Racing Hearts (Hollows Garage Book 3)

It was ridiculous how much I was thinking about her.

There was no way I should be constantly wondering about what she was doing or wearing or thinking. I barely knew her, but I somehow wanted to know everything I could. This morning, like the last few, was spent watching her wake up with her coffee and messy hair, and somehow, less and less of me cared that I should be avoiding Slaughter’s step-daughter.

I was pathetic. I was supposed to be heading back to the apartment soon and would see her, but I had to wrap up the car I was working on first. I still pulled out my phone and hit her name.

JAX

How’s your day going?

Minutes went by before I got three angry faces back.

CARLY

I messed up dinner and you’re supposed to be back any time now. I don’t have enough ingredients, or enough time, to start again.

More angry faces followed. She was funny even when she wasn’t trying to be, and I could only laugh as I texted her back.

JAX

That bad?

CARLY

Yes.

JAX

No problem. We can go to the store after I’m done or just pick up food?

CARLY

Store.

I smiled and decided that my day was done. There was no way I wasn’t going to wait longer to head home. Twenty minutes later, I was parked outside the apartment with the biggest grin as she ran to the car.

“Rough day?” I asked.

“The worst. My brain is a mess, and I couldn’t focus on anything, so I kept getting sidetracked. Let’s just go to the store and I’ll find something else to make. I messed it up beyond repair.”

“Or…” I said, pulling out and heading to the diner. “We skip the store and grab some food so you don’t have to cook.”

The diner wasn’t far, maybe ten minutes on a bad day, but with the heavy rain today, traffic was light so I could make it in five.

She started to protest, but I patted her leg. “If you had a bad day, there’s no point in pushing it. Relax.”

I could feel her eyes on me as she pushed my hand away.

“What about people seeing me?”

“Listen, it’s cold, it’s pouring sideways rain, and I’m starving. Put this hoodie on and hide that mane of hair until we sit down. I will make sure you are okay. I come here all the time and have never seen Slaughter or anyone like him. It’s more like eighty-year-olds and college kids, not car thieves with bad taste in food.”

It’s not that the diner was bad, the little place was more like a hole in the wall for locals. Nothing fancy, but everything was clean and comfortable. The older green vinyl booths weren’t exactly good looking and the wood on the walls looked about 20 years overdue for an upgrade, but it didn’t matter. They were basically open 24/7 every day of the year and never seemed to judge us whether we paid in pennies, like we used to do, or hundreds.

I was surprised she didn’t protest, but instead quietly pulled it on. At least she trusted me a little now.

She hid her face as we ran in and stayed close as I walked up back to the farthest booth. From here, she could sit and be hidden to anyone else in the room without a problem.

“Get in first. We’ll sit like that so there’s less chance of seeing you,” I said and she listened without hesitation. I could feel the rumble of my chest more than I could hear it and hope that she wouldn’t notice. Carly angry and ready to hit me with a bat was hot, but so was this side of her that trusted me enough to listen.

I watched as her eyes scanned the menu. Every few seconds her nose would crinkle like something sounded gross, but then it stopped as she bit at her lip. This girl was adorable, and it was making me lose my mind.

“Find what you want?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

I heard the rev of the car as her head whipped to look out the window. Her body jumped and her hand clamped down on my thigh. I waited, looking as the car passed in a blur.

“It’s not them,” I whispered as she leaned into me harder. “I know the guy that drives that car and he doesn’t hang out with Slaughter.”

“Right. Of course. I can’t think that every car will be them.”

“It’s okay. I can understand why you’re worried. You can stay alert, but I promise, I can kick their asses any day. Didn’t I prove that already?” I laughed, trying to help her calm down.

She bit at her lip more before laughing. “Yeah, I guess you have.”

I wrapped my arm around the back of the booth behind her, way too aware of her hand as her fingers flexed on my thigh and I thankfully stifled another groan as she moved in closer, her head nearly resting on my shoulder.

“Did that freak you out so much that you need your bodyguard, or just suddenly decide you don’t hate me?”

Her eyes moved up to meet mine, but her head stayed tilted until she was glaring up at me.

“Just freaked out,” she finally said.

“So you do hate me then? I’ve been wondering, but you’re so hot and cold I couldn’t figure it out.”

“I tried to hate you, but honestly, I’m struggling to find something to hate. It’s annoying.”

The waitress came over to take our order before I could answer. She smiled down at me and I guessed she had to be around our age. Her eyes lit up as she leaned down, showing off her low cut shirt as she stared at me. We came here often enough that I knew her, and knew that she was constantly flirting with one of us, but that had dwindled down to only flirting with me since Ransom and Fox were taken and Kye made his disinterest very clear. I wasn’t interested either, especially not now, but I didn’t have it in me to make it as clear as Kye.

She flirted more as she took our order, and it wasn’t until she walked away that I looked back at Carly.

The flush of red across her cheeks was vibrant, and the deep furrow of her brows let me know that I fucked up somehow.

“Does this just happen everywhere you go?”

“Does what happen?”

“Women hitting on you. So blatantly flirting?”

“She was just being nice. She acts like that with all of us”

“You’re kidding, right?”

“No?”

“She’s flirting with you, Jax.”

“Fine, but I wasn’t flirting back.”

“Are you serious? You absolutely were,” she said, the furrow of her brows gone as a small, knowing smile graced her lips.

“Is this a problem?”

