Racing Hearts (Hollows Garage Book 3)

The knock on the door after Jax left made me jump, and I wondered if I would feel comfortable and not worry that it was Slaughter or Tristan on the other side.

“Carly? It’s Ash. Jax said you needed to get a phone.”

I pulled open the door, the relief that flooded through me that it was only Ash. “More like he’s forcing me to get a phone,” I said with a tight smile.

I was beginning to really like Ash. Quinn and Scout, too. They seemed like a close-knit group, but didn’t act like I was an outsider. They had been happy to bring me with them before and hadn’t treated me any differently than they treated each other. There were no snide comments or rude attitudes towards me. And surprisingly, I didn’t spend every second comparing myself to them.

It was nice. Really nice.

I had always wanted girl friends, but high school was not the place to make them for me. After high school, I never really gave myself a chance to find new friends.

“Ahh, I thought it was a little weird when he said I better get you a phone no matter what you say. Why wouldn’t you want a phone?”

“I’m working on not being found. A phone makes that easier.”

She grabbed a drink and sat back at the counter. “Been there before. We will get you a new number and put it in my name. No one will know anything about where you are.”

“Are you serious? You would do that for a stranger?”

“It’s not a problem. If it’s in my name, no one will connect it to you. Win-win. You get to stay hidden and get a phone.”

“I also really can’t afford one.”

“Of course not, Jax is paying,” she said, fishing out a card from her pocket. “He said you two already agreed to that, but I’m now assuming you did not agree, based on your face.”

“No, we definitely did not agree with that. I can’t let him buy me a phone.”

She sighed. “I will be the first woman to say women’s rights, make your own money, don’t need a guy’s money, but I’m also not stupid. If a man hands you a credit card, you go shopping.” She grinned hard. I didn’t think Ash and I were much alike, but I decided right then that I really liked that.

I pulled out what money I did have on me. “I can at least pay for half. What is with you guys? You’re like one big, helpful family.”

Her smile brightened. “Pretty much. And seriously, don’t stress about the phone. I have my phone through Holt Racing’s account and can add yours to it. Make the giant racing company buy it,” she said, laughing. “We are stopping for coffee, though, and Jax will absolutely be paying for that. But really, don’t worry about the phone. We look out for one another.”

“I’m learning that fast. It’s weird for me. That hasn’t been my experience with groups of people like this, especially when I am not a part of your crew.”

“While you’re staying here, consider yourself a part of the group. Keep an open mind with us. We’re all a little strange in our own ways, but we care about each other. So, let’s get going so we can get you a phone. You are coming with me, right?”

I didn’t remember Jax saying anything about me going. “I wasn’t planning on it. Riot is already annoyed with me that we aren’t going on as long of walks as he’s used to. I’d hate to make him stay here all day alone.”

She went to lean over the couch, petting him as he rolled over.

“Jax said I should just pick it up for you, but I figured you would want to get out of the apartment more. Why don’t you both come with me today?”

“Really?” I asked, watching Riot drool all over her. “You know, you are not what I was expecting.”

“Now I need to know. What were you expecting?”

“Bitchy, cold, annoyed. The typical girl that runs with street racers.”

“Well, I don’t know about your typical type that runs with them, but you won’t find that type here exactly. Quinn is a sweetheart and Scout is a bit of a rough street racer herself, but is an even bigger sweetheart. I mean, don’t be fooled, they will both cut someone if needed. I’m not a girl that has run with any street racers. I am a racer, but since I grew up at Holt Racing, I’m more of a ‘contained on a track’ racer. The street makes me nervous.”

“Any racing makes me nervous.”

“It’s at least fun to watch. Come with me. I was heading there now for a few things. Riot can come, and there’s plenty of room for him to run around.” She patted his head again, and he looked up at her with love.

“I don’t know. I don’t know how much I should go out.”

“It’s completely safe. Full security and I can tell the guard not to let anyone unknown in today. Plus, are any of these people looking for you really going to be looking at Holt Racing?” Her hands went to her hips with a smile.

“Very true,” I laughed. “That wouldn’t even make it on the list of places to look.”

