Magnetic Shift (13 page)

My gut burned with not-so-nice words that begged me to chase after him so I could throw them in his face. He had some nerve getting mad at me.

I washed up, retrieved my new headset, and climbed up to the top of the hauler. Dean arrived a while later with Mr. Langdon in tow, but no Gwen. Thank God—I didn’t think I could put up with her twirly miniskirts and her whiny daddy’s princess voice, but then Mr. Langdon said the only thing that had the potential to make me feel worse than I already did.

“Wasn’t it nice of Colton to ask Gwen to walk him to his car?”

Dean stared at me and tilted his head slightly as if waiting for Mr. Langdon’s words to sink in. They had. Big time. I looked over the edge of the railing. Colton stared up at me and slid his arm around Gwen’s tiny waist. She looked up at him admiringly, but his eyes were fixed on me until the jets flew overhead and Lenny nudged him to get in his car.

Once Colton hit the track, Gwen came running up the ladder and proceeded to tell her father every detail of her experience. My stomach churned.
Oh, my God, shoot me. Or better yet, shoot her.

“I’m heading to the ladies’ room,” I told Dean, annoyance crawling down my spine at Gwen’s non-stop verbal diarrhea. How did her father put up with it? She was almost eighteen, for crying out loud. Grow up. At Dean’s nodded approval, I scaled down the ladder. I thought of removing my headset,
but decided to keep it on in case the team needed me while I ventured around the infield.

I hadn’t planned to return, but with fifteen laps left and Jimmy’s announcement that Colton was closing in on the leader, I had to see how it would end. Dean smiled when I reached the top of the hauler. I smiled and stood next to him, gripping the railing.

“Eight to go,” Lenny said.

“Clear low,” his spotter added.

Colton dipped low, then tried to pass his opponent in turn three. Mitch ducked and blocked him.

“We’ve got company,” Jimmy said. “Who is it?” Colton asked. “Danny Morris, 160.”

“Crap!”

Colton dipped again, got up next to Mitch, and stayed with him while blocking 160’s attempts to get by.

“Two to go, Colt.”

Colton and Mitch came out of the last turn side by side, almost touching. The 160 lost control and clipped Mitch’s rear bumper. Mitch’s ass end shot up into the wall and his nosedived straight down into Colton’s car, sending him sideways onto the shoulder. All three straightened out, but the 160 took the lead, crossing the finish line first, with Colton second and Mitch Benson third.

“That little punk,” Colton screamed over the airways.

Dean cued his mic. “Nice recovery, Colt. Could’ve been a lot worse.”

We all headed down to the garage where camera crews and news reporters buzzed around Colton while the crew worked at
packing things up.

“What a remarkable recovery by Colton Tayler to get him the second-place finish here at the Phoenix International Raceway. Tell me, Colton, did you think you’d make it back up to the front after having to make a last-minute engine change?” asked a perky blonde.

I stood off to the side, watching Colton get microphones shoved in his face.

“We have a great team and a dedicated crew this year. There was no doubt in my mind that we could recover,” Colton answered. He seemed calm, but I knew better. He was fuming behind that façade.

“What happened to your previous engine, any thoughts?” the slim dark-haired reporter asked before shoving his microphone back in Colton’s face.

“Not sure at the moment, but the team is eager to get it home to the shop to have a look. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to my team. Thank you.”

Colton turned away and took off toward the hauler.

“Well, there you have it, folks …”

“Colton!” Gwen yelled as she ran to catch up to him, her long blonde ponytail bouncing behind her. Colton turned just as she launched herself into his arms. I stared as her hand reached up behind his neck. A twitch of anger went through me. Wow, this girl had no shame. Colton caught me watching them. He wrapped an arm around Gwen’s waist and brought her into the hauler with him.
Ugh
! Why did I even care?

Once the cameras and media personnel left the garage area, Dylan called Dean over to where the old engine sat. I followed, curious.

“Take a look at these head gaskets,” he said, leaning over the engine.

“Okay, what am I looking for? They look fine to me.”

“Exactly. Nothing’s wrong with them—the water pump’s fine too. The pistons and cylinders, on the other hand, are scorched to shit and the oil is garbage, but no hoses are leaking. The only way coolant could have gotten into this engine is if someone put it there. Someone had to have poured it down into the throttle body earlier this morning or sometime last night and let it sit in the intake manifold.”

