Pedal to the Metal: Love's Drivin' but Fate's Got the Pole (The 'Cuda Confessions Book 3) (14 page)

I scrubbed my palms on my jeans.

“It’s time, Shelby.” Dale’s voice dropped to a growl. “Hammer down and hell bent, kiddo. Turn in a practice lap that’ll make his balls crawl up into his asshole to hide. Show that little bastard what’s comin’ when he lines up against a motherfuckin’ Hannah.”

Dale’s words twisted inside my chest like living flame. I closed my eyes, focused on the hitching breaths I drew into my lungs. Moving my hand to the shifter, I tried to feel something, anything, through the stick.

Not one shimmy. Not a single, chugging shift in the timing reverberated through the stick.

But I felt something else. The sensation swirled behind my ribs, expanding until it lifted my eyelids.

Pride. If the Hannah legacy was at stake out here in the boondocks, then hell would freeze before I stained it.

“If I beat his ass, Dale, you’re adopting me. I don’t want a goddamn hyphen.”
Because that’s the only way I’ll ever be a real Hannah.

“I’ll be all over that first thing tomorrow, baby girl.”

Opening my eyes, I gave the pit official a curt nod. The lights immediately cycled to red.

Yellow.
I made sure I was in first gear and pushed the clutch to the sweet spot.

I stomped the gas. The engines screamed as the lights flashed green. I let the clutch out. The rear end squatted. For a breathless moment, the car didn’t move.

Then, the R8 leaped forward like a scalded dog. Half a heartbeat passed. I shoved in the clutch and shifted into second. I picked up the purr before I hit third; a low, whining cry for a higher gear from the rear.
Why the fuck did I think the sound would come from the front end?

Fourth.

Fifth.

And motherfuckin’ sixth.

Caine’s loud whoop didn’t faze me. I braked, laughing despite the tears creeping down my cheeks, as the streaking world slowed.

I reversed up the asphalt almost as fast as I’d gone down. Colt leaped the low wall alongside the track, waving something.

“Hey! Randall. Didja bring lube?” He jogged between the two vehicles and slammed the dildo and harness against the asshole’s windshield.

Caroline’s giggles floated on shimmering gasoline fumes.

“Put the window down,” I ordered. Caine laughed so hard, he missed the damn button the first two times he tried. When the glass finally slid out of the way, I yelled.

“Always wanted me some trailer trash boy pussy. Can you beat my eight point one or do I get to make you squeal like the pig you are
and
take your lunch money?”

Randall spat out the window. “That wasn’t part of the bet.”

Colt laughed so hard, he nearly fell over his own feet while jogging past my headlights to our pit box. Over Caroline’s high-pitched shrieks of mirth, I yelled again.

“Then, if you want me to race, I’ll need that extra grand. Not nearly as much fun, but taking your pocket change won’t give me something I need penicillin to cure.”

Randall’s face twisted. “The real question is, can
you
beat that time, girlie? That car coulda made that run with a monkey behind the wheel. Honey, I work in the plant where they build these. I know this car from the ground up, and, unlike you, I ain’t never let no computer drive for me.” He hawked another lugie onto the asphalt. “This is the only run that counts.” He gunned his engine. White smoke wafted between the two cars.

I sucked down the familiar, comforting smell of burning rubber and squinted at Caine. “Don’t they build SUVs at the local plant?”

Caine’s shoulders shook with laughter and he raised a thumb. “Yep. What a tool.”

“We might need a refund off’n that fancy college.” I’d forgotten all about Dale, who had eyes so round, I thought they might pop out of their sockets. “Such language, young lady. Trailer trash boy pussy?” He dragged the phrase out so slowly, I had time to blush before he reared back in his chair, erupting in laughter.

“Cycle the lights.” I snapped my fingers at the pit official. “Time to hand out a lesson in respect.”

Red.

Yellow.

I let the clutch out, timing green perfectly, anticipating the squat in the rear while the car gathered itself like a big cat. The gray Audi and mine jumped off the line, locked together like Siamese twins. I shoved in the clutch and found second gear.

Forget Randall. Drive.

This run had to be perfect. Everything I’d ever wanted lay just beyond the finish line, if I could get there first.

Almost everything.

Third.

Wanna ride with me, little sister? I’m gonna need gas or ass.

