Racing Hearts (Hollows Garage Book 3)

By the time I pulled the Charger into the garage at the apartments, Carly was in my lap, kissing me like her life depended on it.

Which was only fair, since I was pretty sure that mine depended on it now.

“Are you okay?” I whispered, pulling back from her.

“Yeah, I am now.”

“Would you like to sit here and talk about it or go upstairs and forget about it for a while?” I asked with a smirk.

“Both,” she said, her face falling until she was scowling at me.

“I can give you a lot of things, but I don’t know if I can do both of those at the same time.”

“You’ve done enough for me. You’ve done more for me than anyone.” Her tone was so sad that my chest ached at the sound. “I shouldn’t ask anymore of you.”

“What’s going on? Is my little ice witch realizing she actually has feelings like the rest of us?”

She finally cracked, her lips curving into a smile, giving me enough reason to lean in and kiss her again.

“I already had my suspicions,” she said, making me laugh. “I’m just realizing that it’s going to be hard to leave now.”

“You don’t have to. I think I’ve been trying to explain that to you for days.”

“But I can’t. Look at what happened. I can’t put you all in danger because I selfishly want to stay.”

“But we’re fine. We took care of it. All of us.”

“They are going to come back. Ambush me, or all of us, again. Anything they can do to get me and that laptop,” she said. Her lips pressed hard together and for a second I was thinking she was going to cry, but she only wrapped her arms around me. “I’m sorry.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong, sweetheart. Come on, let’s go upstairs.”

I pulled her out of the car, Riot jumping down and barreling upstairs in front of us. I kept her moving until I moved into the bedroom, pulling off every inch of clothing as we went. The sudden need to be with her, against her, buried in her.

I groaned as a shiver ran through me. I needed her, and more importantly, I wanted her to see that she needed me. Not for anything other than the fact that we belonged together.

I pulled her down into bed, following her back as I kissed her.

Before I could continue, though, she slipped away, rolling over and away from me. She was apparently about to try to freeze me out again. Her little speech that she needs to go and not get us involved only made me more pissed off at Slaughter, and I was about one more fight with Carly about it before I went out and dealt with it myself.

For now, though, I wasn’t going to let her shut me out, not after what she just went through.

I moved up behind her, curling around her and moving her hair until I could kiss up and down her neck.

“I’m no longer in the mood for the happy sunshine boy.”

“Too bad. You’re stuck with him and he wants to kiss every inch of you until you feel better.”

She made an annoyed groan but didn’t push me away and I took my opening. My lips brushed over her spine before I flicked out my tongue, running it up her neck.

Lips, teeth, tongue. I moved over her, making sure I didn’t miss any part as I made my way down her neck and chest and stomach until I reached her hips. I moved back up, mimicking my movements until her hips pushed up into me and she moaned.

“Fuck. You know, you make me cum like you do, and I’m ready to marry you tomorrow,” I said, laughing. I knew it was partly a joke, but I couldn’t stop myself from saying it. My desperate mind was looking for anything that would keep her here forever.

“Jax, you know I’m —”

“Leaving? Yes, you’ve only told me a hundred times. While I appreciate the honesty, it does nothing to stop me falling in love with you. I love every second with you, smiling or scowling. Mad at me or happy. I love every minute. I mean, thank you for not leading me on to believe I have a chance, and I wish it did help, but it doesn’t. I’ve already fallen in love with you.”

“You shouldn’t have.”

“It’s not like I could stop it. Maybe don’t be so perfect for me. Maybe it’s your fault for storming into my life,” I said with another laugh. I could hear the strain in this one. “And say what you want. I think you’ve already fallen for me, too.”

“I can’t.”

“You can. You saw that I can keep you safe.. Nothing else is stopping you from staying here until you’re sick of me. I would make that really impossible, though.”

“But I can’t keep you and the crew safe. That isn’t fair.”

“We can keep ourselves safe.”

She was almost snarling at me now. “Is this really the conversation to have while you are trying to fuck me?” I had undressed her the rest of the way, resting myself over top of her until my cock sat against her wetness.

I leaned down, nipping at her ear and pinning her wrists to the bed.

“What are you doing? Are we getting back to sex?”

“No. I just have to hold you down so you don’t run when I tell you that I am not fucking you. I am one hundred percent making love to you.”

Her face scrunched, and she tried to pull away. “Oh eww, Jax. Don’t ever call it that again.”

I laughed harder, my stomach clenching so hard I wanted to roll off of her. “Fine, but you have to do something for me.” I adjusted myself, lifting up and pushing deep into her.

She gasped and then groaned when I stopped again.

“What do I have to do?”

“Keep your eyes on me. Look at me as you cum. Don’t look away as you fall apart on my cock.”

She gave a hazy nod in agreement before I started to move again, picking up my pace until I was nearly slamming into her, but every time I did she smiled and moaned, encouraging me to do it more.