“Are you saying the engine was sabotaged?”

“Looks like it, boss.”

Dean ran his hand over his face, then rubbed the back of his neck.

“Lexi.”

“Yeah, Dean?”

“Go get Colt. I want him here when the officials arrive.”

“Sure thing.” I sprinted to the hauler, threw open the side door, and let myself in. I put the brakes on at the sound of voices coming from Dean’s office.

“Yes, I’ll be there. I already told you I would. But not as your date, Gwen.”

“Why not? Don’t tell me you have a thing for that Lexi chick?” Gwen whined.

“I … God, no. Lexi’s—”

I’d heard enough.

I cleared my throat before he could say anything to make me hate him even more. Colton poked his head out. “Lexi, what are you—”

“Dean sent me to get you. He’s calling the NASCAR officials
over.”

His head snapped back, sending his flattened hair sweeping back. “What …? Why?”

“Your first engine was sabotaged.”

“Sabotaged? Are you sure?”

“Dylan seems to be sure.”

“Son of a bitch.” Colton reached around me for his ball cap and stormed out.

I turned to follow him when Gwen came walking out of the office. “Where’d Colt go?”

“Back to the garage. Racing business.”

“Huh. Well, can you tell him I’ll see him next weekend? And remind him that I’m going to save him all the slow dances.” She licked her lips, wiggled past me, and hopped off the hauler step. “Oh, and honey, I know you have the hots for him. I can see it in your eyes.”

“I do not.” My head throbbed. She had some nerve.

“Oh, please. Not like it matters anyway …” She stink-eyed me from ball cap down to steel-toed shoes. “The boy’s mine.”

My fingernails dug into my palms, and my teeth clenched so tight that my jaw threatened to seize. I wanted to pounce on her and claw out her eyes. Instead, I smirked. “No worries, Sunshine. He’s all yours.”

With her next step, the tall heel of her glossy pink shoe snapped.

“What the …” She caught her balance and picked up her shoe. The heel hung from the inlay of the sole.

I hid in the shadows and smiled to myself.

Darn those metal shoe pins.

chapter eleven

I sat and dangled my feet over the ledge of the open hayloft door of the old blue barn, staring at the piece of paper in my hand. I had a learner’s permit. Me. It didn’t matter that it wasn’t a full license and that I could only drive with a licensed adult of twenty-one or older. I had a permit. An identity. I’d be damned if I ever let Roy take this one away from me.

I’d wandered off when Lorna and I had returned from town, wanting to be alone. To take in what this all meant for me. By this time next year, I would have my full license and could go wherever I wanted. Now all I needed was the deed to Mama’s cottage and I could disappear.

A creaking floorboard startled me. Colton approached behind me, looking pale.

“What are you doing here?” I snapped, looking out at the field that stretched out to the tree line of the neighboring property. Way to kill a girl’s good mood.

“Lorna told me you got your permit this morning.”

“Yeah, so? It’s not like I can drive alone or anything.”

“Must still feel good. I remember how I felt when—”

“You’re
so
not in a position to compare. You’ve been driving around dirt tracks since you were a kid and probably got your learner’s at fifteen like everyone else.”

After a few minutes of silence, the floorboards creaked again. “Lexi, can we talk?”

“We’re talking right now, aren’t we?”

“No, I mean talk about what happened last week and this weekend.”

“You going to tell me I don’t belong here again?”

“No.”

I hoisted one leg up from the ledge and turned to look at him. He was rigid and tense, hands in his pockets. “Come sit next to me. It’ll be easier to talk.” I smirked to myself, knowing that his fear of heights would never let him make the extra steps.

“That’s not fair.”

“Neither are you.”

I leaned back against the frame and gazed back out over the field. The floorboards creaked once more, but instead of moving away like I thought, Colton moved closer. My eyes followed him as he eased himself down on the ledge. He leaned and looked down, his face turning a light shade of green.

“Ugh.” He grazed the bare part of my thigh below the hem of my denim shorts as he swung his arms out behind him and leaned back. The touch seared my skin.

I waited for him to say something, but he stayed silent. The only sound around us came from the breeze blowing though the nearby trees, rustling the leaves. He kept his head aimed at the sky and his eyes closed as if repeating something in his head to control his fear. Didn’t seem to be working, though—the
color in his cheeks had yet to return.

