I could feel my heart rate picking up, that I could actually have this in my life made me shake in anticipation.
“I can do that,” I said. “It makes sense that you want any employee or racer to stay straight. I can handle it.”
Holt was already shaking his head. “You say that, but nothing you have done has shown it.”
“So what?” Fox asked. “You brought us down here to tell him he doesn’t have to spot?”
“No,” Holt said, shooting him a look. I knew Fox had grown more comfortable with Holt over the years and wasn’t worried about saying what needed to be said. Somehow, Holt had come to like him more for it. If I opened my mouth right now, though, I would be out. “I’m saying that Kye needs to prove he can be a stand-up employee off the track before I consider him to be a stand-up racer on the track. No arrests, keep working hard, and show that you can maintain stability in your life. Your friends all seemed to have figured it out. They found their girlfriends, settled down a bit, and it’s working out. I don’t care what you do, but I need you to show that you can handle this type of responsibility.”
“You expect me to clean up my act by not getting arrested and getting a girlfriend?” I asked, my throat tighter now.
“I expect you to clean up the act, Kye, however that needs to happen, and make it clear you are serious about this. Prove that, and we can start working on a strong career for you.”
I held back my eye roll. The only thing in my life I was serious about was cars and racing. How the hell would I approve that any more than I already had?
FIVEDAISY
I knew there were going to be downsides of going to college in the same town I grew up in. I knew there would be issues with going to a smaller college. I had been right, which wasn’t a huge surprise.
First, it was leaving the sorority.
Now, it was being the center of one of the biggest rumors of the week. Technically, it wasn’t even a rumor because they all thought it was true, but now everyone I knew thought I was dating Kye. The response has ranged from telling me how terrible of a choice I was making, to asking if they could have his number when I was done, to needing to know all the dirty details. People who hadn’t been at the party were even hearing the rumors now.
Above all of that, though, I was at the center of it.
Everyone wanted to talk to me, ask about Kye, ask how we met. The rumors of what happened between Dean and him were out of control, ranging from Kye beating Dean up and breaking his arm to Dean beating Kye up and breaking his arm. Each one was only getting more ridiculous, but I realized that the rumors didn’t matter. I was temporarily back on top. Everyone from the sorority kept texting me. Some of them even apologized for icing me out.
Who would have thought Kye of all people would help me stay relevant at the exact moment I needed to?
All the good parts of this were adding up, until I realized I needed one thing to keep this going.
Kye.
Which was how I ended up walking up to the garage I knew he worked at, my hands wringing together as I got closer. Kye was only one scary guy in a pack of them, and now I was walking right into their cave.
A guy stepped up to the open garage bay, a sweet smile on his face, as he noticed me.
“Can I help you?” he asked.
I recognized him as the one I saw with the angry, dark-haired girl the day they got arrested last year.
“Um, I was looking for Kye. I was hoping I could find him here.” I sounded so nervous. I mean, I was nervous, but I wished I didn’t sound like it.
“You are here to see Kye?” he asked, his eyebrows jumping up.
“Yeah? Is he here?”
“Oh, he’s here. You don’t have a car with you?” He looked behind me like he hadn’t just watched me walk up.
“No?”
“You don’t have a car to fix, but you still want to see Kye?” he asked again, nearly dumbfounded.
“Is that a problem?”
He shook his head, smiling harder. “Not at all.”
The smaller red-headed girl that had been with them walked over. I knew Scout from school. Not that I ever talked to her, but I knew of her at least. “Jax, what’s up?” she asked, the surprise on her face matching his.
“She’s here to see Kye.”
Her mouth dropped open. “Kye? For what?”
“I just needed to talk to him.”
“Did he know you were coming?”
“Definitely not,” I said. The nervous laughter that escaped me only made Jax smile harder, until they both broke out into laughter, making me more uneasy.
“Maybe I shouldn’t have come.”
“No, no, no,” she said. “We will get him. It’s really no problem. Kye just doesn’t get many visitors. Wait here.” They both turned, knocking fists as they disappeared further inside. I looked to where they were going, but between the cars and the toolboxes, I couldn’t see much.
A minute later, Kye emerged, and I froze. The scowl was still on his face, but this time he had no shirt on. He was wiping his hands off, throwing the rag aside as he walked out, and my mouth watered at the sight. He was already dangerously hot, but without the shirt, it was somehow worse. A mess of abs, tattoos, and grease was in front of me, and I was trying to figure out why I ever thought this was unattractive. I always went for the clean-cut, no-tattoos type, and I couldn’t for the life of me remember why.
“I’m not really sure why you’re here, but please don’t jump me again,” he said, a cocky grin plastered on his face.
“Sorry about that. Again. I promise to keep my hands to myself this time.”