“Not at all. I just think it’s funny that you’re cozied up here with me and she has no hesitation about flirting.”

The smile on my face grew more, and I took advantage of her slip of the tongue to pull her close. “I did think it was getting pretty cozy. I’m glad to know it wasn’t just me.”

“Knock it off,” she said, pushing back away from me, getting even farther this time. I had been joking, but the sudden loss of her tucked next to me was leaving me with an all too familiar empty feeling.

Not that this was the same thing as what’s happened to me in the past. We weren’t here on a date and she wasn’t rejecting my affection because I was too much to deal with.

Well, maybe a little because of that, but I didn’t think Carly honestly didn’t like me. She just didn’t like me flirting with her.

The waitress came back with our food and Carly didn’t hide her scowl.

“Thanks,” I said. “Could my girlfriend here get a refill?” I asked, not daring to glance at Carly again yet.

“Oh, your girlfriend. Of course. I’ll grab that.”

The second she turned, Carly smacked at me.

“Why did you say that?”

“You wanted her to stop flirting, I wanted her to stop flirting, and I wanted to see your face turn that shade of red when I said it.”

“I don’t care if she kept flirting!” she whispered the words so angrily that I laughed more.

“Right, that’s why you looked like you were contemplating violence. It’s alright, it’s all very entertaining.”

“I was not contemplating that!”

“What were you thinking about, then?” I said, grinning as she stared daggers at me.

“I don’t want to say.”

“Then I’ll believe it was about violence, and how much you like me.”

“No, I was just annoyed that she didn’t think we could actually be here together. Like, I get it, you’re hot, but we are literally sitting right next to each other. She could at least pretend not to think I’m that beneath you.”

The vivid picture of Carly beneath me flashed through my mind. I knew it wasn’t what she meant, but that really didn’t matter.

“Beneath me? Do you think that woman thinks that I wouldn’t be with you? Don’t you mean that you wouldn’t be with me?”

“Don’t even play that cutesy game with me. You’re obviously good looking.”

“I mean, I don’t think I’m terrible to look at, but you’re gorgeous. Why would anyone think we couldn’t be here together?”

She only shook her head. “We’re dropping the subject. I’m not going to sit here and talk about this with you, of all people.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You’re too hot to understand what the issue is and too nice to think that other people are not thinking as kind of thoughts.”

I didn’t think there was any winning here. Scout had been the equivalent of my little sister for most of our lives, and I knew how this conversation went. I said the wrong thing, and she gets more upset. I didn’t understand people. Scout had been bullied for being too skinny and I was assuming Carly had been made to feel bad for being too curvy. I didn’t think there was anything I could say right now to help make her feel any better.

“I personally think you’re the one out of my league. If I had to paint the perfect woman, she would look like you. I mean, granted, you know that I can’t draw for shit, but you get my point.”

Her lip twitched, but she still didn’t smile. “I thought I said I want to change the subject.”

The food came, and we started eating. “Alright, grouch, then tell me. Are you trying to be a chef in a fancy restaurant, or own something like this?”

Her nose scrunched as she looked around. “I don’t think I want the stress of a fancy restaurant, but this place is a bit…outdated. Can I pick a middle option?”

“What is the middle option?”

She shrugged and turned, leaning back into the corner to face me more. “I don’t know. I want to make cooking videos, create new recipes, maybe a cookbook. Something like this place would be cool if the regulars don’t protest about new food items and updated decorations.”

The smile on her face was so genuine that I wanted to keep it there. “They would. You know they would, but the change could be nice. And as much as I don’t complain about the food here, yours is better.”

“What about you?” she asked.

“What about me?”

“Well, obviously you’re a mechanic, but is there anything else you want to do?”

I usually gave some boring response to this, but with her I didn’t want to. “I don’t know. I always feel like I want to do something more, but I don’t know what that is. I like being around cars, so I don’t want to give that up. I guess I haven’t found anything else I want yet.”

“Well, I’ve heard a life of crime is really popular with the racing crowd, so I guess there’s always that,” she said with a tight smile.

“Yeah? I was hoping for something a little less illegal and a little more fulfilling, but I will keep that in mind. I would already have some experience at least,” I said, grinning at her. “Speaking of racing, we need to go.”

“Go where?”

“To go race my friends, in the rain. Probably spin the car around in circles, too. Come on,” I said, throwing money down and pulling her out of the booth with me. “It’s fun. I promise.”

“But the roads are wet, and it’s dark out,” she said, not hiding the panic.

“And I’m a good driver with headlights.”

She got up, pulling the hood back over her hair and walking out with me. The rain had let up, but I could still feel a mist coming down on us as we got in.

“I can bring you home or you can come with me. I take you being safe pretty seriously though, so I wouldn’t let anything bad happen to you.”

She was quiet for a minute as I started the car, but then her hand wrapped around the crook of my elbow.

“Okay. I’ll go with you,” she said, the unsteady tone reminding me how unsure she was.

I nodded, pulling out and not saying another word. I don’t know what made her decide to trust me, but I wasn’t going to question it. Especially not when her hand stayed there, the entire time I drove. Her fingers biting into my bicep as I pushed the car faster. We hit the empty road out of town that led to an empty lot we liked to race each other at. I moved through the gears until we were at ninety, but she still didn’t make a sound.

I knew her trust wasn’t given lightly, but the warmth that filled my chest made it undeniable – I loved that she trusted me.