Page 62 of Octane

The way he’s speaking, in a slow, antagonizing voice like you hear fifth grade bullies use on the playground, makes me angry. I’ve been furious with him before, but not like this.

“You think you can just bring your sister around, and you two bitches are going to tell me what to do? In my own house?” Daniel crosses his arms over his chest as he stands tall in front of me.

Something in me snaps then. All of the fear and anger that I’ve held in over the years cascades out of me like a dam has broken.

“Don’t fucking talk to me like that.”

“What did you say to me?”

“Did Istutter,Daniel?” I push my shoulders back, and straighten my stance to appear more confident than I feel.

His scowl turns into a shit eating grin I am not prepared for. I shoot a nervous glance at Carissa who is still looking at him like she could pounce any moment.

“I see,” he snickers. “If you leave me, you’ll force my hand, Sawyer.”

“What could you possibly do to me that you haven’t done a thousand times in the last twelve years?”

“End your racing career for starters, but the icing on the cake would be getting your fucking golden boy thrown out of the league.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

Daniel pulls his phone out of his pocket and unlocks it. I shoot another look at Carissa who is standing with her arms crossed and her hip popped. After a moment of searching, he pulls up a video and presses play before holding it out for me to see. The image is a little dim, so it takes me a second to figure out what he’s showing me. As soon as I realize what it’s a video of, my blood turns to ice.

Jackson and I in his garage last week. He has me in his arms, and our lips are about to touch. The video stops as we lean in for a kiss, but it doesn’t show me pulling away from Jackson. My eyes go wide, the evil grin on Daniel’s face scaring me.I try swallowing my fear, but I can’t. Carissa wrings her hands when she notices my fear. It’s the first time her bravado has splintered since we walked through the door.

He did follow me that night.

“All I have to do is send this to someone in the league, and both of your careers will be finished.”

“You can’t prove anything with that video. Besides, we didn’t even kiss that night.”

Realizing what I just said has my heart thudding from fear. Based on the evil stare he’s shooting my way, Daniel didn’t miss it either.

“My point is,” I push my fear back down and fight to keep it there, “you don’t have anything that is worth the league wanting to make a stink over.”

What am I saying? I don’t know that. Shit, I need to speak with Jackson. I have to tell him about this.

“Come on, Sawyer. Let’s go grab some of your things.” Carissa lightly pushes me down the hallway and into my bedroom.

Out of Daniel’s sight, my bravery takes a nosedive. I begin to panic, and I have to work to get air into my lungs.

“You’re doing great,” my sister assures me. “We’re almost done. Sit down, and I’ll get your things.”

I half expect Daniel to march into the room and take control of the situation, but he never does. Did he already send the video? Does he even knowwhereto send it? Shit, all he really needs to do is upload it to social media and let the fans do the work for him.

“We need to see Jackson,” I whisper to Carissa as she flies through the room, grabbing whatever will fit into the weekender bag she found in my closet.

I pull my phone out of my pocket and shoot him a text.

Me: Need to talk to you. 911!

Jackson Powell: I’m on my way.

Me: No! I’ll text you when we leave. Can you send the elevator down for us?

Jackson Powell: I’ll ride down and meet you.

Me: We will only be a few more minutes.

---