Page 71 of Hyperspeed
I could see why people drooled over his photoshoots in Galactic Sports Weekly.
I’d taken a peek at his InSTARgram, not that I’d ever admit it. His feed was a mixture of promo pics for race weekends, candid shots from his travels, and selfies with his friends. The comments were the real entertainment, though, each post filled with simpering men, women, and enbies.
I’d laughed at the constant requests for him to father someone’s children, but the flare of jealousy that followed his flirty replies to models and minor celebrities?
That was new.
Unprecedented.
“Last chance to back out,rookie.”
Kai rolled his eyes before placing the borrowed helmet on his head, visor open. “You’ve called me rookie four times in the last few minutes. No need to keep reminding me who the pro is today,hotshot.”
His use of a nickname I only reserved for mocking him made me shiver. I put it down to the anticipation of racing in an environment I knew so well. Not because I liked it or anything . . .
I set my helmet on my head and lifted the visor.
“Just keeping you in check, rookie.” Oops, that was number five. “Just making sure you remember who’s number one.”
Kai glared, but there was no heat behind it, only a playfulness I saw from Jax at the paddock. I’d never been on the receiving end of that attitude before, and this novel exchange with Kai threatened to throw me off balance.
So I reached up and snapped his visor shut, knocking the side of his helmet with my fist. The gesture was light and teasing—not something I generally was, and definitely not with Kai.
“Good luck, rookie.”
Kai’s head dropped back onto his shoulders, and he groaned towards the sky. “Stars help me, I’ve created a monster.”
The laugh that burst out of me was sudden and unfiltered. Somewhere between a giggle and a squawk, high-pitched and mortifying.
Kai straightened, startled by the noise.
And honestly? So was I.
I couldn’t see his eyes, but I could feel them on my face, my skin tingling under their attention.
“Yeah,” he replied, voice deeper than before. “You too, Revvy.”
Again, a nickname reserved for teasing, but instead of bristling, I shivered. Because the soft, almost reverent tone made this ball of . . .somethingburst to life in my chest.
At the edge of my vision, the marks on my hands glowed, unhidden by my gloves. Amethyst. That one colour I’d never seen before. I raised a hand to my face, trying to get a closer look at the colour that left me so confused. Maybe even concerned.
Was I broken? Was there something wrong with me?
I couldn’t dwell on whether I was dying, because Kai placed a hand on my shoulder, and the heat from his palm seeped through the fabric of my racing suit, spreading to all my extremities. When hesqueezed, I had to fight like hell to contain the whimper that wanted to break free.
I was grateful when he said nothing and just walked past me towards Al, who waited next to his vehicle—Kai’s vehicle, just for tonight.
He was starting behind me, in second position.
The underground circuit differed from the ASL, but not only because it was illegal. The lack of a full weekend for practice and qualifying led us to base starting positions on past-race stats. I hadn’t rejoined the circuit since I’d signed with Zenith, not wanting to bring negative attention to my new team, but even after months away, my numbers were miles ahead of everyone else, so I’d kept my position at the front.
So similar to Kai, yet still so different.
Al’s stats weren’t far off mine, and since it wasKai Mercerdriving in his place, the organisers agreed to let him keep his spot. The idea of corrupting the ASL’s golden boy with an illegal street race probably thrilled them. And once the ASL fans found out, they’d only fall harder for him.
Nothing like a bit of rebellion to give a poster boy some edge.
If the books I read were anything to go by, everyone loved a bad boy.
