Page 25 of Full Throttle

“This is going to be over soon,” Amara promised.

Mina gave me a cocky smile. “Then all you'll have to worry about is beating my annoying brother.”

“He is very annoying,” Amara added in, smiling.

I lifted my hands, wiping some of the tears from my face. “No one is ever going to beat Leon,” I mumbled, knowing it was the truth. He was just too fucking good. Racing was in his blood.

The three of us looked at each other, and within the next second, we were all laughing. It felt wholesome.

It felt like home.

“I’m sorry you got kidnapped,” I whispered to Amara as the laughter faded away.

“I’m sorry a bomb was placed underneath the car you picked to race in,” she replied.

“Yeah, that was kind of shitty, huh?” I joked.

She laughed softly again.

“Awe, look at you two. Trauma bonding,” Mina teased.

Amara shot her a look. “Jump in anytime, Mina.”

“Maybe later. I’m starving.”

At that exact second, my stomach growled, and I placed my hand over it, remembering that I was in fact, naked. Heat rose to my cheeks. “I probably need to get dressed now.”

Main scoffed, rising to her full height. “Don’t worry, babe. You’re stunning, but I was made to like men with big muscles and even bigger co—”

“Okay,” Amara cut her off, clapping her hands. "I don’t want to hear about Dontell’s…thing. Let’s just focused on getting some clothes.”

“You’re fucking my brother,” Mina deadpanned.

Amara’s cheeks tinted a deep pink as she cleared her throat. “Yes, I know that, but I would never tell you about his…member.”

Mina’s face twisted in disgust as she grabbed the towel off the shelf. “Please don’t.”

“Ever,” Amara agreed.

Mina came back to us, holding her hand out for me. She helped me up gently and wrapped the towel around my body. Amara remained in the shower, pulling off her wet clothes before she grabbed her own towel. Once she was settled, Mina came to us, grabbing one hand in both of hers. “Women stick together, yeah?”

I nodded immediately. It was a universal rule.

“Yes,” Amara said firmly.

Mina smiled wide, showing all her stunning teeth. “That’s right.”

The rest of the day passed in a blur.

Once Amara and Mina helped me get into my baggy sweats from college and a purple sweatshirt from a coffeehouse in Denver, Cain and Leon were gone, leaving Dontell in the living room. He was on the phone with some bank for over an hour as Mina re-warmed up my chicken wings and then proceeded to witness me inhale fifteen of them. Amara borrowed some of my jeans and a long-sleeved shirt; they were a little baggy on her, but she didn’t seem to mind. She ate lunch with Mina and me while Dontell handled business.

We asked him were Cain and Leon went, and he just told us they went for a drive.

I didn’t know if that was code for something, but I knew I wasn’t going to wait for them to get back to find out the truth. I may have lost my shit in the bathroom, but that wasn’t stopping me.

I was going to find out the truth about all the shit that’d been going down since before I got here.

After we ate, Amara headed back to the station, which was currently under investigation by the FBI. Something happened with the chief and the mayor. They were connected to those kids, in some sickening way. All of this was connected, and if I was going to be a part of Oasis, I needed to know the truth. I didn’t blame Jeremy for keeping me in the dark, but it was time to come into the light.

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