Racing Hearts (Hollows Garage Book 3)

By the time he pulled off into the pit area, I was almost ready to ask him to go again. I had been forced to ride in these stupid fast cars with reckless drivers so many times that I had only learned how not to throw up, not how to enjoy it. Until now.

Jax came around, pulling open my door and helping me out.

“Have fun?”

“More fun than I ever had in a death trap.”

“Good, you did amazing. We’re going to have to take my car out more often,” he said, leaning down to kiss me. “But for now, I have to go park the car and wrap this part of the day up.”

Scout and Ash came over as soon as I walked away from the car.

“Hey, want to go grab food?”

“Yes, please,” I said, surprised I had an appetite after being so nervous. “I’m starving, and all I’ve seen so far is water and beer.”

Ash laughed. “Yeah, they had some hot dogs out for the kids, but I haven’t been able to get my hands on one.”

“Ugh, it’s so hard being the princess of this empire,” Scout said, linking her arm in Ash’s.

“It truly is. I’m so glad you don’t have to have the burden of benefiting from this.”

“Benefiting?”

“Scout is working her way onto a Holt racing team. It’s a long shot right this second, but hopefully she’s still on her way to the qualifying races. She makes fun of me for being a princess, yet she’s treated like the queen of the castle. Even my dad loves her.”

Scout cocked her head, leaning it on Ash. “At what point do you all bow to the Queen?”

Ash pushed her off. “Oh my god, you are terrible,” she said but was laughing. “Come on, food, now. Come on, Ransom and Quinn have it all at our cars.”

We made it over, Quinn already pulling bags of food out of the car and walking them over to a small table right in front of the cars.

I leaned back on Jax’s hood, grabbing a burger and listening as the crew talked. They were so different from Slaughter and his friends. Where they would degrade and taunt the women, these guys seemed to worship the girls. It had all become obvious by this point, but sometimes it still felt like a shock. Tristan had been dating my sister and seemed nice enough to her, but he would still mess around with any girl that would take him. None of these guys ever made any indication that they knew women existed outside of the group, let alone do anything with one.

I went to take another bite when a head came around mine, teeth sinking into my burger and pulling away to kiss me on the cheek.

I turned back to see Jax laid out on his hood, chewing his giant bite with a smile.

“You stole my burger!”

“I don’t know. My car, my girl, seems like it should be my burger, too.”

“I am not—”

He cut me off, his tone low and serious. “For now, you are.”

He laid back, sunglasses on, as he looked up at the sky. He looked so happy, so relaxed and it hit me how easy life was with him. “And don’t fight me on it or I will literally only refer to you as my girl. I will tell anyone that walks by until your cheeks turn red like that constantly.”

I covered my face, feeling their warmth. “You’re the worst,” I said, still smiling.

“Hey, do you guys want to go to the races tonight?” Scout asked, looking at her phone. “Apparently, there’s a pretty big round of them going on.”

“Right, because we haven’t had enough cars today?” Quinn snorted, but rolled her eyes as soon as she looked at Ransom. His usually hardened face now softened into a sweet, charming smile.

“Oh my god, fine, yeah we will go.”

Everyone else agreed, but Jax was quiet behind me. I could feel him slide up next to me, leaning down to whisper.

“I don’t know. I was more looking forward to getting you home,” he said, a small laugh on his lips.

“More than racing?”

“Always,” he said, biting at my ear.

“Racing tonight sounds great,” I said to the group, making Jax groan against my ear.

“Devil woman,” he mumbled. “You’re trying to test that theory of passing out from blue balls. You’re in luck, it’s working. I’m feeling faint.”

“Eat another burger. Maybe you just need protein.”

“Not quite what I need, but another burger does sound good.”

We sat for a while longer, Jax next to me the entire time as I tried to not think of everything he could have been doing to me tonight instead of racing.

I thought making him wait longer would be funny, but honestly, now I was mad at myself.

His leg pushed against mine as he sat next to me, the heat of him reaching every part of me.

Then his hand was on my back, his thumb moving in slow circles, trying to kill me.

I suddenly didn’t think I was going to make it the entire night.

IT WAS ONLY eight at night and I had never been so ready to go home and go to bed.

Why did I do this to myself?

Why did I not take the tall, dark, and handsome street racer to bed last night when he wanted to, and why didn’t I rush home tonight instead of coming out?

Why did I think teasing him was so much fun?

And why was the third girl of the night hanging all over him?

I leaned back on the car and tried to take a deep breath. I had been next to Jax until I realized he was going to talk to everyone and I needed a break from…everyone.

Now I was sitting car lengths away, watching as he started grinning hard, his leather jacket hanging open to a white t-shirt underneath as he talked with Ransom, Quinn, and some girl that I didn’t know.

I almost screamed as a guy came up behind me. Kye slid up next to me, kicking his boots up onto the bumper and pulling out a knife.

“Maybe don’t sneak up on girls alone in parking lots and pull out a knife,” I said, laughing as I tried to slow my heartbeat.

