Page 42 of Ravage
Kellan turns around with a wide smile that I see through in an instant. Even with years apart, I know the difference between a genuine Kellan grin and what’s there now.
His eyes meet mine, and my heart stutters. I can’t tell if he’s still pissed with me or what, because he stares without a word until I can’t take it anymore.
“Kell…”
Chapter thirteen
Kellan
There was a time when nothing could beat the adrenaline rush of a race. Just two cars, no limits, and pure speed. There’s always a risk in street racing. If the car is pushed too hard or not rebuilt properly, it could catch fire or fall apart during the race. If the driver doesn’t have full control of the car, it could spin out or flip from the smallest thing because of the high speed.
Some drivers wear helmets or have a five-point harness installed in their seats. Or they strip their cars and rebuild them around a steel cage to keep the driver protected.
But not me.
I live for this shit.
The risk. The danger.
For putting my body on the line and hoping it might make me feel something for a change.
To have that split-second oh shit moment where even I don’t know what will happen next.
I wait for that moment as I shift into my last gear and smoke the car behind me. The finish line passes me, but I don’t slow down. The victory tastes bland and empty. At the very least, I’ll make good money tonight, but I’ve now reached the point I knew was coming.
Boredom.
Last time, I started and built up an underground fight club. I lived for the fight and beating my opponents down. Until it wasn’t enough anymore, and I needed to find something new.
And now, street racing is losing its shine.
I jerk the wheel to the right, riding and balancing on two tires for a few seconds before I crash and bounce back to the ground. I take long, drawn-out gulps to heat my blood and numb my mind.
Two chances.
Raegan had two chances to give me something. I’d take fucking anything from her at this point to prove us wrong. That we were missing something and she hadn’t betrayed us.
I barely believed it even when she told us.
Now, there’s no Gordon, no island, no reason to hold back.
And all she gave me was a bullshit excuse about some promise.
Then she killed our mark.
It feels like she’s betrayed us all over again.
Once I’m back in the line-up on standby for the cars participating in the next round of races, I throw my door open. The asphalt is cold on my bare feet, but it’s a nice shock to the system compared to the warmth swimming through my veins.
Stefan calls out to me from his car, and I grin so wide my teeth are a threatening flash of white behind my thick and overgrown bush of facial hair. My brothers keep telling me to cut it already, but now I’m finding sick pleasure in pissing them off by leaving it.
So, looks like Yeti-Kellan will be around for a while longer.
I clasp hands with Stefan as he congratulates me on my win or something to that effect because I’m not entirely listening. Everything around me feels out of focus. Like I’m here, but I’m not really here.
And then the world sharpens in an instant, and I freeze.
But she can’t be standing there. She wouldn’t be. Not unless she went out of her way to find me. And after what happened at our last encounter…
