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

“No. The bikes were owned by Star Arrows. And the company was in the twins’ names.

Remember Adam, their head mechanic? He took the bikes and has them in Shell Cove, too.

He was always hoping that Ares would return to racing, so I’m sure he’s still holding on to them.

I’ll pay him a visit. The bikes Dave gave us were old and not real racing bikes.

I’m sure Fox will come to race with something better, thinking he’s going to have an advantage.

We’ll show him that we are one step ahead of him. ”

His analysis of the situation is right. Fox will show up with a top-of the range racing motorcycle, and he’ll expect us to race on the old Beamers he’s keeping in that hangar.

“You said we. Even if I agreed to do this—and I haven’t agreed yet—you’re getting ahead of yourself. Where would we keep our bikes? They’re still illegal in town.”

Chance has always been really good at thinking fast on his feet. That’s what makes him a great hockey player and a great racer.

“Your garage. Your parents are never home. If we park our bikes behind your car and keep them covered, they’ll never know.”

He’s probably right. But the situation is still risky. “Sure. They take their cars to and from work, and they never come into my own garage. But how do you plan on taking our bikes to campus?”

He has an answer for that, too. “In the back of my truck. We’ll cover them with some tarp or something.”

I play devil’s advocate. “They’ll stick out like a sore thumb, even covered.”

Chance insists. “I know it’s not ideal to lay them down flat, but I’ll put something under it to make sure they don’t get damaged.

We both have rooms in the Gamma house now, and we’ll have the excuse of moving some of our stuff for the next few nights.

So we’ll throw other things in my truck bed and that should be a decent decoy.

After all, no one has any reason to suspect the mayor’s son to own a motorcycle in town, right? ”

I bark out an incredulous laugh. “Holy shit. Remind me never to cross you, dude. But I guess that works.”

There’s a beat of silence before Chance gives me a way out. “Lev, you don’t have to get involved in this if you don’t want to.”

I appreciate the sentiment, but this isn’t how things work between us. “We’ve always had each other’s backs, Chance.” I say. “The fact that I think this is a fucking terrible idea and you should never have agreed to another race doesn’t mean you’re doing this alone.”

He smiles. “I know. We’re each other’s ride or die.”

After all we’ve been through, those words sound like an omen we should have seen coming two years ago in Bridgeport. “Yeah. Let’s try to avoid the dying part if we can. Let’s win the next race, send Fox back to whatever shit hole he crawled out of and return those bikes to Shell Cove.”

Chance agrees. “That’s the plan. Of course, it goes without saying that we need to keep this between us. Ares can’t know about it. Same for Heather.”

“Yeah. It would put Ares in an uncomfortable position. And Heather would probably go straight to her daddy.”

I can’t even blame Heather too much for how much she hates motorcycles. Since losing Ares, she’s never been the same again. It’s like a part of her died that day in Bridgeport.

“What about Zara?” I ask.

Chance blinks, confused. “What about Zara?”

“Do you think we should tell her?”

“Absolutely not.” He doesn’t even think about it. “Why would you tell her?”

I don’t have a real answer to that question.

I’ve never had a girlfriend, but I feel that I shouldn’t keep any secrets from her. “I guess if Fox is in town, maybe she should know? So she can watch her back?”

Chance sees the situation under a different light. “I think that’s even more reason not to tell her. If she knew what we’re doing, do you think she would stay away from the race?”

Fuck.

I think Chance is right. “Probably not.”

“Exactly.” He nods. “And that would put her in the same place as Fox. Besides, if things go south and we get caught doing this, I want her to have plausible deniability with our parents.”

I hadn’t thought about that.

“Yeah, you’re right. But we need to keep tabs on her to make sure she’s safe. I don’t like the idea of Fox being anywhere near her.” I tell him. “If he even tried to lay one finger on Zara, getting arrested for racing a motorcycle in town would be just the tip of the fucking iceberg.”

Chance gets my drift. “True. I would fucking kill him. So we agree? Not one word of this to anyone. We’ll just make sure Fox is so humiliated when he loses to us again that he’s going to stay away for good. From us and especially from Zara.”

As if summoned by our words, Zara comes into the kitchen. “Hey guys, good morning.” She covers her mouth with one hand as she yawns. “Is there any coffee left?”

I rise from my chair and go to pour her a cup. Unlike most of the girls I know, Zara likes her coffee black. “There you go, Zee.” I smile, setting the cup down on the counter and pulling her into my arms. “I’m afraid there’s a coffee tax to pay.”

She tilts her head to the side as her hands are resting on my chest and her lips curl in an adorable little smile. “Really? And what’s the price?”