“This wasn’t to use on you,” he said, laughing. “It kind of seemed like you were over here plotting a murder, based on your face.”

My lips twitched with a smile. “Normally, I would agree, but I think this time I’m the one who put myself in this position. I left him there to talk to everyone while I took a moment of not talking.”

“So, just a fight, then?” He asked, flipping his blade and handing it to me.

“What’s this for?”

“Just in case. I assume Jax didn’t give you one yet?”

“No? Do I need one?”

“The girl who has some nasty fucking people hunting her down? Yeah, I feel like a knife is the least you can have. I’m assuming Jax didn’t give you one? He tends to ignore the bad parts of our lives.”

“The bad parts?”

“The wrecks, the fights, you know, the bad things. He does what he has to do and moves on.”

“Yeah, that sounds like him. I could scream and yell and be a complete asshole to him and he will move on and be fine. Like, he forgives me immediately,” I said, throwing my hands up.

“We all deal with our upbringing and lives differently. Jax likes to keep the peace. His family were fighters. Constant yelling and screaming. I think half the time they forgot he was alive, or maybe hoped that he wasn’t.”

“And now he wants that attention,” I said, the words quiet. “You deal with it by not being touched?”

“Hard to like hands on you when they only brought pain.”

“But you like fighting?” I asked, laughing.

He laughed along with me. “I guess it feels like home. I’m not going to say it makes sense. I’m pretty fucked up here sometimes,” he said, tapping his head.

“I feel really great about being over here alone with you now,” I said, making sure the sarcasm was obvious.

He laughed harder, pulling out another knife and throwing it up in the air before catching it. “Yeah, right. I would bet you’re like me enough and could put up a hell of a fight.”

“You think I’m like you?”

He shrugged. “I think you’re like all of us. Fit right in with your problems chasing you down and weirdo quirks. Plus, you walk around looking like you want to kill someone. I personally enjoy it, but you’re not exactly little miss sunshine. I’m not either. Honestly, I’m only hoping you stick around so I have a better chance at the scary movies getting chosen on movie night. I swear if Jax offers up Pretty Woman one more time.” He flipped the knife around again, shaking his head as he leaned back and looked over. Jax was laughing about something, and my stomach clenched.

“What I was getting at is since you seem to be sticking around and getting close to Jax, maybe don’t go for the throat on him. One of the few people I would want by me in a fight, but between the crew he can’t take turbulence and I know he doesn’t want it with you. I’m not trying to say he can’t handle it if he deserves it, of course, but other than that, the guy is a little pathetic about needing affection.”

I smacked his chest. “Hey, don’t be mean to him.”

“Damn, I was right. One wrong word about Jax and you’re already getting violent.”

I stood up and shook my head. “I would hug you, but I don’t know which one of us would hate that more, so thank you for the knife and the weird pep talk that actually worked. I’m going to go get Jax now.”

Kye laughed. “And I’m going to race. Keep that knife on you and don’t let your guard down here tonight.”

I nodded, feeling for Jax, who was still talking with the other three. He had glanced back a few times as I talked to Kye and I could see the jealousy from there. I knew the only reason he wasn’t stomping over was because it was Kye.

I wasn’t shying away now. I wrapped an arm around Jax’s waist, sidling up next to him. He beamed down at me, angling his body in front of mine and stepping until I was forced back.

“What are you doing?” I asked, laughing as he leaned down and kissed me.

“Taking what I have been thinking about taking for the past hour. Why did we come? I want to leave.”

“Okay,” I said, breathless. “Let’s go.”

“Serious?”

“Completely.” I pulled him down, kissing him until his lips parted and his tongue slid against mine. It was a match to gasoline, lighting me up until I was panting with need.

Jax groaned. “I agreed to a race.”

“Right now?”

“In a few minutes. I’m supposed to be going to get my car.”

I smacked at him lightly. “Right when I was about to beg you for sex, you pull away and say you need to go race? So close, Jax, so, so, close.”

He rested his forehead against mine. “Forget it. I don’t want to race.”

“What happens if you back out?” He kissed me again, his hands running down my sides to my hips, where he grabbed hard, pulling me closer.

“I’m forfeiting and losing two grand.”

“Excuse me? You’re racing for two thousand dollars?”

“Yes. I don’t always do it only because it’s fun. I’ll tell them I’m out. Coming with me or waiting in the car? It will only take a minute.”

“Whoa, not a chance. You are racing. There’s no way you’re losing that much money just to get home a little faster.”

“It’s fine. I’ll make up the difference on a different night.”

“You would give up the race and that much money to get home an hour or so faster?”

“Do you fully understand how bad you’ve been teasing me? I mean, I get you don’t have a lot of experience and stuff, but you do realize how fucked up I am right now with wanting you, right?”

“Yeah and it’s definitely not two grand worth of fucked up. Go race and win your money. If you forfeit, nothing will be happening tonight.”

“You’re serious?”

