Page 41 of Full Throttled

The flag drops and Drake quickly pulls away from the start line, but Jovi is faster. The air as they blow past us causes my hair to dance. I lean around people to watch their tail lights disappear around the curve. I chew on my bottom lip when Talon, I think that’s his name, leans over and tells me not to worry. Soon headlights are seen coming around onto the darkened street. I hold my breath as Jovi and Drake fight for the lead. The entire crowd can feel the tension. Each of us rooting for one or the other. Jovi inches forward, just pulling away from Drake. I turn around, unable to watch the disappointment on Drake’s face. I feel the gush of hot air caress my body as the cars pass the finish line but I don’t have the heart to turn around just yet. I need to put on my smile for Drake. Then the crowd around me breaks into an uproar of cheers. I spin around and see everyone rushing towards Drake. The smile on his face big and bright, he looks over to Jovi, where he’s shaking his head in disbelief. I turn to Talon and see Zayde smiling at me. “You shouldn’t have turned around. Drake pulled out a hell of a win.”

“What?” I gasp, and turn back around to see him striding towards me. Once he’s close enough, he pulls me into his chest, I’m engulfed by the smell of his cologne and the ocean breeze.

“I can’t believe I managed to win that one,” he says, right before he crashes his lips into mine. His adrenaline and excitement flow into my body, warming my bloodcausing me todig my nails into his shoulder blades.

When we pull away, Drake smiles. “I didn’t see it. I saw Jovi in the lead and you guys were so close to the finish line that I couldn’t watch it,” I explain. The guilt mixes with the aftereffects of the adrenaline and excitement.

Drake shrugs. “That’s okay. I didn’t need you to watch. I just needed you to be here to give me these good luck kisses,” he tells me, before kissing me once more.

I melt against him, my heartbeat matching his and it steadily beats under the palm of my hand. “What now? There’s only three of you?”

“Bowie and Ace are racing against each other. After that race, I’ll go against Ralph and then the two winners from that round will go against each other.”

“Wait, you might have to race two more times?” I can feel my eyes go large.

Drake chuckles. “Yeah, but don’t worry I got this.”

“Be safe,” I tell him, as he heads back to his car.

I stand on the sidelines, bouncing on my heels, for the next two races. Ace takes the win against Bowie while Ralph almost had Drake, but just when I thought Ralph would win Drake took the lead and crossed the finish line ahead of him.

Now, Drake and Ace are sitting at the starting line. They are talking to one another through the rolled down windows of their cars. Suddenly, the same song comes over both their speakers. The crowd goes wild while Ace and Drake point at each other and laugh. I take the flag as Ralph hands it to me. I wasn’t going to walk out here again but something tells me I should. I make my way between the cars and turn to face them, Drake winks at me, and I watch as Ace smirks in Drake’s direction.

If I wasn’t already crazy over Drake James, and Ace didn’t alreadyfindthe perfect other half in his wife Kynlee, I would be all about him. I smile to myself and wink at Drake. I raise the flag above my head and begin the count. As I let the flag drop, I close my eyes and hold my breath as both cars zoom by me. I rush over to Zayde. “Who got out first?”

“It was so damn close I’m not sure. I think maybe Ace though,” he explains, with a worried expression in his eyes.

I know that look. I get that look. All the James brothers are a force to be reckoned with if they have an open road and a car, but Ace is on another level. Ace and Jagger were the two best. Zayde wraps and arm around my shoulders as we wait for the headlights to appear. All too soon they appear. I find myself holding my breath again while I cross my fingers for Drake.

The crowd goes incredibly quiet as the two cars come racing towards the finish line. They are neck and neck from what I can see. Drake pulls ahead by an inch, only to have Ace take it back. Drake catches up and just as the finish line is reached Ace pulls ahead by a centimeter. The cars begin to slow until they come to a stop. We make our way over to the guys. They get out, both laughing with one another. The rest of the James brothers make their way to Ace and Drake. It’s a picture perfect moment, so I tell Zayde to snap it since my phone is in Drake’s car. The six of them are standing between the two cars laughing about how the races went.

In this moment, I’m not scared of the love I feel for Drake. I’m not scared of what my future holds because I know something. I know that as long as I have Drake beside me, I can conquer anything. I can be anything I want. We will be a team, the way a relationship is supposed to work. We’ll have our bad times but we’ll make it through them together and rise stronger than ever. I rush towards Drake. He notices me and meets me halfway. “What’s wrong?”

I shake my head and wrap my arms around his neck, pulling his head down until I can comfortably reach his lips. We kiss as if it’s our first and last. Every last emotion passes between us and wraps around us until it’s just us against the world. When he pulls away, he presses his moist lips to my forehead. “I love you.”

He pulls back and looks down at me. Seconds pass before his smile graces his face and his arms tighten around my waist. “I love you, too.”

Thirty-Four

Drake

It’s been three weeks since the races and things between Zoey and I have been better than ever. We’ve finally found a routine that works for us. Aubree is loving having Zoey around, too. As much as that worries me, because I still wonder how long Zoey will actually stay this time, it also warms my heart. It’s a very confusing situation, but I promised myself that I’d try. I know that I deserve to have a life aside from just being a dad, but Aubree will always be my number one priority. I just hope Zoey doesn’t break both of our hearts.

Last night, we attended Jagger and Londynn’s baby announcement party. It was a shocker to us last week when they announced they were expecting again. I could tell how happy they were. When I had asked Zoey to come along with Aubree and I, I had expected her to make an excuse as to why she couldn’t come along. I knew she was still struggling to adjust in social situations when it came to us attending as a couple, but she surprised me. She told me to let her see if she could switch her shifts. Luckily, she got off for the night and we went as a family to the announcement party.

Zoey actually had a lot of fun and she seemed to find a comfort zone with my family and friends. I was thankful for that. I wanted her to be comfortable in my life because I was falling harder and harder for Zoey Hechler, and I didn’t see that stopping any time soon.

I step into Aubree’s room. “Are you ready for bed, Love Bug?”

“Yep, are you going to read to me?” she asks, her eyes wide and innocent but full of hope.

I chuckle and smile while shaking my head. It’s already past herbedtime, which means tomorrow morning is not going to be fun, but I can’t deny those eyes a story. I grab a book from her bookcase and take a seat on her bed. Aubree settles in and before I even reach the middle of the book her little snores fill the room. I smile and look down at her before pressing a light kiss to the top of her head and slowly climbing out of the bed.

When I reach the kitchen, I see my phone lighting up on the counter. Once I grab it, I see my mom’s name on the screen. It’s late, too late for any of my family to be calling unless something was wrong. “Mom?”

“Hi Baby.”

“What’s wrong?” The hairs on my arms and the back of my neck stand on attention. I already know something is wrong without her answering.

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