Page 15 of Furious
“There’s one thing I don’t get, though.” I say, voicing a thought that has been swirling around my mind since we got here. “This is a really large parking lot smack in the middleof town. Why is it deserted? You’d think someone would have opened a strip mall, or build a hotel or something like that in here.”
My stepbrother’s explanation is surprising. “You’re right. The reason why is that we own it. Dad bought it over five years ago and he has a plan for it, but it’s taking longer than he expected to put it into action.”
I roll my eyes. “Are you going to make me beg, or are you going to tell me what he’s going to do with it?”
Ares’s lips curl up in a barely there smile. “Seeing you beg me sounds kinda hot, princess. But this isn’t the kind of begging I was thinking about. I can tell you, it isn’t exactly a secret, even though Dad won’t make his plans public until they come to fruition. Since he retired from professional hockey, Dad has been planning to bring the NHL to his hometown. He wants to build the new arena and training facilities right here.”
I know nothing about professional hockey, but I look at the surrounding space with new eyes. “What stopped him from making it happen?”
I almost regret asking, for fear that the answer has to do with Atlas’s death. But thankfully I’m wrong.
“You can’t just decide to start your own NHL team.” Ares explains. “There are two ways he could do it. He could either buy an existing NHL team and move it to Star Cove, or he could get the NHL to agree to allow a new franchise. For the first option, we would need to find an NHL team for sale, and so far it hasn’t been the case. The second option is even harder. There are a lot of politics involved and it can be quite costly. The last new NHL franchise cost five hundred million. That was just the fee the new owner had to pay to be allowed to open the franchise and recruit players. It’s called an expansion team. Dad thinks it’s the more feasible option, but all his efforts have failed so far. But he’s adetermined man, so I think it’s just a matter of when, not if Star Cove will have its very own NHL team.”
I look at the huge, deserted parking lot with new eyes. “That would bring a lot of money and jobs to Star Cove.”
Ares nods. “Yeah. It’s always been Dad’s dream. He used to tell Chance and Lev, when they started playing as kids, that one day they would play for his team.”
Chance and Ares are Star Cove boys, born and bred, and I grew up all over the place while my dad was still racing and my parents were still married. But it’s weird how, despite growing up in different places, there are so many similarities between our fathers. Or maybe Mom has a type, after all.
“You know,” I muse. “Our fathers are different in many ways, but they have one huge thing in common.”
“You don’t say, princess.” I have Ares’s full attention. “I know my father has many fans, but yours? John Fields is the greatest motorcycle racer of all times. What could they possibly have in common, aside from marrying your mom?”
The answer is easy. “They both want to build something after they retired from their professional sport careers. Scott wants to own his own NHL team, and my dad wants to own his own MotoGP team. The only real difference between them is that your dad is a devoted father and husband, while mine has always been chasing the high of fame and attention. Especially attention from other women. And as for being a father, I have no doubt that he loves me; but he’s too busy with his next team, his next MotoGP, to really be present in my life.”
ARES
I’ve always admired Zara’s father.
Growing up, he was my hero. But there must be a reason why they say never to meet your heroes, lest you be disappointed.
While there’s no one who won more MotoGP championships than John Fields, he mustn’t be the upstanding man I’ve always imagined.
“Princess,” I undo both our seatbelts again, and lean closer but stop just short of touching her. “It’s his loss if he isn’t more present in your life.”
Emotion shines in her eyes and I can no longer keep my hands to myself. “Really. Fuck knows getting close to you is going to make my life more complicated in more ways than one, but… I can’t stay away from you.”
I’ve felt this pull since the day we met. I’ve tried to fight it, but it’s a lost battle. The problem is that it isn’t just a physical attraction. It’s like Zara sees me. Really see me. More than any other person in my life. The only one who understood me the same way is gone. And I see her. I understand what makes her tick, how she tries to hide her wild side for everyone else’s sake. And the reason I understand is that I’m the same.
When Atlas was around, he was the one who let loose, while I kept us in check. I was the responsible one. Since he’s been gone, it’s like that part of me had been missing. Until Zara came back into my life. She’s that unbridled, wild half that I need to survive.
I cup her delicate jaw with my hand. “I don’t want to stay away from you.”
“Then don’t.” She says.
See? She’s perfect.
The kiss we share is everything. I didn’t realize that not sharing my breath with her feels like not breathing at all.
I torment her bottom lip between my teeth, and she whimpers, surrounding my neck with her arms. She doesn’t just take my kiss, she responds with the same passion. Our tongues tangle, our mouths are fused together.
I’ll never know if I pulled her onto my lap or if she left the driver’s seat to climb into mine, but it feels like fucking heaven.
Her soft body melts against my hard one and with her pressed against me, it’s like I can finally breathe again.
“Oh.” She moans softly as my fingers find the hard peak of her nipple through the fabric of her sundress.
“This ok, princess?” I pant, rubbing the little hard point between two fingers.