“Absolutely.” His smile grew, and he laughed against my lips. “Fine, I’ll go race and then we are leaving. As in, you wait at the line and get in the car as soon as I stop.”

He pushed me back further into the shadows until we were at his car.

“Are you wet for me yet, little witch?”

The words knocked the breath from my lungs. “Yes, all night.”

He made that low groan against my neck. “I would pay all that money just to taste you right now. Actually…” He moved until my back was against the car and wrapped his hands around my thighs, lifting my legs up until I was sitting on the hood. He shifted until I could feel him hard between my legs. “I’m really trying to convince myself that sex right here wouldn’t be a good idea,” he mumbled.

“Really? It’s looking like a good idea to me.” I cupped his jaw, pulling him back to me and he responded, biting my lip and kissing me harder.

A blaring horn went off and he leaned back, catching his breath. “Tell me now, sweetheart. Do you want to go, or should I race?”

“Race. Definitely race. At least if you’re two grand richer tonight, I won’t feel so bad about all the things you bought for me this morning.”

He laughed as he set me down. “Race it is then. Reluctantly, just so you know.”

I moved my hand down his chest to his jeans, feeling how hard he was. “Oh, I know.”

“Devil Woman,” he whispered with a smile before pushing away. “I’m going to get this over with. Like I said, be ready.”

I headed to the rest of the crew, who were lined up sitting on the front of their cars. Scout was on the end and smiled as I leaned back next to her.

“Is he all ready to go?”

“I think so. He better be after that high of a bet.”

Scout laughed and knocked against Ransom on her other side. “They seem to get higher and higher the older we get.”

“That’s because a thousand dollars was a million to us back then. Now we can handle it. It makes it more fun, anyway.”

“You mean it makes your ego feel better when you win,” Scout said, and Ransom moved to put her in a headlock.

“Like you don’t bet money on your races?” He asked, laughing. “And how many times have you hustled men that think you’re a small, innocent little thing only to see you beat them by a mile and take their money?”

She was yelling for him to let her go and smacking blindly at him until he finally did.

“Dammit, Ransom, you’re going to mess up my hair.” Her red hair was braided into two long braids and she patted them down. One was coming loose, but she couldn’t reach it to fix it.

 It all felt so comfortable. No passive aggressive attitudes, no hateful tones, not even the normal toxic family moves. They genuinely liked each other.

And I hated to say that I liked them all, too. I knew part of me would always be an outsider to any group, but they didn’t make that feel weird or wrong. They let me be.

“Here, move over. I can fix the braid.”

“Thanks. Ash did them. I have no idea how to do them myself.”

I nodded, fixing her hair and tying it up as Jax pulled up. All at once, the crew got up, yelling and whooping their cheers.

I stood up but stayed quiet, watching Jax’s car line up. The track was circular, leaving part of it out of view, but it was short, which meant he wasn’t out of sight for long. The revving engines reverberated through the air, creating an electrifying atmosphere that sent shivers down my spine.

As the roar of engines echoed, they suddenly burst into view around the corner. Jax was at the forefront, his car a blur as he maneuvered around the turns with ease, each motion more proof of his skill and expertise. Jax’s car surged forward, overtaking the other car with one last burst of speed that left me breathless. To go that fast in such a short distance felt foreign to me.

By the finish line, it was clear that Jax was ahead, with an entire car length between them.

The cheers from the crew echoed around me again, but I couldn’t stop staring at his car as he began to slow. Jax was caring, kind, constantly sweet, but he was ruthless too. Knowing when to push himself and win, knowing when it was right to fight and when it wasn’t, knowing when to push me out of my comfort zone, like making me drive.

The overwhelming need for him to be mine right now hit me, and before I could think it over, I was already on my way to him, ready to take every inch of him for myself.

I was halfway there when the other car pulled over, cutting Jax off.

Jax got out of the car with a smile, but just as fast, the other guy stalked over, pulling back his fist and landing it on Jax’s jaw.

He wasn’t expecting it. Falling back into his car, but just as fast he punched back, hitting the guy in the stomach and then face.

It turned into madness.

I ran over and pulled open the passenger side door to Jax’s car to grab my bat as the guy lunged for Jax again. He grabbed his jacket as Jax swung towards his face, hitting him in the eye.

I could hear the connection, the crunching of the guy’s nose.

The anger that burned through me was so hot I wanted to scream. Jax was the last person here who deserved this. I swung the bat, landing it on the back of the other guy’s thighs.

He yelled out, trying to turn, but Jax pushed, throwing him into the car.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Jax asked the guy and looked at me. “And what the fuck are you doing? Get away from here, Carly.” He was covered in blood now, his eye already turning an angry red, and shirt ripped and covered in more blood.

“Are you okay?” I asked him, trying to move closer, but the other racer was still in between us.

“I’m fine, Carly. Now go,” Jax said.

“Not a chance,” I said, surprised he would even suggest it.

I suddenly couldn’t stand the thought of anyone hurting Jax.