I groan, the anticipation of what we’re about to find scarring my chest. “All I know is that Tanner’s in some kind of trouble and needs my help.”
“What’s so special about this fucking idiot anyway? You know he’s been sneaking into your room in the middle of the night, right? The guy is a fucking creep.”
“You knew he was sneaking into my room and didn’t say a damn thing? Holy fuck, Jensen. That’s messed up, but for the record, I’ve known he was sneaking into my room since the very first time he did it. The first time was fucked up, I’ll give you that, but it’s fine now.”
Jensen shakes his head. “No matter what kind of spin you put on it, it’s still messed up.”
I roll my eyes as Jensen pulls into the parking lot at the end of the dirt road, and we find Tanner’s Mustang shooting around the track, the boys standing by, doing absolutely nothing. “What the fuck?” Jensen says, driving down past the parking lot and toward the track. “He must be going at least 200 miles an hour, 220 maybe. That’s way too fast for this track. He’s either going to kill himself or the assholes standing around watching.”
Panic tears at me, and I bounce in my seat as he moves painfully slow toward the track, not wanting to damage his precious car. I can’t take my eyes off the sleek Mustang, watching as he whips around the track, taking risks that no driver should take. Jensen is right, he’s going to get himself killed, and I can’t stand by and let it happen.
Riley stands with the twins, all three of them staring at Tanner with grim expressions, just waiting for this to go south. With each new lap Tanner takes, the dread sinks heavier onto my shoulders. “What the fuck happened?” I call out the second Jensen stops his car and I get my door open.
Riley looks back before jogging to meet me, his eyes dark as night. “I don’t fucking know. The most we could get out of him is that there was some kind of attack on Addie.”
My eyes bug out of my head. “What?”
“Yeah, Hudson took off to the hospital to check it out,” he explains, unease flooding my stomach, having a good fucking idea who’s behind all of this, “but as for Tanner, he’s out of control. He’s been going like this for almost forty-five minutes. He tripped the security sensors on his way in and has been going ever since. We’ve all fucking tried, but he won’t stop and soon enough—”
“He’s going to get in a wreck,” I finish for him.
Riley nods as we catch up to the others, watching as Tanner shoots by us, pushing his car even faster at the sight of me standing with his friends.
“Fuck,” Logan mutters, shaking his head. “We shouldn’t have called her. It’s going to fuck with him more.”
“Nah, if anyone can talk him down, it’s Bri,” Riley says, his confidence in me definitely misplaced.
I shake my head, way out of my league. “I don’t know what you guys expect me to do,” I say. “How the hell am I supposed to help this?”
“I don’t know,” Jax says, not taking his eyes off Tanner as he reaches the top of the track, just seconds from turning the corner to bring him back down toward us. “But you better figure it out quickly. There’s only two reasons why Tanner is so messed up right now, and you’re one of them.”
Fuck.
What the hell am I supposed to do?
“Does he have his phone?”
Riley shakes his head, watching as he barrels this way, dust spitting up from beneath his tires. “Threw it out the window fifteen minutes ago.”
“Shit.”
Tanner gets closer and closer and if I don’t do something soon, he’ll be heading for another lap.
Time slows and pressure weighs down on me, squeezing my chest like never before, and without even a moment of thought, I throw myself onto the track, racing out, right in Tanner’s line of sight. “BRIELLE,” Riley hollers as I slip out and evade his grasp. “NOOO!”
My heart races as I stare down the Mustang speeding toward me, and I raise my chin in challenge, knowing he sees me perfectly well, but he doesn’t dare hit the brake. He thinks I’m going to move but I sure as hell didn’t get dragged out of bed at 3:30 in the morning with a broken rib just to fuck around here for hours, waiting for him to run out of gas.
If we’re doing this, then we’re doing it now.
Each passing second has my heart racing faster. My palms begin to sweat as my knees shake. I don’t take my eyes off the Mustang, knowing with each passing second I wait, the harder it’s going to be to spring out of the way, but I hold my ground. I am not backing down.
It’s a game of cat and mouse, the only question is, who is the cat and who is the mouse?
Tanner hits the final corner, drifting around it with ease and just like that, he’s coming right for me, his eyes piercing through the windshield and right through to my soul. He’s angry, tired, broken, and confused, and I’m not about to let him give up like this.
He’s getting close, too fucking close.
My heart thunders, my eyes widening with fear.
Even if I run, I won’t make it out of the way. I have to trust him. I have no choice.
He’s going to hit me, and I have to accept my fate.
A scream tears from the back of my throat and at the last possible second, Tanner slams his foot down on the brake, sending a wave of dirt flying up behind him. The tires screech and skid against the dirt as his car hurtles toward me and turns to the side. He struggles to stop, but I don’t fucking move, determination clouding my judgment.
I gasp for air, sucking it between my clenched jaw, and just as I expect the Mustang to take me out, it comes to a jarring stop, barely an inch between us.
“WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING?” Tanner roars, bailing out of the Mustang and storming toward me. “I COULD HAVE FUCKING KILLED YOU.”
Fury burns in his eyes, and I try to reach for him, but he pulls away from my touch. “I had no choice,” I tell him. “You’re racing around the track like a fucking idiot. You’re the one who’s going to get himself killed, Tanner. What the hell is wrong with you?”
“Me?” he spits as the boys race in, trying to grab him before he completely loses his mind. “You shouldn’t even be here. Why the fuck do you keep shoving your nose where it doesn’t belong?”
“Riley called me. They were worr—”
“Riley?” he scoffs, spinning around, his fist already in motion. He clocks his best friend in the face and I gasp, watching as Riley falls to the ground, taking it like a fucking pro. Logan and Jax grab his arms, holding him back as he focuses all his anger on his friend. “You had no fucking right to call her. She’s not my fucking girl. We’re not together. She’s just some bitch I fucked a few times. She means nothing to me.”
Pain blasts through my chest and I hold back tears, knowing he’s only saying this to hurt me. He’s out of control, emotional, and scared for his sister while probably imagining all the different ways he could slaughter Colby.
He didn’t mean it. If I meant nothing to him, he wouldn’t have come to me the night he beat Colby, and he sure as hell wouldn’t have cared for me the way he did last night. No, he wants to hurt me because he is terrified of letting me in, allowing me to see the monster hidden within him, and being vulnerable to what he feels for me. I can’t let his anger win.