Page 38 of Nitro
I gripped the wheel, my pulse thrumming in my ears.
Torin revved his engine again, and I did the same. Then his deep voice came through the intercom in my helmet. “Ready, sweetheart?”
“I was born ready,” I shot back, even though my hands were shaking on the leather-wrapped wheel.
Lined up at the edge of the stretch, the faint scent of gasoline hung heavy in the humid air. For one suspended heartbeat, it was just the two of us—man and woman, machine and machine, a line painted across the road we were about to burn through.
Then Torin counted down, and I slammed the accelerator to the floor the second his voice cut off. My car roared to life beneath me, the vibrations shooting up my arms and throughmy chest like lightning. The tires screamed against the asphalt, smoke curling into the humid night as we shot forward.
Adrenaline surged through my veins, stronger than anything I’d ever felt on a sanctioned track. Or the underground races.
This wasn’t just about speed. It was about Torin. Our future.
His car shot forward beside me, the gleam of chrome and the growl of his engine matching my pace. For a few wild seconds, we were side by side, and my pulse raced to the same rhythm as the pistons firing under my hood.
Then I pushed harder, the wheel vibrating against my grip. Every gear change and featherlight touch of the brakes had to be perfect. The world narrowed to the road in front of me and Torin’s car, hugging the line beside mine.
He edged forward a hair, and frustration mixed with exhilaration.
Not tonight. Not when the stakes were this high.
I called up every ounce of grit I’d earned, all the laps that had cut blisters into my palms, the sneers I’d ignored, and each dismissal I’d shoved back into their faces.
I poured it all into this race and surged forward.
The finish line blazed under the floodlights, and I crossed it a whisper ahead of him. By mere inches.
I gasped, my chest heaving and my heart threatening to tear out of me as I hit the brakes and rolled to a stop. My whole body was buzzing, the echo of victory burning through me like wildfire.
But as I ripped off my helmet and sucked in the damp night air, suspicion crept in around the edges of triumph. My gaze cut to Torin’s car. His helmet was also off, and he grinned at me through the passenger window.
I barely won, but a question whispered through the back of my mind.Had he let me?
But even if he had, I didn’t care. Because what I wanted more than anything was that leather vest—and the man who came with it.
My pulse still hadn’t calmed when I shoved open the door and swung out of my car, tossing my helmet on the now-empty seat. The air carried the familiar scent of rubber and gasoline, the heat of our race still hanging over the pavement.
Torin climbed out of his car and circled it. His hair was mussed from the ride, and his dark eyes locked on me as though I was the only thing that existed.
“You went easy on me.” I pointed a finger at him, though my voice came out breathless, the accusation lacking any bite. “Don’t even try to deny it.”
“Maybe.” He pushed off the car, his grin widening. “But I don’t hear you complainin’. Congrats, baby. You just earned your vest.”
My throat closed. “You mean?—”
“That’s what we were racing for, right?”
I nodded, happy tears filling my eyes. “Yup.”
Twisting around, he grabbed a black leather vest with the colors of the Redline Kings stitched boldly across the back, with PROPERTY OF NITRO beneath it. He turned it in his hands, and I saw my name on the front.
The air left my lungs as I lurched toward him. He held the vest out to me. “It’s official now. Everyone who sees you in this will know you’re mine.”
I took the property patch, my tears blurring the letters. I dragged in a sharp breath, half laugh and half sob. “Torin…”
I slid the vest on, tears streaming too fast to blink away, but he wasn’t done.
“Wait.” He reached into the glove box of his car, then straightened with a small black box in the palm of his big hand.
