan can fuck a girl with a clear conscience.”
He rolls his eyes and turns a giggling Tammi into his chest. “If you don’t know that he’d protect you with his life, then you don’t know shit. Book smarts don’t mean a damn thing when you’re in our world, and you, my pretty little ice princess, are dumb as shit in our world.”
I don’t get a chance to argue further. I don’t even get a chance to find a stick and beat him for his arrogance, because car engines roar and the cheering crowd turns to deafening screams. Geo gets busy dry humping Tammi, so I take a step away, then another, then a third, and when he doesn’t reach out for me, I turn and make a break for it.
I sprint for the line. I know I won’t reach him in time. I have no chance of hopping into his car to hitch a ride, but I want to be closer. I need to be closer.
Because in my world, fifty yards is too damn far away.
I get within twenty feet when the buxom blonde in tiny shorts and super-high heels throws down her silky scarf. The thick black wheels on Bryan’s sparkling Mustang skid in the dirt and send rocks bulleting through the air. Both engines roar like pissed off lions, then finding traction, they’re off.
I’ve never been to the races down here before. I’ve never seen Bryan – or anyone – race in real life, so it’s not until they’re a quarter mile away before I realize the grass and dirt space the crowd party in is the inside of the track.
They circle us, frenzied like sharks, and we’re the tiny little feeder fish. I turn as they turn. I follow Bry’s car with my eyes. I lose sight of his car every few seconds as people and cars on the inside block my way, but within a millisecond, he’s back in my sight.
The roaring sends adrenaline and worry fighting for dominance in my blood. The two cars drift around a loose bend and turn straight on, and when the Mustang skids to the side dangerously, my hands go to my mouth and my heart threatens to explode.
A mile away, they straighten out. Intent on his win, the Mustang speeds up, faster, faster, closer to the midnight blue ‘Cuda until sparks rain between them and the Mustang shoves his opponent to the side.
Quarter of a mile away, it’s