Page 16

He cringed, his back probably burning from the awkward angle. “I’m only playing with you.”

I pressed the bat down harder, standing between his legs and keeping him pinned in place.

“Why haven’t you already told her? You hardly know me. You two are closer than you and I,” I hissed, pushing the bat down harder and making him gasp for air. “I don’t trust you, and I don’t like you holding something over my head like this.”

Reid leaned out the window, giving me a bored expression. “Can you not dent my fucking car?”

“You should be more worried about your buddy,” I deadpanned without looking over at him.

“My car’s innocent in all of this. That fucker, on the other hand, isn’t. Beat him up elsewhere. I have a race to get to if you don’t mind,” he threw back, fake offense taking over Logan’s face as I pulled the bat away, his voice raspy as he choked.

“Hey! We’re basically brothers, dude! Where’s your loyalty!”

“If you wave a red flag at a bull, don’t come crying to me when you get trampled,” he huffed. “Now, are you gonna get the fuck in the car, or are you staying here?”

I leaned back without leaving Logan’s personal space, my nose scrunching with disgust as I noticed Logan’s erection against my groin. “Control your fucking cock before I rip it off. Are you seriously horny right now? You’re disgusting.”

I stepped away from him, a cheeky smile tugging at his lips. “C’mon, you’re hot and you were rubbing against it. What do you expect?”

“I’m gay.”

“Yeah, well I’m fucking not. You can’t blame me,” he grumbled, standing up straight to step around the car to climb in. I probably caught chlamydia from being that close to him. He was a walking STD for sure.

“The breeze brushes against his dick and he gets hard. Don’t feel too special.” Reid chuckled and started his engine. “Looks like Blake’s here just in time.”

I lifted my gaze to see Blake’s 1970 orange Pontiac Firebird pull in, a scowl on her face as she wound the window down. “Sorry. I was dealing with the cops. They shouldn’t bother us tonight.”

“What did you do?” I grinned, shoving my bat through my open window before walking over to her. “It’s unlikely they’d bother us anyway. You know they’re too lazy for paperwork.”

“Oh, nothing really. The station’s burning to the ground as we speak though.” She shrugged casually. “So they’re a little occupied.”

“You burned the station down? Blake, they never bother us.” I snickered while her face remained serious.

“Two of the pigs sexually assaulted my little sister when they had her removed from Dad’s care this week. She’s in an emergency foster home until they place her somewhere more permanent. I found the address and went to check on her, and she said the cops touched her. I burned that shithole down for her, not for us,” she hissed, her knuckles turning white on the steering wheel. “She’s nine, Riley. Those dirty fucking cunts touched a nine-year-old girl.”

I’d heard so many stories about similar situations happening, but they rarely involved the cops. Ashburn Valley cops wouldn’t dare, but I didn’t have much to do with the cops here in Hawthorne Heights. I’d grown up sharing my home with abused kids since my parents were on a mission to end the skin trade and had been saving kids for years, so I’d seen some horrible cases. To say I was furious about Blake’s sister would be an understatement, and I knew I had to help in some way.

“Wait for me after the race. I want more information. I’ll get Mom to look into it and get your sister placed somewhere safe,” I said firmly, her gaze becoming guarded as she studied me. I knew she didn’t want to believe me, kids from the Heights knew people would always let them down, but she wanted to trust me for her sister’s sake.

“Really? Why would you do that? They won’t let me take her in because I don’t have a stable home for her, and as much as I hate that, I can’t look after myself half the time. She wouldn’t be safe with me.” She didn’t hide the agony in her tone, and I gave her a small smile.

“Everyone knows Mom’s place is a safe haven for foster kids, and we always have random kids walking in off the street when they need somewhere to go. If your sister’s not safe, then we’ll make sure we get her out of there, okay? I want details on the cops if you can get it too. If you need somewhere to go, you’re always welcome to come and stay with us.”

“I’m twenty-two, not exactly a defenseless kid,” she said dryly, but hope flickered across her face.

I knew she’d had it rough growing up with an abusive father, but I didn’t know much else about her. She seemed nice enough though, despite her tough exterior.

“So? Even if you just need a bed for the night, let me know. It’s what we do,” I answered, tapping the roof of her car as I stepped back. “Let’s race, then we’ll talk.”

“Thanks,” she said tightly as Turbo called out where we were meeting to start the race. I knew it would hurt Blake’s pride to ask for help, so I didn’t take offense to her tone. She had no reason to trust me, especially since not even her family had her back.

Just because we raced, didn’t mean we knew each other well. We were only friends when it came to cars.

I climbed into my car, following the others as they drove towards the main road, Turbo leading the way.

He had connections, and they were responsible for planning our routes. We all received a digital map on a small tablet before each race, and the only thing we knew before that was the starting point. The devices were untraceable, and it meant we could turn our phones off so we couldn’t get tracked by family or the cops.

They secured to the dash and showed us where everyone on the map was while we raced too. It was smart, and as much as I didn’t trust Turbo, he seemed to know his shit about street racing.