Page 34 of Furious
DJ’s smile is laced with sadness. “Don’t be mad at her. I made her pinky swear way back then that she would keep my secret. I was too chicken to tell you how I felt about you, and that’s on me. I’ll be fine.”
I feel like the worst human being on earth.
“So,” DJ clears his throat, breaking the awkward silence that just descended inside the cab of his truck. “What do you want me to do with your Ducati? I can take it back to Shell Cove with me, but if you want to race again around here, you’ll have to find a way to transport it back to Star Cove.”
That wouldn’t really work. I have my driving test next week and Ares said I can borrow his jeep any time I need it. But crossing city limits multiple times with a motorcycle in tow is like asking to get caught.
Having a driving license will make it easier to get the bike to the race. I can hide it in the woods, like Chance and Lev did. It’ll be a little harder to do it all on my own, but I’ll make it work.
“Ares cleared some space in one of their garages for me to put the things I don’t want to keep in my room. I can put it there for now.”
DJ hesitates. “Are you sure? Keeping it right under the mayor’s nose is ballsy, even for you.”
I shrug. “Scott never sets foot in that garage. As long as I can keep Ares away from it, I’ll be ok. There are tall piles of boxes everywhere. We’ll hide it behind one of them for now. If you don’t mind helping me.”
He nods. “Of course. You didn’t think I was gonna leave you here in the driveway with a Ducati?”
I didn’t think he would have. This is the best solution for now. Even if I didn’t intend to keep racing, I don’t want DJ to risk bringing the bike back out of Star Cove with him in case he gets pulled over before he’s outside the town limits.
We work quickly, unloading the bike and steering it into the garage the Hunters use as storage.
“Zara,” DJ says once we cover the bike with a tarp. “I’m gonna go now. Please be careful out there. I don’t have a lot of money to bail you out of jail if you get caught.”
I chuckle at his joke. “I don’t think you would need to. Mom would kill me if she knew. You know how much she hated that I loved riding with my dad. Anyway, you should go. I texted the guys that I was coming home. They might have gone back to the party, but there’s also a chance they’re on their way back.”
I watch DJ’s truck back out of the driveway and go back into the garage entrance to make sure that my Ducati can’t be seen from here. I take a couple of steps inside to check from the spot where once I helped Ares take some extra chairs.
I think I’m going to be ok for a few days until I pass my driving test.
The noise of an engine makes me literally crawl out of my skin. Thank fuck the V8 in Chance’s truck is obnoxiously loud at this time at night. If he sees the light on in the garage, I’m going to be so busted.
Eventually, I know I’ll have to tell him and Lev what I’m doing; but they didn’t trust me with their secret, so I’m going to wait to come clean. Somehow, I suspect that they wouldn’t want me anywhere near Cal, even if no one knows it’s me on the Ducati.
The echo lights that everyone in town has to use by law are a saving grace as I sneak out of the garage and into the house just in the nick of time.
I fly up the stairs and into my room just as the front door opens. I can picture Chance dropping his keys in the glass bowl on Mom’s antique credenza in the foyer.
Unless he goes into the kitchen to grab something to eat or drink, he’s going to be up here in seconds.
The zipper of my riding jacket sounds louder than thunder, but I can’t get into bed in my riding gear. I slip out of my pants and kick my boots off and under my bed.
The last thing that flies on the floor is my bra. There’s no time to put on my PJs as I hear Chance’s footsteps on the stairs.
My bedroom door opens and closes with a soft nick. Chance comes to the side of my bed and undresses himself like I just did a second ago. I can’t see him because my back is turned toward the window, but I hear the zipper of his jacket and the jingle of his belt.
Thank fuck he doesn’t turn the light on, just in case I didn’t push my clothes far enough under the bed.
The mattress dips when my stepbrother slides into bed behind me and one second later, strong arms surround me and I’m pulled against his smooth, ripped chest.
He nestles behind me, exhaling a soft breath that fans over the back of my neck.
“Chance?” I murmur. I don’t even have to pretend to be sleepy. Adrenaline has seeped out of my body and now I’m exhausted.
“Shh, everything is fine. Sleep, baby.”
But it’s easier said than done. How can I sleep with Chance’s big, muscular naked body plastered to mine?
I feel something hard against the crack of my ass and I grind against it out of pure instinct.
