Just Say Yes (Just Say Yes #2) (20 page)

It was a nice, warm, Northern California night as I sat down on the bleachers at the drag strip with Jess. Andy was going to be racing his ’69 Camaro that night. He’d made a few more changes to it over the last couple of months and it was going to be his first race since he finished. Noah was with Andy in the tech line, waiting for the safety inspection that had to be performed before they could race.

Several cars were through tech and already racing. Two diesel pickups were on the track doing burnouts in the burnout boxes to get their tires hot and sticky for better traction for their race. Thick plumes of black exhaust boiled out of their giant smoke stacks. We couldn’t even see down in to the pits anymore because there was so much black smoke in the air.

It was Andy’s first race of the year so I was excited and nervous for him. I sort of felt like I was the cause of him not racing because we were spending so much time together.

The week before, I had been horribly sick with a nasty flu bug that had been going around. All the employees at my store caught it as well. I pretty much banned everyone from my apartment so they didn’t get sick too, which gave Andy plenty of time to get his car ready.

Jess and I watched the light tree count down through the yellow lights. The second the light turned green the diesel trucks shot down the track, billowing thick, black smoke behind them. The crowd went crazy. There were several newer diesel drag racing clubs around the area and everyone loved them.

“First race tonight, huh, Z?” Jess asked anxiously. “Is Andy excited to see what his car can do?”

I nodded. “Yes, very excited. They put it on the dyno and it’s looking like it might be pretty fast. We’ll see what happens.”

We watched several more cars race until the track officials stopped the races and hopped in their truck to spray the track with VHT. The last couple of cars in the lane closest to us were having some traction issues and sliding sideways instead of moving forward. With the VHT liquid down, the tires would stick to the track better and not spin out.

Andy’s Camaro was three rows back in the staging lanes; it looked like he passed tech and was going to race soon.

I pulled my cell phone out and sent him a quick text.

Good luck! Be careful too. Love you!

He sent me a text right back.

Thank you. Love you more. Meet me at the truck when it’s over.

The cars started pulling forward once the VHT was down and the track was ready, so I didn’t text him back.

I watched as a ’62 or ’63 Nova and a ’71 Camaro pulled into the boxes and smoked us all out with their burnouts.

Jess and I both took in a deep breath and exhaled. “Ahh, nothing like a little tire smoke to make a girl happy,” I joked as Jess rolled her eyes at me, laughing. It was a James family joke.

The two cars staged and sped down the track. Two more cars to go, then Andy was up.

I glanced at the car Andy would be racing.
Shit.
It was a black 1967 Chevelle, which if I was not mistaken, used to belong to me.

“Ah shit, Jess, look at the car next to Andy’s. I think it’s Rob.”

She dug in her purse, pulled out a tiny pair of binoculars, and looked through them. “Yep, it’s Rob. Do you think Andy knows it’s him?”

I didn’t dare ask why she carried binoculars in her purse, but I did wonder what else was in there. I had visions of Hermione Granger pulling all kinds of crazy shit out of that tiny bag she carried in one of the
Harry Potter
movies, and let out a little chuckle.

“Oh, he knows” I finally responded. The next two cars staged and raced down the track. “At least I know what the Chevelle will do and Andy’s car is definitely going to be faster, so that’s a plus.”

We hadn’t heard a word from Rob since the prank call when I was in Mexico back in February. I assumed the punches that Andy landed on him shut him up. I hoped it stayed that way. I heard the unmistakable sound of Andy’s car start up, and then watched as he pulled into the burnout box. Rob pulled up next to him in his own lane.

“Oh God, I can’t watch, Jess!” I covered my eyes with my hands and took in a deep breath. My heart pounded in my chest as I peeked between my fingers to watch the cars pull up to the start line. Unable to see inside either of the cars, I had no idea if Rob even knew it was Andy next to him.

The pre-stage light blinked on and I held my breath again. The Camaro’s engine revved up. The stage light flipped on next and I cringed. Andy’s car started to tilt slightly from the torque of the engine. As the next three yellow lights flipped on, one right after the other, I uncovered my eyes completely and stood up.