“Exactly. So come on, it will be fun, and I want to get to know you more, anyway. If you’re going to be living here for a bit, we are all going to want to get to know you more.”

“Honestly, getting out of here would be nice for the day, but getting to know so many new people at once sounds terrible.”

Ash made a little cheer, and Riot barked at the sudden noise. “Oh sorry, Riot. You want to come for a ride with us?” Riot barked again in response.

“I have never wanted a dog before, but now I need one. A big scary teddy bear like this.” She grinned harder as I laughed.

I changed quickly and grabbed my bag. “Don’t even tell Jax that he was right, but I am so happy to get a phone. I still feel lost without it, like I’m always forgetting something.”

“Then let’s get that fixed. We will stop for the phone first and then head to the track.”

We made it to the car before Ash gave me a sly smile.

“Okay, time to tell me everything. How is it living with Jax?”

If I questioned it before, I didn’t now. These girls were not shy and definitely not uncomfortable being best friends immediately. I barely knew how to react. If I should tell her everything that was on my mind or keep things to myself. I was barely sure how to be a friend, let alone be close enough to act like a best friend.

I decided on somewhere in between.

“It’s alright. We both seem okay dealing with each other, and he’s obviously nice enough to be around.”

She made a groaning sound before looking at me with a big grin. “I’m not here for the boring roommate stuff. Tell those things to Scout. Give me the good stuff. I meant, how is it living with a tall, hot, muscled tattooed man who is the sweetest thing in the world?”

“Oh. I mean, that part isn’t terrible.”

“Not terrible? Jax without a shirt on is more than not bad.”

I looked at her, not able to stop my laugh. “Aren’t you dating Fox?”

“Yeah, but I also have eyes. And Jax is basically my best friend. I have to help him out where I can.”

“What do you mean, help him out? How is pointing out how hot he is helping him out?”

“So you do agree that he is hot,” she said, laughing harder now.

“Okay, yes, I also have eyes and can see that he is good looking. Does that even matter? Nothing is going to happen.”

“Why not? He’s a good guy.”

“I don’t know that, and I really doubt I’m his type.”

“Beautiful and funny isn’t his type? Pretty sure that’s right up his alley.”

I looked at her, trying not to roll my eyes.

“Whatever you say,” she said, that sly smile back. “I guess we’ll just have to see how it goes.”

Two hours later, I had a new phone that I was setting up as I watched professional racers move around a circle track with ease. It was intense, each lap making me look longer and longer at the track. Ash was looking something over with her friend Cole as they talked about the upcoming rally races.

“Speak of the devil,” Cole said as another guy walked up.

“Hey now, how am I the devil?”

“We all know you’re the worst of the worst, Raf.” Ash said with a smile that showed she didn’t mean it, but I took a small step away.

“Oh come on now, you’re scaring off the pretty girl.”

“Don’t even start,” she said to him before turning to me. “He’s a nice guy, but an endless flirt.”

He turned, giving me the first full look of his face. It was perfect, the hard jaw, piercing gray eyes, and smile that let me know he knew how to be charming. “Before you start listening to her lies, let me at least tell you my name. I’m Raf.” He reached out his hand, but I didn’t take it. He seemed nice enough, entirely relaxed and happy, but I was too skeptical of anyone right now. If Ash was fine with him here, though, I would be nice enough.

“Carly.”

“Pretty name for a pretty girl. Plus, it has my favorite thing right in it, car. Nice to meet you.”

I only stared. It wasn’t that I was horribly self conscious. My day-to-day life didn’t change because I was a little heavier. My hips and ass were a little thicker, and I knew I wasn’t a perfectly petite woman, but it really didn’t bother me.

Except for times like this.

I hated when I had eyes on me like this. Something about the undivided attention made me start worrying about every inch of my body until I wanted to hide. It was a big reason why I never got too far in the sex department. A guy’s undivided attention on you was hard enough, but adding the layer of intimacy and him touching all those parts that you’re feeling insecure about was hell. How could I be okay when suddenly all those parts I was worried about became the main attraction?

“Sorry,” he said, wincing. “That might have been too corny of a joke. What are you up to today?”

