Page 64 of Broken Butterfly
Fallon glides his hand over the side and across the door of Marshall’s Camaro as he slowly walks around it. A crowd has gathered to watch what’s going down between Fallon and Marshall.
“Nice car,” Fallon says.
“What the fuck is it to you?” Marshall straightens, watching Fallon carefully like a gazelle would a lion.
This is the side of Fallon I love most. Dangerous, cocky, with a side of egotistical bastard thrown into the mix. I take great pleasure in watching Fallon make Marshall squirm.
“Hey, kitten! Feel up to a little race?”
“Against Marshall? Hell, yes!” I shout back.
“What the hell are you doing?” Ryder seethes, tugging me behind him in a protective move like he used to do. His act of chivalry actually turns me on, and I glide my hand up his jacket-covered back in appreciation. Ryder angles his head to look over his shoulder at me, his eyebrow cocked, and I give him my sexiest smile hoping my mental telepathy of “just wait until later tonight” comes out loud and clear. The higher arching of his brow tells me it does.
“Liz, you can’t race him. You’ve never raced here before. It’s too dangerous,” Jayson says.
Marshall bends over at the waist and laughs. “Oh, this should be good.”
I turn around and walk backward, pointing fingers at Ryder and Jayson. “Trust me. I’ve got this.” I spin round to face Marshall. “You’re right, Marshall. This should be good.”
“Where’s your car,princess?” I want so badly to punch Marshall in the nose again.
Fallon aims his blue gaze at the guy standing next to one of the Mustang GT500s. “You know who I am?”
The guy swallows a few times, nods, and squeaks out a yes. “Good. Give me your keys, fucker.”
Like magic, car keys suddenly appear in Fallon’s open palm. He throws them at me. “She has a ride. Let’s race.” I will never understand how the heck he does that. It’s like Fallon has Jedi mind trick powers over people.
Marshall scoffs. “I don’t race for fun. Make it worth my while.”
“Fine. She loses, I’ll give you the Equus Bass that’s stored in my family’s garage. You lose and I get your Camaro. Fair enough?”
A smarmy grin makes an appearance on Marshall’s mouth. “Deal.”
Fallon yells out, “Get the track cleared!” and people scramble to do his bidding. “You got this, kitten. Smoke his ass.”
“Thanks for letting me drive your car. I promise not to wreck it,” I tell the poor guy as he stands idly by, looking helpless and a little green in the face. I get into the driver’s seat of his car and the guy staggers back out of the way. I should feel guilty about taking some stranger’s car without asking, but I don’t. My hatred for Marshall supersedes reason at the point. And I think I may have a little bit of Fallon in me. I did beat down the back door of my house yesterday, and today I’m one step away from being a car thief.
The passenger door opens and Fallon hops in the back, all grins. Ryder sits down in the passenger seat and buckles in.
“You know you guys are just adding weight to the car that’ll slow it down.”
Fallon leans between the front seats. “Shouldn’t hinder you from winning. Stop bitching and let’s do this.”
There’s a knock on my window and Jayson, Julien, and Elijah are standing there. I roll it down.
“You remember everything Ryder taught you?” Jayson asks me.
“Yep.”
“Ry, keep an eye out for anything dirty. I don’t have to remind you what Marshall did to your car last time.”
Fallon thrums his fingers on the back of Ryder’s seat. “My head will be on a three-sixty. We’ve got her covered.”
Julien tries to nudge Jayson out of the way but Jayson shoulder-checks him and bends down so we’re at eye level. “I know you won’t listen to me if I tell you to not do this. So, instead I’ll say, go be badass, princess, and show that ass-wipe what you’re made of.”
Wow. Coming from Jayson, that means a lot. He always tries to shield me from everything. If I get a splinter, he acts like it is the end of the world.
“You really mean that?”