Green light!

Andy’s car lurched forward and the front tires slightly came up off the ground, while the Chevelle’s tires hooked up and the car started moving down the track. Rob was already at the hundred-foot mark, so Andy had a little distance to go to catch up to him.

Since it was his first race after he made several improvements to his car, he was taking it a little easy. By the time Rob hit the half-track mark, he had gained three car lengths on Andy. Andy shifted his car into third gear and caught up to the Chevelle quickly.

At three-quarters of the way down the track, Andy shifted his Camaro into fourth gear and flew past Rob, like he was standing still. Andy beat him by four car lengths. The reader boards showed Andy’s time at 10.90 at 128 miles per hour, not too bad for his first time.

He would do even better the next time. We jumped up and down, cheering along with half the people in the bleachers. I heard shouts of “Damn, that guy got smoked.” and “Did you see that?” There were even a few laughs heard.

My dad and brothers built the Chevelle for me, and I actually raced it a couple of times, but it was no match for the Camaro. We made our way down the steps of the bleachers and walked to the pits to wait for Andy to make it back to his car trailer.

About ten minutes later, he pulled his car up to where we were waiting and shut it off. He hopped out and walked over to where we were standing. Andy and Noah talked about how the car handled for a few minutes, while Jess and I waited.

When Noah and Andy finished their discussion, he held his hand out to me. “Come here.”

He wrapped his arms around me, picked me up off the ground, and nuzzled his face into the crook of my neck. “Are you still feeling good?” he asked. “I’m glad to see you out of the apartment finally, even though you lost too much weight.”

I nodded, wrapped my arms around his neck, and planted a kiss on his lips. “Nice job,” I said, a little more smugly than I probably should have. “Four car lengths, that was pretty impressive.” I was damn proud of my man.

Andy chuckled and shook his head. “I wasn’t gonna let that idiot beat me in front of my girl,” he joked as he put me down.

“Are you going to go again?”

“Yeah, I want to check under the hood first then I’ll head back out to the staging lanes.”

He popped the hood and lifted it up to check something in the engine compartment. Noah stuck his head under the hood too, and they started checking belts and hoses and who knew what else. I was more interested in the view.

“Would you look at that, Jess?” I joked, watching my gorgeous man’s ass as he bent over the fender of his car. “Sheer perfection.”

She started giggling. “Yes, they’re both quite the vision with the way they’re bent over the car, aren’t they? Zoey, how does a man get a butt like that anyway?”

I shrugged my shoulders because I had no clue. All I knew was Andy’s ass was amazing to look at both in
and
out of clothing. They looked over their shoulders when Jess and I busted up laughing.

“What’s so funny, babe?” Noah asked over his shoulder.

Jess grinned. “Oh, nothing, baby. You’re both the
butt
of a private joke, that’s all.”

It went right over Noah’s head, but the expression on Andy’s face told me he knew what Jess meant. A smug grin spread across his face before he turned back around and bent over his car again.

Thank you, Jesus, for an ass that nice.

A few minutes later, Andy put the hood down on his Camaro and went inside his car trailer. He came back out with a second helmet. He held it up and shook it in his hand. “Zoey, you want to ride with me this time?”

I hadn’t been down the track in ages. I squealed because I was so excited. I think I may have even jumped up and down a couple times in anticipation. He smiled, shaking his head at me, then handed me the helmet.

“Should I take your excitement as a yes?”

“No, you should take it as a fuck yes!”

Andy chuckled as I ran around to the passenger side of the car and hopped in while he sat in the driver’s seat. Instinctively, I reached over my shoulder to grab the seatbelt, when I realized he had racing seats in the car and a five-point racing seatbelt.

I immediately started laughing. I was wearing a skirt. A very short skirt at that.

“Um, Andy?” I said as I pulled the seatbelt up where it was supposed to go.

“Ah, fuck me,” he said after he looked down and realized my predicament. He ran his fingers through his hair as he stared down at my lap.

One of the seatbelt straps was bolted to the floor under the edge of the seat, which meant it had to come up between my legs to buckle over my stomach. I giggled as I pulled my skirt up a few inches and started to buckle myself in.