Fourth.

Show him what’s comin’ when he lines up against a motherfuckin’ Hannah.

Fifth.

Sixth.

I still had pedal, so I slammed the gas to the floor. The finish line lay twenty feet ahead. I touched the clutch, ready to gear down as soon as I raced past.

“Gone, girl! He’s a fuckin’ length and a half back,” Caine shouted. “Woo to the motherfuckin’ hoo!”

I tapped the brake and shoved in the clutch, backing down into fifth. Randall was still slowing his forward momentum when I reversed past him.

The old man waited in our pit box when I arrived. Jonny held a wad of bills. I stopped and lowered my window.

“We cool, Jonny?”

From the corner of my eye, the Super Snake’s tail lights flashed. Soon as the driver caught asphalt, his tires shrieked. The big engine roared as he raced off into the night.

Oh, well, guess he didn’t want none.
I glanced at Caine. “Was it something I said?”

He could barely speak for laughing. “Pretty sure it was that big ole fake cock.”

Ervin shuffled forward and leaned down to peer into the car.

“How ya doin’, Mr. Hannah?”

I blinked, wrenching around to stare at his leathery face. This old bastard knew Dale?

“Can’t complain, Ervin. Nice to meet’cha. Lee Haney sure has said some mighty fine things about you over the years.”

“He brags on you pretty damn hard, too.” Ervin swept his hat off, slapping it over his left chest. “And of course, I been a Ridenhour man half my life.”

Before I could open my mouth, Randall reversed past us and kept going. Dust churned and gravel popped the fence when he spun the wheel in the parking lot. His tires barked when he caught asphalt. His headlights lit the dark road, then his taillights disappeared in the opposite direction as the Super Snake.

I slapped the back of my hand against Caine’s chest. “Uh, hello? That bastard just left with my thousand dollars.”

Caroline and Jonny ran around the car to beat on Caine’s window. He managed to get it lowered. Caroline stuck her head inside.

“Whoo-wee! Hell of a race. Hey, Dale!” She waved like a little kid, fingers spread.

“Hey, honey. One of these days, you gotta show me what the fuck you done to the computer in this damn car.”

Caroline wrinkled her nose. “Nothin’ to it. Just a bit of code.”

Ervin interrupted before I could ask what the fuck they were talking about.

“Lee ‘bout talked my ear off today, tellin’ me about that race Shelby run at his place. I was worried Randall had seen that video, but, I reckon not.”

“Wait a damn minute.” I squinted at the old codger. “You knew who we were? And you let your boy run off at the mouth like that?”

He turned green-gray eyes on me, but they shined with humility. “Miss Shelby, I got me a problem child. Randall can drive, ain’t no doubt about it, but he started winnin’ and quit listenin’. I was talkin’ to Lee about the problem yesterday, and he said he’d call me back. I reckon he called Dale.”

“Yep.” Dale picked up the tale. “I needed to get you behind the wheel again, Shelby. Happened to overhear Caine and Jonny sayin’ Caroline needed money. Jonny and Colt can’t participate in no races, except the ones Rick pays ‘em to run, by contract. Caine... ain’t got your reflexes, darlin’. We knowed you wouldn’t let Caroline down.”

He shrugged. “Three birds. One stone. And motherfucker, if I hadn’t seen that seven point seven for myself, I’d call all y’all liars. Even Audi says that damn can can’t do but a twelve-second quarter mile. I know damn well, y’all didn’t put no aftermarket parts on that car, cause I just got my credit card statement today.”

“Had that clock calibrated today.” The old man bobbed his head. “Can’t quite believe it myself. Looks like you got one hell of a crew, Mr. Hannah.”

“How do you know Lee Haney?” I demanded, because at the moment, Ervin was the only person I trusted myself not to slap.

They’d all played me. Even Caroline, it seemed.

He wheezed, shoulders shaking. “Me an’ him used to be married to the same hellcat.”

I drew back in surprise.

“Which one was legal?” Caroline giggled.

Ervin’s grin gave me a glimpse of a once-handsome face. “We was married to her at different times.” The old man shook his head. “Damn, what a woman. She couldn’t cook worth a lick. Didn’t put out less’n she wanted somethin’, but goddamn, that redhead knew her way around a stick. Reckon a racin’ man can forgive most anything when that’s so.”