“I came to hang out with Ash.”

“Oh yeah, has she had a chance to show you around?”

“I think I’ve seen enough, but I’m assuming you are going to offer to show me around yourself?”

He laughed. “I was actually. Not impressed?”

“Not quite,” I said, my response a little more rude than I meant it to be.

“Alright, give me another shot. Maybe I’m just flustered with a hot girl here. You don’t really come to expect them when day after day it’s a bunch of sweaty guys hanging out here. And Ash, of course. What are you doing? New phone?”

“Yeah, and I can’t get it to log me in,” I said, still trying to mess with the dumb login screen.

“I’m surprisingly good at technology. Want help?” I shrugged, handing it over.

He clicked through the phone, asking for my email and then smiling.

“All done. I better make a test call,” he said, hitting more buttons until his phone started ringing. “And look at that, it works. You can save that under Raf if you want.”

“You think you’re really smooth, don’t you?” I asked, trying not to smile as I took the phone back.

“Come on, that was pretty smooth, and I did actually set up the phone.”

“Fine, you get a few points for that.” I knew he was flirting with me, and I realized I might be flirting back. For the first time in a long time, it was actually fun. There were no expectations, it could just be sitting here flirting for a few minutes with no other strings attached.

I finally glanced down as a text came through.

“Did you seriously put your name in here as hot Raf?”

He flashed a smile that should have made my knees weak, but only made me want to put a stop to all of this. “Yep. You never know. What if you meet another Raf and have to be able to tell the names apart? Plus, the chances of him being better looking than me are slim to none.”

“Alright Raf, that’s enough. Come on Carly, we should get back before it gets any later.”

We said our goodbyes, and I gave Raf one more curious look over before heading with Ash back to the car.

“Shit,” she said. “Jax has called me like ten times. He doesn’t know you came with me, does he?”

“No, I never said anything. I don’t even have his number.”

“Shit,” she said again. “Come on.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I forgot to text him earlier, and now he’s freaking out that you are not at home.”

“Freaking out, why?”

“Because there’s crazy people after you and he doesn’t know where you are?”

“I don’t get it. He barely knows me, but acts like it’s his job to take care of me now.”

“Pretty sure Jax really thinks it’s his job. That’s just how he operates. How the entire group operates, actually. Like I said, you’re a part of that now.”

‘Do you want to text him and let him know?’ I asked, hopeful that I wouldn’t have to deal with whatever freak out he could be having about this.

‘And take the wrath of Jax? No way. I’ll leave that up to you.’

My heart beat was suddenly out of control. ‘The wrath of Jax?’

‘No. Oh no, babe. I was kidding. Wrong wording. There’s no wrath with Jax. You might get a boa constrictor that can’t stop hugging you, but that’s about as far as his wrath goes. Don’t look so scared!’

“Okay. Alright then,” I said, taking a steadying breath. “We aren’t far, anyway. I’ll just talk to him when we get there.”

I looked out the window at the setting sun. I didn’t know if I wanted to be included in this group. I had never wanted to be part of any group again, knowing that it can change to a toxic group in the blink of an eye.

We pulled in and I headed up with Ash, taking the next set of stairs up to Jax’s apartment as slow as I could.

The lights were on when I walked in, but Jax was nowhere to be seen. I almost yelled out for him, but Riot ran into Jax’s room as soon as I unclipped his harness and I went after him.

“Riot, no!” I hissed, peeking inside, worried he was either out or asleep.

By the time I made it in, Riot was draped over Jax’s knees as he sat on the bed, petting and hugging him. A book was set out next to him, but Jax moved fast to put it in the nightstand drawer before I got closer.

The fast way he hid it only made me more curious now.

“Sorry, I didn’t know he was going to bolt in here like that.”

“It’s fine. I missed him anyway.” He kissed his head and then stood facing me. I tried not to stare. He was only wearing a pair of sweatpants, and the sight of his bare chest was leaving me breathless.

Tattoos covered his body, with small random tattoos across his stomach and arms, with one bigger one across his chest. There was so much of him, and I wanted to reach out and run my hands down each muscled inch. I stepped closer, finally seeing what that little word at the bottom of his neck was.