“Wait, it’s not quite high enough. You should raise it a little bit more. Make sure you can get your seatbelt nice and tight. Wouldn’t want it too loose, now would we?” he questioned as he stared hungrily at my bare legs, then up my body to look me in the eyes.

I smirked and pulled it up as high as I could, then buckled myself in. “Better?” I asked.

“Yes.” He reached down and adjusted himself in his pants.

“Can I help you with that?” I smiled as I playfully batted my eyelashes at him.

He started up the car, pushed in the clutch, and put it in first gear. “You definitely can later.”

He drove over to the staging lanes and parked while we waited our turn. “So, Andy, wanna make out while we wait?” I teased. “I’m kind of pinned in over here. You can do whatever you want to me.”

He looked over at me and shook his head. “I’m about ready to take you back to my car trailer right now, Zoey,” he said seriously. “It feels like I haven’t touched you in a month.”

Now there’s an idea.
“Promise?” I asked.

The two cars in front of us started their engines and pulled forward. “We’re up next!” I said excitedly.

He looked over at me curiously. “Are you really that happy to be doing this?”

“Hell yes, I’m excited. It’s been forever since I’ve even been at the raceway, and even longer since I’ve actually been
down
the racetrack.”

A surprised expression washed over his face. “You’ve been in an actual drag race?”

I nodded. “I raced the Chevelle before. It’s how I knew your car would beat it. The boys and my dad built it for me to race. It’s pretty basic, but it was enough for me to drive.”

The two cars in front of us raced their way down the track.

“You never cease to amaze me, Zoey.”

I laughed. “Hey, you’re lucky I’m not begging to drive
your car.”

He raised his eyebrows. “Maybe I’ll let you next time,” he said as he put on his seatbelt and helmet.

“You’d really let me drive your car? In a
race
?” I pulled on my helmet and turned to him. I was shocked.

Andy started the car back up, shifted into first gear, and pulled forward into the burnout box. He just smiled and didn’t answer me. After he did a nice, smoky burnout, he pulled the Camaro up to the line. While he messed with buttons and toggle switches, I looked over at the car next to us. Luckily, it wasn’t Rob again.

My adrenaline started pumping when the pre-stage light came on and Andy revved the car up, getting ready to go. I felt the car shift slightly from the torque, and rev up higher as the lights on the light tree quickly counted down to green.

My body vibrated with excitement, fear, and honestly, there was a whole lot of lust mixed in as I looked over at my man in the driver’s seat.

The second the light turned green, Andy slammed on the gas and released the clutch. The front of the car raised up as the tires came up off the ground again, and like a rocket, he launched us down the track. I squealed with excitement as the G-force pushed my body back against the seat. It was exhilarating and I could not stop smiling.

I watched Andy as he smashed the clutch and gas pedals as he shifted through the gears. And as quick as it started, it was over. I checked the reader board; he gained some time and speed with the second pass leaving the other racecar in the dust.

The car turned down the return road and we took our helmets off. “That was so fucking awesome!” I yelled over the noise of the motor and exhaust system.

He looked over at me with a sexy grin on his face. “I’m glad you enjoyed it. You ready to go home now?”

Watching him race, pounding pedals and shifting gears, turned me on. He was in his element at the track, and seeing him race like that had me wanting him right there. I nodded and squeezed his thigh. I was ready to take him to bed, and the way he was looking at me, I was pretty sure he was thinking the same thing I was.

We made our way back to the car trailer, where Jess and Noah were waiting for us. I quickly unbuckled myself and pulled my skirt back down to a decent length, then hopped out of the car.

Noah helped Andy load the car in the trailer, while Jess and I waited.

“I’m so excited for my bachelorette party this weekend, Zoey,” Jess squealed. I think it finally hit her that she was getting married in less than two weeks.

“I can’t believe it’s already June,” I said in disbelief. “Let me know if you need me to help with anything else, alright?”

The months that had passed since Andy and I came back from Cabo were amazing and perfect. Time was flying by since then, and every day was definitely getting better for us.