Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 22472 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 112(@200wpm)___ 90(@250wpm)___ 75(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22472 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 112(@200wpm)___ 90(@250wpm)___ 75(@300wpm)
“Tina!” I snap as she pulls me through the crowd. I’m a little bit short (okay, a lot short) and I start to get all frustrated and irritable now that I can’t see him anymore. “Where are we going?”
“Over by the starting line,” she says as I desperately look around for my new crush.
We’re walking by a few suped-up cars on display, and I finally catch myself when I see a bright green car with yellow lights all over it. It looks ridiculous. Like something Pee Wee Herman would drive.
This is not your world, I remind myself. None of these guys are for you.
But still… I can’t help but look around for Dillon. Meant for me or not, he’s my crush now.
It hits me that I’ve never had a crush before. All of my friends growing up did, but I didn’t. No one ever caught my eye like that, which is making this all the more strange. Why would my heart choose now of all times to have an unrealistic, ridiculous crush? Why here? Why him?
“That’s where they start,” Tina says as she points to a white line spray-painted on the concrete. Three cars are already lined up and ready to go. One spot remains. “Come quickly, I want to be the flag girl.”
Of course she does.
She has an iron grip on my wrist and I have to run to keep up with her long legs.
“Hey, Steve!” Tina says as she pulls me up to a guy smoking the biggest joint I’ve ever seen. She finally lets go of me and kisses his cheeks. “Need a flag girl?”
He shakes his head as he looks at her like she’s not quite right for the job. How can Tina not be right for the job? She’s an absolute stunner.
“It was you last month,” he says between tokes of his joint.
“Yeah, and the guys loved it!”
He frowns. “Gotta switch it up. Can’t have the same booty on the starting line every race. Variety is the spice of life, ya know.”
“Oh, come on!” she says as she stomps her foot. “No one can drop a flag like me!”
No one can drop a flag like me? What the hell does that even mean?
“What about her?” Steve says, looking right at me.
I freeze. My whole body thumps with warning.
“Not her,” Tina says with a roll of her eyes. “She’s not dressed for it.”
Steve looks me up and down while he rubs his jaw. “I don’t know… I’m digging the girl-next-door vibe. Lots of guys like that.”
“Oh, come on, Steve!” Tina says, stomping her foot even harder. I’ve seen her use that move since she was three years old. It usually works about half the time. “I want Dillon to notice me.”
“You and every other honey here,” he says with a laugh. “I’ll tell you what I tell all of them—good fucking luck. The dude is interested in his car and that’s it.”
Dillon’s red car comes rolling over, parting the crowd as it approaches. I get goosebumps all over when I hear that rumbling engine.
Knowing he’s behind those dark-tinted windows is getting me all flustered. The heat flowing through my body begins to settle between my legs. I squeeze my thighs and realize how inappropriately wet I am right now. This is crazy.
He lines his car up beside the other three and revs the engine. The crowd cheers.
“Please, Steve!” Tina says, hitting maximum whine.
Steve isn’t having any of it. “Sorry, honey. Girl-next-door, you in?”
He offers me the flag.
Tina rolls her eyes. “Let’s go, Lara. This is bullshit.”
“I’m in,” I say as I grab the flag.
“What?!” she screeches. “Lara!”
“What do I have to do?” I ask Steve, ignoring my pouting cousin.
“When I give you the signal,” he says as he puffs on his joint. “You raise the flag, count to ten slowly, and then drop it and hope you don’t get run over.”
This is insane. This is crazy. This is so not like me.
At the beginning of the night, I was thinking the most exciting thing this night would have is a large piece of cheesecake. Now, I’m about to start an illegal street race surrounded by hundreds of cheering people.
It’s the craziest thing I’ve ever done. I know why I’m doing it. It’s for him. For Dillon.
I want him to notice me. I want him to see me. Really see me.
With the four car engines roaring, I push down the fluttering in my belly and walk to the front with the flag.
My eyes are on Dillon’s car the entire time, even though I can’t see a thing through his tinted windows.
The headlights of the first car light me up as I walk to the spot where Steve told me to stand. There are so many people here. My chest tightens. A heaviness hits my stomach.
People are placing bets in the crowd. The energy is as revved up as these cars.