I fight the urge to chuckle. “A kiss.” I keep my tone serious, almost solemn.

“I see. I think it’s only fair.”

Her lips touch mine, soft and warm.

I tease the seam of her mouth with my tongue, immediately deepening the kiss when she lets me in.

Her arms go around my neck and I grab her ass with both hands, pressing her soft body against my hard one.

Someone clears their throat and we part. I had totally forgotten that Chance was in the room. “Sorry.” I chuckle.

“No, you’re not.” There’s a scowl on Chance’s face. “And besides, if someone should collect a coffee tax, it’s me. You don’t even live here.”

Making him jealous is fun. “Potato po-tah-to.” I chuckle.

But Zara pushes out of my arms and leans down to kiss her stepbrother. “Good morning, Chance.” She whispers.

He pulls her down onto his lap. “Now that you’re here, it’s definitely a good morning.”

She traces his jaw with her fingers, dipping her head for another kiss. “Definitely. I missed you last night. How was your Gamma pre-rush night?”

Chance offers her the redacted version; the one without an illegal motorcycle race her ex happens to be involved in.

“It turned out to be more than we expected. There was a scandal involving the last Gamma president, so the Dean put the fraternity on probation. That means they aren’t allowed to recruit anyone except legacies or hockey players. Last night, it was an initiation rather than a pre-rush event.”

That’s smart. Technically, he isn’t lying to her. Even though I think lying by omissions is still very questionable.

“How was your night at the Zeta house?” I ask in the attempt to move the conversation away from the danger zone. I hate the idea of lying to Zara, no matter how.

“Interesting.” She looks from Chance to me.

“I like the idea of sisterhood. It was the one thing I didn’t hate about boarding school.

But I don’t think it’s my scene. The past two years, I’ve had little to no freedom.

Every aspect of our lives at school was closely monitored and dictated.

While the Zetas are really cool, I don’t want to be told how to dress, what to do, and who to be friends with. ”

I don’t blame her. “Yeah, I know what you mean. If most of the hockey team wasn’t in Gamma Delta Tau, I don’t know if I would have pledged, despite being a legacy.

But I guess it’s a two bird with one stone kind of situation.

I get to hang out with my teammates, have a room to crash in after a party, and my parents are happy they can say I’m following in my father’s footsteps. ”

“Same.” Chance agrees.

“The only problem now,” Zara rises from Chance’s lap. “Is how to tell Heather without hurting her feelings. She was already disappointed that I’m not interested in being a cheerleader. And she went out of her way to help me fit in with the Zeta sisters.”

Chance and I look at each other. We both know how hard it is to say no to Heather.

“Yeah, she’s going to be disappointed.” I lace my fingers with hers, bringing them to my lips. “If she’s a real friend, she isn’t going to hold it against you. It’s like when I joined Star Arrows, but Chance wasn’t into it. It didn’t affect our friendship.”

Zara nods. “Yeah. I just don’t want to hurt her, though. Heather is the only girlfriend I have in town. And she’s been so nice to me from the moment we met. I really hope she’ll understand that saying no to Zeta Theta Beta doesn’t mean I don’t want to be her friend.”

“You should just say that to her, then.” I suggest.

A noise comes from Zara’s purse, and she lets go of my hand to check her phone. “My ride is here. I’ll see you guys later.”

“Where are you going?” Chance asks.

“To see my old best friend Wren in Shell Cove. We stayed in touch while I was at boarding school and I promised I would hang out with her the second my flight landed. Then Mom ambushed me with the whole wedding thing and had all my stuff already packed, and I didn’t get to see her.”

That name doesn’t sound new. If I recall correctly, she mentioned Wren two years ago. Zara told her mom she was sleeping over at Wren’s house when she came to the race in Bridgeport.

“You’re going by Uber?” I ask.

She puts her phone back into her purse. “Yeah. Busses aren’t as frequent on weekends and it’s gonna take forever like that.”

“I could drive you, if you want,” Chance offers, beating me to it.

To my surprise, Zara doesn’t look too excited. “Thank you, but my ride is already here. Besides, you’d be bored with all our girl talk.”

Got it. She wants to have some time with her friend without us hovering around.

I understand Chance’s desire to spend every minute with Zara.

I feel the same way. But one of the things that makes our girl so attractive is her free spirit, her independence.

We need to learn not to smother her with our attentions or rather than choosing between us, she’ll kick us both to the curb.

“Have fun, Zee.” I give her a brief kiss that leaves me wanting more. “But if you have any trouble getting a ride back home, call me or Chance. We’ll come and get you, ok?”