Page 41 of Pedal to the Metal

“Love is supposed to be this great thing. I get that he’s scaring, I am too," I tell her, finally admitting it out loud.

She sighs, “Maybe you need to tell him that. You have to put yourself in his shoes for a minute. He’s in a relationship for the first time since his fiancée and unborn child were killed unexpectedly and with a girl that he probably feels like is out of his league. He’s never dated outside of his side of town. This is a lot of firsts for him in a short amount of time. He may just need to hear you have the same fears.”

Farrah makes sense and I want to believe her, but I can’t help but notice the difference between the girls he’s use to and me. “I’m not like the girls he’s use to. I’m not sexy and curvy. I can’t dress like you and pull it off.”

“Oh Londynn. You have a lot to learn about Jagger. Have you ever seen a picture of Harlyn?” She asks, and I shake my head. She stands up and holds her hand out to me.

I place my hand in hers and she pulls me off the bed. “Where are we going?” I ask.

“To show you that you are exactly the type of girl that Jagger James will fall in love with.” She pulls me through the condo and up the stairs to her bedroom. She pushes me on the bed and goes into the closet. She comes out a few minutes later with a box in her hands. When she removes the lid, I see tons of pictures, she rummages through them until she finds what she’s looking for. She hands me the picture and I recognize Farrah, Bowie, Axell, Sadie and Jagger. However, I don’t recognize the girl that Jagger has his arm around. She has medium length brown hair and kind looking eyes. Her smile lights up the whole picture and she’s wearing a modest black and white polka dot sundress. “Do you know the girl in the sundress?” I shake my head no. “That’s Harlyn. She was the good girl who always dressed modest and was the kindest, most soft-spoken person you’d ever meet.”

I study the picture a while longer. “I guess I just figured she dressed and acted like…”

Farrah completes my sentence when I trail off. “Like me and Kynlee and all the girls who throw themselves at Bowie. Jagger loves racing for his own reasons, but it hasneverbeen about the girls for him. He never noticed them with Harlyn, and I’ve noticed that he doesn’t pay attention to them since you’ve been around.” We sit in silence while her words sink in, and I continue to study the picture. “Do you want my advice?”

“Yes, please," I reply.

She takes a deep breath. “Go get dressed and come with me to the races. When you get there find Jagger and talk to him.”

“What if he doesn’t want to talk? I mean he wasn’t exactly happy when he left here.”

“Then you grab his face and kiss the hell out of him until he forgets about the fight," Farrah tells me. She takes the picture from my hand, pulls me from the bed and pushes me towards the door. “Now go get ready.”

When I get back to my room, I rummage through my closet for a couple of items I had purchased months ago on a splurge. At the time I never thought I’d use them but right now I need them. In the back of the closet, I find the boxes I have yet to unpack but luckily the first box I open has the black ripped jeans and leather jacket I bought on that whim. I pull them out. I find a blush-colored flowy tank top to go with it. Once I’m dressed, I add a small necklace and pin my hair back on one side. I find a pair of blush heels then head to the living room to meet Farrah. When I enter she releases a whistle. “Girl he’s going to forget everything when he sees you.”

“I hope you’re right but just in case I remembered your advice, kiss him until he forgets," I tell her, she laughs which causes me to laugh as well.

Farrah grabs my hand and pulls me towards the door. “Come on were going to be late!” We hurry to her SUV and throughthe streets to get to the races. When we pull up its crowded, so Farrah parks a few blocks back and we walk up to the races.

Once we make it through the crowd, I spot Jagger easily. My heart rate picks up and my stomach is packed with butterflies. He’s talking with Ace, Bowie and…Duke. Instantly I wonder why? I love Duke, but I don’t trust him, I can think of no good that will come from Duke associating with any of the James brothers.

****

Jagger

By the time I manage to get to the races I’m not even in the mood but at the same time I crave that adrenaline rush of getting behind the wheel of my car and getting so lost in the race that everything around you becomes a blur. Once I’m out of the car I notice Duke standing a few cars down from me. He’s on our side which is odd since technically he should be across the street with the other rich kids. I walk down to him just as Ryce’s yellow Porsche pulls up and parks. When he gets out, he tries to keep his head down but it’s easy to see his face has taken one hell of a beating. Most of his skin is bruised or busted up. Ryce glances in our direction and I notice him quickly avert his gaze to the ground once again. Looking up I notice the smirk on Duke’s face and a thought occurs to me. “You’re knuckles are busted up because you beat the hell out of Ryce.” Duke merely shrugs like it’s no big deal. “Why’d you lie to your sisters?”

He clears his throat. “Londynn has always been fiercely independent. She’s always been one to take care of things on her own however I didn’t see a reason to let Ryce off the hook and besides it’s not like she could have done near enough damage to him to make him feel remorse.”

“So, you lied because Londynn is independent and wouldn’t have wanted you to defend her?” I ask him in disbelief. Nomatter what he said I didn’t think that was the only reason. There was more to why he lied to Farrah and Londynn.

He runs a hand over his chin. “That’s part of the reason. The other is that I didn’t lie. Iwasseeing a woman whom I didn’t know was married. When her husband found out…well needless to say he wasn’t very happy. He did manage to get one good hit on me, and it busted my lip.”

Now, it all makes sense. The lip was from the angry husband, but the knuckles were from the beating he handed to Ryce. “You know you could have just told them it was from Ryce. I mean I already thought it was once I saw his face tonight.”

He laughs, “You think I’d let that pathetic ass get a hit on me. Hell no! Besides my sisters already expect the worse of me, no reason to let them down now.”

“Why do you say that?”

He shakes his head. “They love me, but in their eyes, I am our father made over.”

I have to ask him, “Are you?”

“Not exactly. We are similar, but I would never do what he has done to our mother. I actually care about a handful of things in life unlike him.”

I study him for a moment and notice his eyes hold an almost haunted look as well. “What handful of things?”

“Well, aren’t you the curious one tonight? However, I’m feeling talkative, so I’ll play. My mother, my sisters, women, money and power," he says holding up his hand and counting them off on his fingers.

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