“Forever? Why that word?”

 “I’m a bit of a romantic.”

“You got that tattooed for a girl?” I said, the horror in my tone not hidden.

He shook his head with a laugh. “No. I got it because I believe in forever. I didn’t have any girl in mind when I got it, besides hoping I would find it one day.”

“Wow, that is a very romantic thought. Borderline delusional to think that there’s a forever with someone.”

“Delusional? No. Hopeful? Yes. But I see that you are very anti-romantic. Of course, you can have forever with someone. That’s not a made-up thing.”

“Right,” I said, breathless. There was so much of him, and each muscled inch made me want to reach out and run my fingers across that word before moving down the rest of him. He was close enough now that I could.

The thought surprised me.

Enough that I had to step back, and he noticed, pulling us both back to reality.

“Ash said you were with her at the track all day.”

“Yeah.”

“Obviously you’re not some prisoner here, but until I know you’re not in danger of being kidnapped, can you please update me if you leave?”

My brows furrowed. “Aren’t you going to get mad at me?”

“I am mad. I’m mad that I spent the last two hours worrying about where the fuck you were and no one thought to let me know that you weren’t taken by Slaughter today. Ash wasn’t picking up her phone, and no one knew that you went with her.”

“Sorry, I thought Ash let you know, and she thought that I let you know.”

He looked down at me, his eyes roaming over my face. “No one let me know. I thought you were taken, and I didn’t even know where to start looking. I was about five minutes from going to find Slaughter myself, but Kye advised me to calm down first.”

“Is that a joke? You can’t go looking for him even if he did take me!” My breath quickened, and I knew how wide my eyes were. “You barely even know me, definitely not enough to put yourself in that much danger.”

“So? I was going to come find you. I wouldn’t let him take you and get away with it.”

The panic that he was about to flip out only got worse as he reached out, making me duck from his hand.

“Whoa,” he said, jumping back. “I wasn’t going to hurt you.”

“Reflex, sorry. It’s not usually a good thing when someone is mad at you and reaches out like that.”

“No need to apologize. I wasn’t trying to freak you out. I’m also not mad at you. Not really.” He took a deep breath and smiled. “I’m going to do something now, and I need you to stay calm. I am not going to hurt you.”

I was ready for a fight, my body on edge as he stepped closer, invading my space as he wrapped his arms around me.

“You smell like lavender, and dirt from the track,” he said. “It’s an amazing combination.”

“What are you doing?”

“It’s called a hug. It’s where I hold on to you for a minute, and you,” he grabbed my arms, pulling them around his waist, “hold on to me. I’m glad you’re okay.”

I froze for a second before leaning in. He had obviously showered, his hair damp, and everything around me smelled like the clean mint soap he had in the bathroom.

“See, no knives, no needles, no pain.”

“Speak for yourself,” I said into his chest.

He pulled away. “Fine, grouch, hugs over.”

“Wait, no it’s not.” I pulled him back in, and he didn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around me again. I couldn’t remember the last hug I had that I enjoyed. One that I wasn’t counting down the seconds before I could make it stop. They were always so uncomfortable, and if it wasn’t a quick hug to my mom, it was a hug with someone that smelled, or I didn’t like, or was really just trying to feel me up.

Slaughter’s friends were the worst.

This wasn’t like that, though. I took a deep breath, sinking further against him, until it felt like he was holding me up. He didn’t make any attempt to move away, but held on tighter, taking everything I needed to let go of.

In a split second, reality crashed. He was not here to take my burdens, to hold me when I was down, or to help me at all.

He was nothing more than a stranger to me and I was somehow standing in his bedroom, holding onto him as he hugged me. All while he didn’t have a shirt on, and for some reason that was making me like this even more. My thoughts wandered back to running my hands down him, the heat spreading across my face as I thought about touching all of him.

I pushed away again, trying to catch my breath.

“But really? Grouch? That better not stick,” I said.

“Depends on how grumpy you are.”

“I’m going to clean up and go to bed. And I better not hear that nickname anymore.”

“Sweet dreams…Grouch,” he said, as I slammed the door in his face.