Page 15 of Furious (The Six Six Six Rule #2)

Caught Up In You

ZARA

G etting to the finish line before Cal is almost better than sex.

Almost.

Because if I think about the night I spent with Chance and Lev? Nothing can really compare to the way they made me feel.

Speed is in my blood, though, and I missed the power of a bike between my thighs. There are very few things like the feeling of freedom that riding gives me.

The two things seem to contradict each other, but riding a motorcycle is a heady combination between freedom and control.

Power.

That’s the exact feeling.

Especially when you leave all your competitors behind you, eating your literal dust.

I almost didn’t make it. I got distracted when Chance veered off the road. My dad taught me to always focus on the racetrack, never let your attention wander off the road ahead of you.

But it’s Chance we’re talking about. If he had gotten hurt, I would have stopped. Even if that had meant blowing my cover.

Once I saw him riding into the tall grass, I knew he would be fine. I crossed the finish line, but of course I couldn’t stop like I wanted to.

I kept riding toward the spot where David, Wren’s older brother, was waiting for me with his truck.

Isn’t it funny that my high school bestie and Cal have a brother with the same name?

The only difference is that David hates when people shorten his name to Dave.

He also hates being called David because it’s a common name and there was always at least one boy with his same name in every class at school.

Since his middle name is John—another doozy—he goes by DJ.

“How did you do?” he asks. “No, don’t tell me. You kicked ass or you wouldn’t smile like that.”

I slap his hand in a high-five, but we don’t have time to celebrate.

We load my dad’s old Ducati Panigale V4 R in the back of DJ’s beat up Chevy truck and cover it with tarp. The roads are mostly empty this time at night, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.

“Zara, we need to talk.” DJ turns to look at me as he stops at a red light just past a gas station at the edge of town.

“Uh oh.” I giggle, adrenaline still coursing through me from the race. “What did I do?”

“Nothing.” He sighs. “It’s just… this is too risky.

I didn’t mind bringing your bike to local races two years ago.

I was more than happy to keep your dad’s bike safe for you while you were at boarding school.

Fuck knows she’s a great bike and I’m emotionally attached to it after I helped you fix it and fine tune it again to put her in racing condition.

If you want me to keep it in my garage for a little longer, I can do that.

But if you want to race in Star Cove again, I’m out. ”

I don’t blame him. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” He sighs, putting the truck back into drive as the light turns green. “If you want to race anywhere else, I’m your man. But if you get caught here…”

“You have too much to lose.” I finish for him. “I know. You’re finally about to open your own mechanic shop in Shell Cove. You can’t afford to get in trouble with the law.”

He looks relieved. “I’m glad you understand.

Why did you want to race tonight, anyway?

Your situation isn’t that different from mine.

You’re going to a great school, you live in a mansion and once you graduate, your mom won’t be able to stop you from racing if that’s what you want.

Why risk everything in an illegal race?”

It’s hard to explain. “Because going to school isn’t what I really want. Or at least, not just going to school.”

“I thought you wanted to design motorcycles for a living one day.” DJ says.

“I do. But I also want to race. It’s what I’ve always wanted to do. Two years ago, you helped me race in Bridgeport, but everything went wrong. I had to keep it a secret anyway because Mom was against it and my dad wouldn’t even talk to her to try to convince her to let me race.”

DJ takes the old coastal road headed to my new home. It’s the long way around town, but after they built a new freeway that surrounds Star Cove connecting her to the Interstate, the old road sees way less traffic. “So what? You’re trying to prove a point?”

I nod. “Yeah. I’m eighteen now, so technically they couldn’t tell me what to do, but…”

He understands. “Racing takes money and resources that you don’t have. And you still depend on your parents financially until you’re in school.”

“Unless I win cash prizes.”

DJ cautions me. “In street races? What if you get caught?”

“It’s a risk I’m gonna have to take. I tried to talk to Dad after he didn’t even show up to my graduation and he didn’t want to hear me out.

He wouldn’t let me try out for his new team.

He doesn’t believe in me. If I wanted to go to official races, I would need a lot of money I don’t have.

Traveling from one race to another alone is too expensive without a team and some sponsors.

