Page 11

I was sure Crown didn't have a clue why I was so in my feelings about this.

Street racing had always been a thing between Sincere and me.

He was the one who taught me everything I knew.

When I raced, I did so to hold on to the last piece of Sincere that I had left.

Together, he and I built my car from the ground up.

Racing felt like lying on his chest as he ran his fingers through my hair.

It deepened our connection even in death.

Once Crown started riding along during my races, things changed.

The connection between racing and Sincere became stifling.

With Crown in the car, I was cheating on Sincere and erasing his memory.

At the same time, parts of me wanted those memories gone.

I was stuck in the middle of a tug-of-war.

Crown had his hands on one half of my heart, and Sincere had his ghostly hold on the other.

However, here... none of that mattered, and the holds didn't exist.

Lifting my head, Crown took a deep dive into the windows of my soul. His stare was so intense that I almost shied away, which was a first.

"I wanted you to feel what it's like to race without limits." Crown's voice was low and thick, with something that sent a shiver down my spine.

Is this man in my head?

"You must really think you know me," I teased, overwhelmed with how well he did.

"I do know you. The problem is you think I don't." His expression tightened into an unreadable glare. I shifted my weight from one foot to the other, feeling small under his gaze.

"Are you racing too?"

At the exact moment, two Mustangs, one navy blue and the other gray, came pulling up beside us.

"Fuck you think?" He grinned, then pecked my lips.

"Here you go, Mr. Gravehart. You and the missus can follow me. We'll get the two of you changed into your racing gear. I'll give each of you an overview of your cars, and then you both will be free to run the track."

"Sounds good. Give me five minutes," Crown said, and the attendant nodded before walking off.

Crown unraveled me from his embrace, then brought me over to the driver's side of the navy Mustang. Under the towering floodlights, the car's paint shimmered in cascading hues of blue, flowing from deep navy to electric cerulean, resembling a river catching the light at dawn.

"I can't believe you got me a Mustang GT4," I murmured in admiration, running my fingers over my name, etched in bold script along the car's side. “Now all I need is a Porsche 911 and I can die a happy woman.”

"Believe that shit, and it got all that V8 engine shit inside, too. This car and racetrack are open to you whenever you wanna drive."

"I don't even know what to say."

"A thank you would be cool."

Crown leaned against the hood of his Mustang, watching me with that lazy grin that always seemed to make my pulse stutter.

"You want a regular thank you, or you want me to spell it with the tip of my tongue?"

"Chill, Four."

Standing up, he adjusted his sweats, but it did very little to conceal my favorite trooper from standing at attention. I walked over, standing between his legs, and kissed him as deeply as our bodies allowed. Gripping my throat, he gently jerked my head back.

"Happy six-month anniversary, Four."

"Wait, you didn't just plan this?"

"Hell, no. I started working on this shit the day after you agreed to be my girlfriend. This was the reservation I had set up for last night. We were gon' race, eat a romantic dinner in the skybox, race some more, then fuck on the track before we dipped."

"Crown... " I blushed, slightly embarrassed that I actually found that to be a bomb ass date.

"Deadass, but it's cool 'cause I got shit set for us to make it happen tonight."

"I'm game." I smirked.

"You better be. Now turn around and let me take a picture of you."

Kissing him one more time, I spun around, posing all over the back of my car. When Crown was finished, I skimmed through the pictures and burst out laughing at the license plate.

"Really, Cortez?" I chortled, laughing harder at his confused expression. "TheRealMrsGH."

"I already told yo' ass what it is. You're the one who don't believe it. When they ask will the real Mrs. Gravehart stand up, all I'm trying to see is you."

"What about Chosyn?"

"If her ass stands up, I'm mushing her then burying that nigga Wolfe where his heart be," he joked.

As if realization set in, I asked, "You must really like me."

Something dark flickered in his browns as he answered, "I don't like you, Four. I fucking love you."

His words hit me like a gut punch. No hesitation and unexpected. What he said was the truth, plain and simple.

"Don't freak out on me, Four. I heard what you said about River and Cortez. You're not ready to take it there, so I'm cool with letting you know how I feel."

"But—"

"But nothing. I've got enough love for both of us. Don't trip, forreal. I love you... I'm in love with you, and that's just what it is."

Saved by the attendant, the dude came back to check if we were ready, and Crown told him we were. Crown kissed me once more before we parted ways to get dressed. As he walked in the opposite direction of me, I glanced back, wondering if he knew that I'd just fallen harder for him.