Page 3 of Wrecking Boundaries (SteelTrack Racing #2)

“That’s the last one.” Maddie dumps the last cookie sheet onto a cooling rack. “We have a new mechanic starting tomorrow. Boone wants to keep him around for more than three months this time, so I’m doing my part.”

Boone should try not to scare them off. That will do more than a batch of baked cookies.

“One chocolate chip cookie for me.” I grab two of them, take a bite, and moan. “These are delicious.”

“Will you get a small plate? I want to set a few aside for Boone,” Maddie says. She’s short and is sensitive about their size differences. Boone solved it by always picking her up for kisses. It’s adorable and sickening at the same time. “He’ll want a snack after coming in from the garage.”

The two of them bought their house halfway through last season. It’s not the giant monstrosity of a home my parents once owned, but still big enough for a large family. Maddie calls it flexi-sized. I think my bedroom is the best part.

My phone dings, and I frown at the name on its screen.

Jake: Daytona is almost here. I expect to see you at the race.

Jake: You should wear my number during the race. Of course, naked is fine, too.

After my vacation ended, he sent me another one, equally commanding. I ignored it and will do the same again. I should block him.

“Who was that?” Maddie asks. “It’s not anyone from marketing, is it? They’re supposed to direct any issues to me.”

“It’s no one important,” I say with a heavy sigh and put my phone on silent. He probably won’t send another, but I want to be prepared.

Maddie looks at me from across the kitchen and tilts her head. “Well, we both know that’s not true. You have been distracted since your cabin vacation. It might help to unburden yourself.”

I’ve been carrying Jake Knowles around like a shameful secret for almost a year. He’s the latest of my many fantastic blunders and the one that hurt the most.

My last name is a curse. I let myself believe Jake could break it, like some silly fairy tale. Instead, he used me, just like the driver before him.

“Race car drivers have the biggest ego of anyone I’ve ever met,” I say first. It’s true and also an essential fact that needs to be established. “Except for Boone, of course.” He does, as much as any of them, but he’s my brother, so I exclude him out of loyalty.

“Not Boone. Mostly not Boone,” Maddie agrees. “It applies to Julian.” Her eyes bulge, and she covers her mouth. “Wait. Did you two? I always guessed it was someone else, but maybe not.” She starts gesturing with her hands rather than saying the rest out loud.

Julian Murphy is Rivers Motorsports ’ other driver. He’s a sweet man but also a very serious flirt. He’s probably with a woman he met earlier in the evening. The odds are that he doesn’t know her last name, but she knows his profession. There is no attraction between us.

I snort because what other reaction could I have? “It’s someone else.” For many reasons, I’ve never uttered Jake’s name to anyone. “I saw him during my cabin escape. It’s why I came home early. ”

Our eyes meet, and we both know it will be another one of our late nights.

“Do you have your sleepover bag? Let’s get ready.” Maddie turns on the electric kettle and gets out two mugs.

“I put my bag away when I arrived,” I say and get out the herbal tea and sugar.

We change into our pajamas and wind up in the kitchen nook to enjoy our cookies and tea.

“Now, spill—everything,” Maddie says before sipping some tea.

“It’s a driver, one of Boone’s competitors,” I say, unwilling to give Jake’s name up. “We were casual last season—hooking up the night before races. I let myself hope he was serious, but he made it clear we had different goals. He made it very clear he would always choose his career over me.” To be exact, Jake would break my heart if it meant winning a race. He would do it, apologize, and then do it again.

“He’s a player?” Maddie leans forward, chin supported by her palm.

“Not like Julian. He cared more about the sport than he ever did me. He used me.”

Maddie rallies to my defense. See, this is why she’s my best friend. “Jerk. The absolute worst. A complete idiot. Does he know how much of a catch you are?”

“I’m a great catch, aren’t I?” That’s the problem. Jake Knowles isn’t the first to see me as a catch. Other drivers have done precisely the same. “We saw each other by chance during my vacation.” I explain my busted tire and Jake’s nighttime rescue.

“He spent the night?” Maddie asks.

“A complete gentleman once he realized nothing was going to happen. ”

“So, he appears in the night to rescue you.”

“It sounds romantic when you put it that way,” I say in a huff because it was annoying. “It wasn’t. It was stupid.”

“It is, at least a little. Okay, so this guy shows up to rescue you and is one of Boone’s competitors. Don’t tell me his name, so I don’t have to keep any secrets.” Maddie takes a sip of her tea. Her sympathetic eyes tell me she knows who we’re talking about. “Let’s call him Drake. That’s a great name, isn’t it?”