“You okay?”

His lip twitched, but he said nothing. “Colton?”

Again, no words. I tapped him on the knee. He jolted, his eyes wide, and grabbed my hand.

“Oh, God, don’t do that.”

I laughed. “You’re too funny.”

“I’m not
that
funny.”

He fell silent again, looking down at my hand. I debated pulling my hand away. My mind conjured up a hundred warnings, but I defied them all and did what felt right. My skin warmed, but still I shivered. He stroked his thumb over my knuckles. My knees weakened. I really hoped I wouldn’t need to get up soon.

“I don’t know why,” he said, his head still dipped low, “but I’m not as scared when I hold your hand.”

A shallow breath caught in my throat and my whole body stiffened. I ached to look at his face, but the beak of his ball cap hid it from me.

“Lexi?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m sorry about what I said to Adam and Dezzi. I didn’t mean it the way it came out.”

Adam and Dezzi? The friends who dropped him off the other night, I guessed.

“I was mad about what had happened at lunch that day,” he continued. “You shut me out and all I wanted to do is get to know you better. I don’t quite understand why I felt the need to or why it made me angry when you … And then I was mad at
myself for prying and mad that my stupid need was the reason you were avoiding me. I just …” His mouth shut for a second. “Wow. I’m not making any sense right now, am I?” He sat up straight and looked up at the sky, not seeming to care that he was teetering on the edge of a second-story hayloft, his legs dangling over the edge. I wanted to say something, tell him I understood, even though I really didn’t. I mean, why did he want to know me? Why did he even care? “I get it now, though. After everything you’ve been through,” he added.

He’d puzzled me. “Everything I’ve been through?”

“I mean, it can’t be easy to live in that kind of environment. Roy—”

“Roy wasn’t all that bad. Yeah, he lost his temper and was rough with me sometimes, but it wasn’t all bad.”

“Stop saying that. What he did was wrong, Lex. No one deserves to be hit like that.”

“I never said that. It was just the cards I was dealt after Mama died. I knew what buttons not to push.”

Colton’s eye narrowed. His free hand reached up and traced his finger along the two-inch scar that angled toward my ear, causing me to shiver and inhale a deep breath I had no intention of releasing. His eyes fell to my lips. I swallowed hard. His finger left my temple and landed on the half-inch scar on my lower lip. I flinched and pulled my head back. His touch still lingered on my lip. My senses vibrated and blood pounded in my skull. Every metal or metal-coated object in close proximity tickled the edge of my sanity. I squeezed my eyes shut, breathing short, shallow breaths, struggling to focus on keeping my control.

“Did Roy give you those scars?”

“No. Those were an accident.” I hadn’t lied. I should’ve told
him that it had been Roy’s fault to avoid further questioning, but giving him credit for something my curse had caused felt too much like praise.

“What happened?”

What really happened? I’d lost control after Roy yelled at me for not having dinner ready on time. I’d run away and gone out the back door, into the fenced-in scraps part of the yard. I had sent sheet metal flying toward the upstairs window where I knew Roy was at the time. When I tried to stop, one large piece swooped low and knocked me out cold. I’d woken up hours later with a gash across my temple and a split lip. In a screwed-up way, I guess it
had
been Roy’s fault.

“A pile of scrap metal toppled over me in the yard a few years ago.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—”

“Look.” I tucked my hair behind my ear. “I’m not as fragile as you think I am. There are things I fear much more than Roy and his shitty-ass temper.”

“What scares you, Lex? What makes you so afraid to open up?”

“I can’t.” My insides recoiled. “You wouldn’t understand.” I got up and started toward the old plank board stairs, but Colton jumped to his feet and reached for my arm.

“Lexi, please talk to me.”

“I can’t.”

He kept his hold on my arm, but instead of pulling me toward him, he moved closer to me—
too
close. His eyes gazed into mine, the sapphire one hazed with sadness and the emerald one clear with wonder. He raised his hand to the side of my face, combed my hair to the back of my head, and then cradled
the base of my skull. My mouth went dry. My body froze. His face inched closer. His gaze lowered and focused on my lips. Fog rolled through my pounding, aching head and my survival instincts faded. My heart beat fast, too fast—or was that his heartbeats chasing mine? My lids fell as his body came closer to mine.
Oh. My. God. He’s going to kiss me.