Shift

I squeeze my eyes shut and head straight for the car, glad to see Tommy already under the hood when I reopen them. He’s thorough, but he’ll be more systematic now that his sister is going to top one-sixty with me.

Shit.

I figured Ha

“What do you mean I’m going for a ride?” she asks.

“You’re racing?” Ha

“No, she’s not racing. And if I had my way . . .” Tommy stops his words but stands and meets my gaze. He wipes his hands on his work towel then tucks it in his back pocket before grabbing the keys from me and moving on to the work we just finished last night.

“Dustin, what’s going on?” Ha

“It’s fine. I promise you’ll be safe. It’s a bet I made with a guy I know, and he likes to race with passengers. It’s . . . a mental game for him. He’s trying to get in my head.” I’m right; that’s totally what it is. And I bet it works against most racers. If it weren’t for Ha

But Ha

Without warning, a hand fires across my right cheek, knocking my head off its axis in a whiplash. I cup the sting and stare at Ha

“What the fu—” I flit my eyes up as she cocks her arm to take another swing at me, and I step back.

“Do you need more?”

I blink twice because how the hell do I answer that? What does she even mean?

“Are you pissed?” she asks.

“Kinda. Yeah.” I work my jaw under my hand. I’m one-hundred percent positive there’s an imprint of her palm on the side of my face.

“Good. Think about that then and drive fucking fast.” She shoves her tiny backpack into Bailey’s chest and rounds my car, flinging open the passenger door to get in. My mouth hangs open, mostly because I’m making sure it still works, but also because damn, I can’t believe she did that.

Rumbling vibrates in my belly and I turn to catch the first duo about to go at it behind us. Two of the older guys from town with hot rods they only bring out here to show off line up as a crowd gathers around. It’s a respect thing, one of those things people in this town do as this rite of passage moves from one generation to the next. Tommy drops my hood and moves to stand next to me. He chuckles at my side.

“You saw that slap, huh?” I say.

“Sure did.” He rubs his palms together, loving that his sister smacked me.

“Make you feel better?” I give him a sideways glance as two classic Fords fire up a few hundred feet away and peel down the dark strip of roadway.

“Only for a second,” Tommy says with a hardened stare. His eyes are like glass, cold and piercing.

“Well, don’t worry. It worked,” I say, rubbing my face one final time before slipping my hands into my lucky gloves. My thumb pokes out on the right one and Tommy laughs at it as he hands me my keys.

“When are you going to spend some of your gambling wi

I shake my head.

“Nope, these stay. Superstitious bastard that I am. And it isn’t gambling.”

“No?”

“That would mean there’s a chance I lose. And there’s no way in hell.” I don’t bother meeting his gaze again. I don’t want him to chip away at my swagger.

I get in the car and do my best to forget about the citrus-scented girl sitting next to me. I focus on my mirrors, my flexing forearm as I reach for the gear shift, the trip of the knob under my hand. I flex my fingers and feel the stretch of the glove, the way it crackles where it’s most worn as I squeeze then stretch.

“You do this every race?”

I stare at the numbers imprinted on the metal knob and imagine myself shifting from second to third to fourth, then . . .

“Sorry,” she whispers.

My eyes close. This is impossible.

“It’s fine. Please try to not talk. I’m in my head.” I’m in my head more than I should be.

“Zipped. Got it,” she says.

I’m a sucker because I know she’ll do it if I look, so I give in to a quick glance as she runs her pinched fingers along the line of her lips and fakes a lock before tossing the invisible key out the passenger window.

“Great, now we’re going to have to go find that in the dark,” I joke. She smirks but waggles a finger, reminding me that she’s no longer talking.

My eyes roam back to my dash, but I caught enough of her bare knee to scorch the back of my mind with the temptation to look even more. I use it as a reward, only looking to my far right after I’ve gone through my mental checklist and adjusted my mirrors one last time. I swear Ha

I look back at my wheel just before I sense her turning my way. My hands grip the wheel and run along the curves, feeling every ridge. The turn is going to be tough, especially if I hit the two-mile mark at the same time Alex does. I already decided that if it’s too tight I’ll give him the extra yards and take my turn after the mile marker, just to be safe. I know I can catch him.

The next set of cars is ready to sprint down the road, but nobody’s looking at them. Eyes have started to wander over to me. The sun has dipped below the line of mountains to the west, and the faint purple in the sky is quickly fading. The stars out here are spectacular. I’m tempted to say that to Ha

My attention turns to Tommy as he pats the hood and moves toward my window. I lower it and lean close as he kneels to talk.

“Okay, he’s got the rules. The second mile marker and back. I don’t like this whole Tahoe thing, but I trust you can handle it.”

“Not even a worry,” I lie.

“All right. Well, we’re up next. And I put a hundred on us, so if you lose that’s two things you owe me.” He points at me, and I know he’s being both fu

“Start counting your wi

Ha