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She cursed and chased after me, but I got to the car in time to see blood in Riley’s blonde hair, a sob leaving me and making the guys glance back. Cruz cursed, but then I heard Riley’s voice, my heart practically stopping at the sound.

“I thought I told you to get her back to your house?” she scolded Ander, and I shamelessly shoved him out of the way to see inside the car properly, finding her bleeding from the head, but very much alive as she glared at Ander.

“I thought you were fucking dead!” I snapped angrily as I tried to control my emotions, a slow smirk spreading across her bloodied lips as her eyes shifted to mine.

“You sound upset that I’m alive. If you need me to do a better job next time…”

Sirens filled the air, and engines revved in the distance, signaling the arrival of her family. There was no mistaking Beckett’s Mustang or Skeeter’s McLaren.

Cruz gently patted my shoulder, his voice low. “We need to get her out. Can you move, Donovan?”

“You can’t move her!” I exclaimed. “She might have spinal injuries!”

“I’ll risk it,” Riley said dryly, offering Ander her hand. “Help me out, asshole.”

“Since you asked so nicely,” he deadpanned, gently easing her from the car until she was on her feet. She swayed slightly, leaning back against Ander so he could help hold her up. Her legs were like jelly, and he sighed before bending down to pick her up, ignoring her protesting. “Shut up. Let me carry you away from the car so you can sit down somewhere. It’s not safe here.”

They argued as he carried her towards the road, and Cruz’s arm dropped around my shoulders to stop me from looking at Slick’s car as it burned to a crisp. He wasn’t lying around injured, so I assume he’d burned to death, just like Lloyd had.

We didn’t get far from Riley’s car before flames from Slick’s wreck ignited the Supra, and I jumped as the explosion rang out around the street.

Tires skidded close by and I glanced up to see Beckett running towards us, pure terror on her face. “Riley!”

Ander turned, and Riley instantly tried to calm her sister down. “I’m okay. You can’t get rid of me that easily.”

“You’re dead to me,” she threw back, but she gently touched Riley’s head, inspecting the injury. Skeeter, Rory, and Tyler joined us, and the moment Tyler took Riley from Ander, Skeeter snapped.

He grabbed the front of Ander’s shirt and held a gun to his head, a scream leaving both me and Blake.

“I’ve warned you, you little punk,” Skeeter snarled, but Riley fought against Tyler’s grip until he cursed and put her on her feet.

“Don’t hurt him. He just saved me!” she shouted almost hysterically, telling me just how close to losing it Skeeter was. Riley sounded scared, which was rare. Ander appeared to be calm, but fear flashed in his eyes, giving him away.

“You wouldn’t be in this mess if it wasn’t for him! You promised us you weren’t involved!” he bellowed, not removing the gun from Ander’s head. “And this motherfucker…”

Everyone shut up as loud sobs left me, and Skeeter cursed before putting his gun away, letting Ander go. “What the fuck are you doing here? Were you in the damn car?”

I shook my head, struggling to get air in as I kept crying, and soon found myself pulled against Riley’s chest. “It’s not your fault, baby. It’s okay,” she murmured softly before glancing at her family. “We need to get out of here. We can discuss this at home.”

Rory snorted, her eyes blank of emotion. “If you think the cops won’t know that’s your car, you’re mistaken. You might as well stay here and save them the hassle of showing up on our fucking doorstep later.”

Ander looked torn before speaking, his voice calm. “Riley had no choice. Slick took Luna and would only let her go if Riley agreed to race him. He ran her off the road and caused the crash, just like he did to Reid. I won’t lie to you, Riley’s raced at my events before, but this wasn’t something I’d planned. It was all Slick.”

Skeeter turned thunderous, his voice sharp. “Why the fuck would you allow someone to act like that in your races? He almost killed Reid, and now my daughter. Why did he challenge her? Where is the prick?”

It was quiet for a second before he replied. “He didn’t get out of his car. He’s gone, and he wanted to hurt her because, after Reid’s accident, Riley made me kick Slick out of my events. There’s no rules on the streets, but we all raced fairly. Except for him. He blamed Riley and thought he could hurt her and get away with it, but he must have lost control himself.”

Everyone stared at the burning car, and I eyed Beckett who was looking pale, but Maddox appeared out of nowhere, pulling her against him to let her draw strength from him. She seemed to calm down instantly, and envy burned inside of me.

They were soulmates, and I hated to think I’d never have that. I snapped out of it as Riley kissed the top of my head, tightening her hold on me, and suddenly realized that I’d calmed from her touch too. I hadn’t been lying when I’d told her I loved her before her race, but I wasn’t sure if we could mend what we’d broken.

The sirens grew closer, and Skeeter pinned us all with a glare. “No mention of street races. We’ll handle it. If you’re asked directly, this was a onetime thing, got it?”

We all nodded, and Riley kept her hold on me as the ambulance, fire truck, and police cars arrived, filling the rest of our night with endless questions and interrogations. Ander was taken to the station for questioning due to his street racing connections, and Riley was ordered to go to the hospital. I didn’t want to let go of her, but she needed to get her head injury checked out properly. She was lucky to be alive considering the state of her Supra.

Tyler stood beside me as Rory went in the ambulance with Riley, and Skeeter was still trying to deal with the cops. Cruz, Drake, and Blake stayed with me, and Tyler let out a sigh.

“I’d better get you home. Your father’s going to fucking kill me, then you.”