Her head rolled to the side as her orgasm grew, so I stopped, not saying a word until she looked back at me.

Then I moved again and her eyes went wide until she was clutching at me. Nails dug in and her body tightened, and all I could think about was how I wanted this forever. Then, I was right there with her, my body shuttering as I came hard. Already wishing I could do it all over again. There was never enough of her.

“You’re the worst,” she panted, but she was still smiling.

“You only say that because you are so insanely in love with me that you can’t even stand it. Because you know that I will always take care of you.”

She mumbled something as I rolled away, pulling her with me to head to the shower.

She kept up, holding onto my arm as we made it into the shower. I turned on the water, and without another word, she was on me. Her body was flush against mine, reaching up to kiss me. Her hands wove into my hair until she was pulling me down harder. She was giving me everything, and all it did was fill me with dread. After everything that happened today, she was ready to run, and I was starting to worry this was her goodbye.

“I’M SO HUNGRY,” I whispered into the dark room a few hours later. I pulled myself up and out of bed. “Do you want something to eat?”

“Yes, but there is no possible way that I could get up and cook right now.”

“I wasn’t even going to ask. And I already know there are leftovers, so we’re good.” I said, heading out into the kitchen.

Minutes went by before she stepped out, fully dressed, with something in her hand, and looking pissed.

“What could have possibly happened in the five minutes I have been out here to make you look like that?”

She didn’t say anything, but came over to the counter and set a laptop down in front of me.

“I’m guessing that’s not yours.”

“No. This is the one Slaughter was talking about.”

“Is it Slaughter’s computer?” I asked, opening it up.

My stomach dropped, the words making sense but somehow sounding like nonsense.

“Why do you have his laptop?” I could hear the coldness in my voice, but she had been storing this here, hiding it from me. I had heard him earlier, but had been too preoccupied to ask more about it.

Or I was delusional that it had ever gone away.

“Because I took it when I left.”

“This has been here the entire time, and you didn’t tell me? I told you that I didn’t want to put anyone here in the way of this. And you what? Heard ‘bring stolen items into the apartment’ instead?”

“No, I heard what you said. At first, I kind of just let myself forget about it, then when you let me put my stuff in the dresser, I realized that I was too scared to bring it up.”

“But I never scared you, Carly. I never did anything to make you feel unsafe around me.”

“No, but I knew you wouldn’t like this. I didn’t know if you would kick me right back out at that point and I had nowhere else to go. And honestly, I didn’t want to tell you the truth.”

“Why? We could have figured this all out weeks ago, and maybe you could have realized you could stay without all of this hanging over your head.”

“That wouldn’t happen. He still needs my help.”

“Why?”

“At first it was because I was too scared to face Slaughter. Then, I didn’t know if there was actually enough on it to get him in trouble. I know he needs it to steal these new cars, but I can’t figure out why exactly. Plus, a lot of stuff on there might incriminate me, too.”

I ground my teeth together, a headache already forming. “Why?”

“Because, for a long time, I helped them with their stealing car operations. I didn’t exactly mean to. I was doing the things they asked and keeping the peace. Then something happened, and I woke up to what I was doing. They noticed and told me that I pretty much had one choice and that choice was helping them steal new cars. I was supposed to start hacking into databases to change VIN numbers and make titles, but I couldn’t do it. I guess it doesn’t matter, though, because my name is all over the files on that laptop. They will assume I had a bigger role in all of it.”

“Shit. What the fuck, Carly?” I said, not meaning it nearly as harsh as I sounded.

Then she did the one thing I wasn’t expecting, or prepared for. One thing I hadn’t seen her do yet.

She started crying.

“Fuck,” I said, moving around the counter to her. She didn’t move as I wrapped my arms around her. “Don’t cry, please, it’s okay.”

“No, it’s not. I’m either going to have to run away like I planned to do, or go to jail.”

“Those aren’t the only options, my sweet little witch,” I said, kissing her head. “We will figure something out.”

“We? There is no we? You can’t be more involved with this, and I’ve already dragged it all to your front door. Again, look at what happened today!” she said through tears. “I made this mess, I did some of those things that it shows, I have to be the one to fix it.”

“By what? Leaving? I don’t want that.”

“Of course you do. I lied to you. I hid this from you and put you and the crew in danger. You can’t be okay with this.”

“I’m not, but I also can’t stand you crying. Were you even aware that you had tear ducts?”

That finally made her laugh, the harsh breath coming before she took a deep breath.

“No, I figured they dried up years ago.”

“Why are you crying now?”

She pushed harder into me, her arms tightening so much I was going to struggle to breathe soon.

“Because I don’t want to leave,” she said finally, her voice so quiet I could barely hear it. But I did, and my heart burst at the words.

She was choosing me.

And there was no chance in hell that I was going to let Slaughter and Tristan change that now.

“You don’t have to leave.”