His words conjured my first ride with Colt and Caine.

It gives a man hope when a woman knows her way around a stick shift.

Hope of what?

That she might know her way around a different kind of stick, if you catch my drift.

“How’d you know?” I demanded of Dale, shaking off the poignant memory.

Dale’s expression belonged in the dictionary beside the word ‘smug’. “When Colt rolled a car his first time, we couldn’t get that boy to go fetch a gallon of milk for about six months. Ask him sometime what kind of shit we pulled on him to get him drivin’ again. Reckon that was right before me and your mama hooked up, baby doll.”

When you called him a coward
.

“I doubt it was as traumatizin’ as that thang y’all waved at Randall.” Ervin wheezed, hunching over and grabbing his abdomen. I couldn’t tell if the old man was laughing or dying.

Dale’s eyes rounded. “I think this is where I’d best say goodnight. I’ll round us up a lawyer in the mornin’. Damn fine job, Shelby Hannah. I love you, baby doll. Love all y’all. Jonny!”

“I love you, too, Dale,” I cried.

“Yes, sir?” Jonny took Caroline’s spot in the window.

“Give Ervin his five back. Y’all can keep the rest.”

“Yes, sir.”

Ervin flapped a hand. “Just gimme four. I’m gonna wring that thousand dollars Randall insulted you with, sweetheart, outta his ass.”

Ervin pulled my title from his inside jacket pocket with one hand, tapping ashes off his cigarette with the other. “I reckon this is your’n, ma’am. I apologize for Randall’s foul mouth. I hope, now that his pocketbook’s been pinched, he’ll find some humility.” He gave me that grin again. “And I don’t suppose you can put the tape of this race on that site of your’n, to help him out?”

“Count on it.”

I lifted my thumb, just as Dale barked. “Colt!”

Jonny backed away. Colt stuck his head inside the car. “Yes, sir?”

“My tally sheet has Shelby down for an engine worth sixty-five grand, a car for one-eighty, and now, six grand in cash. She’s diggin’ you a hole, son.”

Colt snorted. “Yeah? All I need is one win to lay her out in the shade.”

“I ain’t gettin’ no younger. I’d like to see that day with my own eyes.” Dale moved his gaze to Caine. “Pit Boss Hannah, fine job tonight. I figure the hardest part of your job happened at the college?”

Caine bobbed his head. “But, I had her at ‘Caroline needs help’. She wasn’t near as big a pussy as Colt.”

Colt jammed his fist into Caine’s shoulder, backing away with a laugh.

“Fellas, I need that backup car here no later’n seven in the mornin’. Kolby drew an early qualifyin’ time. I don’t wanna hear no shit about traffic. Be here or be prepared to find new jobs.”

“Yes, sir.” Caine darted a look my way.

Dale’s crew crowded into view to congratulate me. I waved, but heaved a sigh of relief when Caine disconnected the call.

“Let’s ride. We’re burnin’ moonlight and Dad just cut our night in half.” His expression sent my stomach into a slow roll.

Jonny accepted Ervin’s additional cash. He added the bills to the stack he pulled out of his jacket, then turned to press the money into Caroline’s hands. She threw her arms around his neck, meeting my eyes over his shoulder. Mascara stained her cheeks.

Okay, she does need the money.

“Nice meetin’ y’all.” Ervin tipped his cap. “And Jet, it’s good to see you found yourself a new family. What Dale said to his son about that first big win?” Jonny nodded. “Goes double for me. I’m a damn sight older than your crew chief. Get on the stick.”

“Yes, sir.” Jonny slung his free arm around Ervin, slapping him between jutting shoulder blades. “Put down the cigarettes, old man. Live a while longer.”

Ervin tugged another Marlboro free. “I lost in court, Jonny. City of Greer run in some new noise regulations. This place shuts down January first. I got one last season and that’s all she wrote.”

C
olt’s belt hit the floor with a thump. “Seven point
fuckin’
seven. Motherfucker’s gonna be tellin’ himself for the rest of his life it was the onboard computer that beat him.” He shoved his boxers down and reached for his cock, stroking the thick flesh. “If I didn’t know for sure Caine and Jonny disconnected the auto shift, I’d wonder my damn self. Jesus, you’re quick.” He took a knee at the end of the bed.