The Super Bike League was ideal because it had a lot of races in California, but since that was shut down, I thought I would have to forget about racing until after college. ”

DJ is still skeptical. “So the alternative is to race in a town where you could get arrested just for owning a motorcycle? Let’s not even talk about the fact that those races are organized by Calvin Fox. Do you really trust him not to fuck up in some way or get caught?”

He’s making a lot of good points and he isn’t even done voicing all his objections.

“Besides, you took an unnecessary risk tonight. You weren’t even officially in the race and you didn’t bet. So you did it all for nothing.”

He’s wrong. “Not for nothing. When I saw Chance and Lev race last week, I got worried. They never caught the person that hit Atlas. They had been in a fight with Cal the day before the race. I wasn’t sure if this was some kind of setup to finish the job, or something.

I had to be there to make sure that Chance and Lev would be safe. ”

I’m not surprised when DJ doesn’t like what I just said.

“And what would you have done if it was a set up? Would you have thrown yourself between them and their attackers?”

That was the plan, but I don’t even need to say it out loud.

“Zara!” DJ raises his voice. “That’s fucking crazy.”

It’s the only thing that makes sense to me. “You don’t understand, DJ. I was there two years ago when it happened.”

“I was there too, in the audience.” He reminds me.

“When that other bike came out of nowhere and—” my voice fades into a whisper. “It looked like that bike was trying to hit me. Atlas got hit because I dodged.”

Now he’s positively pissed off. “So, what are you saying? That what happened to Atlas was your fault?”

I don’t have to answer that question. Sometimes silence is worth more than a million words.

DJ, however, doesn’t see this whole thing the same way I do.

“Even if it was your fault, Zara, and it wasn’t…

can you even listen to yourself? To how fucked up this is?

You went there tonight, crashing an illegal street race to do what?

To become a human shield in case someone wanted to hurt your stepbrother?

Why would you do something that stupid? You act as if you owed those guys. ”

I was so busy arguing my point with DJ that I didn’t even realize that he pulled over in front of the mayor’s house. My home, now.

“Maybe I act as if I owe them because I do.” I admit. “If Ares hadn’t intervened the day before the race with Cal…”

He shakes his head. “That’s crazy. Any decent human being would have stepped in to help if they saw a woman being attacked by a douchebag twice her size.”

Maybe he’s right. But the point is moot. “That isn’t the only reason, DJ. I would have put myself between Chance, Lev and someone who wanted to hurt them because I care about them. I think I might be in love.”

DJ’s hazel eyes widen. “You’re in love with one of them?”

I laugh, but it isn’t a happy sound. “I wish it was that simple. I’m falling for both of them.

And for Ares. I know they expect me to choose eventually, but what if I can’t?

I’m in love with three guys. Two of them are my stepbrothers.

If Mom knew this, I bet she would blame it on Dad and on my love for motorcycles.

But yeah. I love them and I don’t trust Cal.

No one knows who hit Atlas in Bridgeport.

The only thing we know for sure is that they allegedly stole a motorcycle from Cal’s team’s paddock.

There was a harsh rivalry between them even before they came to blows because of me.

What if Cal paid someone to take me and them out back then, but it went wrong? ”

DJ takes my hand into his much larger one. “Then that’s even more reason to stay the fuck away from your ex.”

“No. That’s even more reason to watch Cal like a fucking hawk. And there’s no better place to do that than from the inside. If something happened to Chance or Lev, I would never be able to forgive myself.”

He looks at me for a long moment. “You really love them, huh?” he sounds sad. “So I guess there’s no way out of the friend zone for me.”

“What? DJ, you know I love you, but?—”

He squeezes my hand before letting it go. “But you don’t love me that way. Wren has been telling me all along that helping you fix your dad’s old bike and taking you to races didn’t say I love you as clearly as I thought. I should have made my move much sooner, but I waited until it was too late.”

The look on his face breaks my heart.

“I don’t know what to say. I just hope you know that the last thing I want is to hurt you.”

He sighs. “I know that, Zara. That’s one of the million reasons why I’ve had this hopeless crush on you since the day Wren invited you to play in her tree house over ten years ago.”

“Wren knew and never told me?”

DJ’s smile is laced with sadness. “Don’t be mad at her. I made her pinky swear way back then that she would keep my secret. I was too chicken to tell you how I felt about you, and that’s on me. I’ll be fine.”