“I do. I can’t bring these problems to you again. I can’t let anyone get hurt. and I have already let this go on for too long. I thought I would take care of it sooner, but then everything happened with you and I kept telling myself that I would do it the next day. That I would leave it and take care of it then, but I kept staying. I can’t put it off any longer. I don’t know what to do, but I have to figure it out.”

“No, I don’t think you can.”

“So then I should leave.”

“I never said that. I mean that I agree. We’ve put it off for too long and we need to take care of this. You can’t live your life running from them, and I can’t live my life without you here, so we’re going to finish this somehow.”

“When you found out that I kind of was related to Slaughter and that he was after me, you wanted me to leave. You didn’t want to put your friends in danger and make a mess of your lives. Why would you be willing to do that now?”

“Because a lot changes when you fall in love with someone, Carly, including the things you would do for that person.”

“I don’t want you to do anything for me. I don’t want to be your problem.”

“I’m begging you to be my problem. I want you to stay. I want to kiss you every day, I want to wake up and see you, and sit watching your fucking mean little face until you finish your coffee, and I want to hear about your day. I want Riot to jump on me every time I walk in the door. I want to watch your ridiculous scary movies and try not to make fun of you when I see how much you like the romance ones I put on. I don’t care if you have some problems from your past. Would you care if I did?”

“No, but you’re not a walking problem. I don’t know how to prove that I’m worth being in your life with all of this hanging over my head.”

“Prove it? What the hell would that mean? You don’t have to prove that you are worth loving, you just are. And I mean, you are loveable exactly the way you are. Stop thinking I need you to be some cheerleader in my life. Who you are is perfect for me. We are not exactly the same and I like it that way. We balance each other, and I think we both need that. As for the problems with Slaughter and Tristan, we will take care of it.”

“I feel balanced with you. I mean, aside from having all these emotions that I didn’t know I could have, the rest of me feels calm, balanced, and I like it. But how could I take care of things with Slaughter without ending up in jail or his prisoner?”

“I don’t know, but I don’t think we are going to figure that out right now. Come on, you look exhausted. Let’s try to get some rest.”

She nodded, wrapping her arms around my waist. “Thank you for not hating me. I’m sorry I kept all of that from you. I thought it was the right thing to do at the time.”

“I know. I’m glad you finally told me. Now come on. Let’s get you into bed.”

WE WENT TO BED, but I didn’t sleep.

I stared at her for another hour before I made my decision.

I was going to fix this.

I had waited until I heard her steady breaths before I got up and threw on clothes. Riot went to move, but I held up a hand. “Stay.”

Unmoving, he watched as I crept out of the room, throwing on my boots and jacket quickly before stepping into the hallway. I think Riot was just as worried about her as I was. Maybe more, considering he hadn’t been more than a foot away from her since earlier.

Two phone calls later I had Slaughters phone number, dialing quickly before I could worry about making a plan. I need to keep her safe, and wanting to live here, while keeping the entire crew safe from getting jumped. I knew Slaughter would start trying to attack us when our backs were turned. He was a dirty fighter, and we learned our lessons with him before. I wasn’t going to put anyone in that position again.

He picked up on the third ring.

“Hey, we need to talk. I don’t need you bothering us again, so let’s make a deal.”

Slaughter was quiet before finally laughing. “Meet me at the empty lot we use for races. Bring her and the laptop and we can figure something out.”

“Be there in twenty.”

“I’ll be waiting.”

I looked at the laptop and back at the door. I wasn’t bringing either of them, but needed the laptop safe in case we did come to an agreement. I was only handing it over if he agreed to keep her out of this, and erase her name from every single document on that laptop. If he needed it that badly, he would do it. I headed to Kye’s apartment, knocking since it was nearly the middle of the night.

He opened the door in seconds, eyebrows up in surprise.

“You good?”

“Not quite. I have to go meet with Slaughter and need this safe. It’s got incriminating evidence for him, but incriminates Carly, too. Can you hold on to it until I figure out what he wants?”

“Yeah, but I think I should come with you.”

“No, not yet. I’m meeting him out at the lot we race at. I’m going to find out what he wants and then head back here.”

“You sure, though? Wouldn’t it be better if I came?”

“No, not now. I don’t want him to think I’m up to something and showing up with everyone would definitely make it look like a retaliation attack after today. I’m going to try to talk to him and see if we can come to an agreement. He obviously wants this laptop, but I can’t hand it over if it’s going to get her in trouble, too.”

Kye nodded. “Fine. I get it. Keep texting, so I know what’s up and you know we will be there if you need us.”

“I know. Hopefully that won’t be needed. I’m going to make an offer, and if he refuses, I leave. He wants me to bring Carly and the laptop so once he sees that it didn’t, it might be over before it starts.”

He nodded, and I headed back downstairs to my car. It wasn’t a far drive, but I wanted this over as soon as I could finish it.

The sooner this was over with, the sooner she could live her life the way she wanted. And hopefully, that still included choosing me because I was sure as hell choosing her.