Am I that obvious? “Drake made sure my tire was fixed before leaving the next day. He even purchased an emergency road kit for me. Also, he took me to breakfast. He pulled back my chair. Do you know what he did after?” I’m still annoyed.

“What did he do?”

“He thanked me for my company just like that.” I snap my fingers. It was a trick on his part. Jake Knowles is not the first NASCAR driver I’ve dated; he will be the last.

Maddie leans back in her chair. “That’s awful. He sounds horrible. Absolutely horrible.” She frowns with disgust.

I feel relieved because my reaction would seem ridiculous to most people. If I want a serious relationship, it will be far away from motorsports.

“He thinks it’s funny, Maddie. He really does. I’m a little toy he can use to poke at Boone. He even admitted it. I lied to myself the entire time, thinking it couldn’t be true. I wouldn’t do that to Boone. You get that, right?” She nods. “I fell for it.”

Jake confirmed it the night we broke up, too. He called me a ‘bit of fun’, deeming it less cruel than a ‘toy.’

She squeezes my hand and doesn’t let go. “Well then, let’s talk about what’s next. If Drake isn’t the one, who is?”

That’s the problem. “I don’t know.”

“Close your eyes. ”

I do. “It’s dark. There are little red spots. This is a waste of time.”

“Give it a chance. Picture your future.”

“It’s blank,” I protest.

“No, it isn’t. You’re refusing to see it.” Maddie is using what Boone calls her schoolmarm voice. It’s that tone kindergarten teachers use: assertive and kind at the same time.

I’m supposed to always be correct, and that’s true. Boone and Maddie are together because of me. My father, Tom Rivers, signed a contract with Julian to drive for Rivers Motorsports because of me.

That’s only true when it doesn’t involve my personal life. Then, I’m a complete disaster.

“He lives here. He takes care of himself but has never taken part in professional sports. He enjoys reading and loves his family. He has a goal and is working towards it, something big.” It all comes out in a rush. Everything I said isn’t that unusual; variations of it have been uttered many times before.

“Keep going.”

“He’ll push me to pursue my own dreams. We’ll buy a house with a picket fence.”

“What are your dreams?”

“Quit my job. Start something new.”

“Well, there you go.” Maddie leans forward and lets a finger trace the edge of her coffee mug. “Maybe the cabin vacation is what you needed. Now, it’s only a matter of figuring out how to make it happen.”

I snort because she makes it seem so easy. “Like a magic spell? Those only exist in the movies.”

“You’re the company fixer, right? Make a plan. Write it all out. ”

“Write what all out?” My brother Boone comes into the kitchen and makes a beeline for a plate of cookies. “Perfect. I was starving.”

“Pig,” I say because it’s true. My brother is always eating. “Dinner wasn’t that long ago.”

“Hours, which is a lifetime in stomach years,” he says. “What are you two talking about?”

“None of your business.”

Maddie’s eyes widen. She’s learned to get between us before our spats turn into something bigger. Boone and I love to bicker; we’re constantly launching shots back and forth. Besides, he needs to be taken down a notch or ten. It’s for his own good.

“Not a problem,” he says. “I have cameras on this entire conversation.”

“No, you don’t,” I say back.

“We’re talking over some of your competitors,” Maddie says. She could have gone into politics if she wanted. “You won’t find it interesting.”

“Sounds like fun,” Boone says, already losing interest. “I’m going to shower and get ready for bed.” He approaches Maddie, pulls the hair off her neck, and kisses the tender spot by her ear. “I love you,” he says in a sweet whisper.

I’m going to throw up.

Maddie echoes him and then says, “I’ll be up soon. Tomorrow will be another long day.

“It always is.” Boone steps into the hallways and then returns. “Oh, Sarah. Are you staying over?”

Maddie and I built a habit of spending one night together during the racing season. Once it ended, she turned one of their spare rooms into a suite just for me, and I regularly use it .

“We’re both in pajamas, Boone.”

He blinks, taking in our attire for the first time. “Good. You don’t need to be driving this late. Something could go wrong.”

“I brought a suitcase over,” I tell him, letting it sink in. “I’ll be here awhile.”

He glances at Maddie. “Well, I guess we can set out another plate at dinner. Stay as long as you need.” He fluffs the top of my hair. “See you in the morning, then.”

I stop breathing until his footsteps fade away. “Do you have a camera in here?” I ask Maddie.

“I don’t think so.” She turns around to check the digital displays on the microwave and stove. “Maybe we do? Time for a new topic.”

We leave my love life behind so Maddie can inform me about her newly planted fruit trees. My father failed to make a go of it, so she promised to keep trying.

I don’t respond to Jake’s text. Maddie gave me an idea for my next steps, and he absolutely, positively does not play a part in them.