I let out a breath and gritted my teeth, slowing the car. I wasn’t sure if I’d lost, but I wasn’t certain I’d won, either.

And at this point, I really didn’t care.

I wanted to hit something, and Roman was it.

Bolting out of the car, my arms were as rigid as steel bars as I rounded the car and met him halfway.

“You’re an ass**le,” I ground out.

Please. Take a swing.

We were almost nose to nose. Roman was about the same height as me, but not quite.

“You were pushing into my lane!” he sneered. “Or maybe you just don’t know how to handle your car.”

I almost laughed.

“There are no lanes on the track.” Idiot. “And let’s not talk about who can’t handle their muscle.”

Roman, greasy, black hair slicked back, pointed his finger in my face. “I’ll tell you what, Princess. Come back after you’ve grown some balls and taken off your training wheels. Then you’ll be man enough to race me.”

His voice sounded like garbage cans slamming together, and he needed to shut up.

“Man enough?” I asked, making sure my twisted up face looked like that was the stupidest thing I’d ever heard. Spinning around to address the gathering crowd, I held up my hands. “Man enough?”

They knew better, most of them my classmates.

And, as if on cue, Piper stepped out of the crowd and headed straight for me. The crowd didn’t fight to contain their excitement when she glued her body to mine, with her hand on my ass, and kissed me slow and deep.

It was like an invisible pair of arms pulling me back, trying to get me out of her grasp, and I had to remind myself to dive, not swim.

I grabbed her and ran my hands down her sides, feeling the heat of her tongue touching mine.

This was what I needed.

Piper was easy.

But as the crowd roared at our display, my lips tensed and the kiss got rough.

She tasted like ash.

Tate flashed through my head, and so did the memory of her mouth.

The crowd cheered more as I threw myself into putting Roman in his place, but this was all wrong.

“Okay!” Zack cut through the crowd. “Out of the way, out of the way.”

Piper smirked at me and stumbled back into the crowd and her waiting friends who giggled.

“Listen up. We have some good news and bad news.” Zack looked around, speaking more to the crowd than to Roman and me. “The bad news is that we’re calling a tie.”

Everyone groaned and a few cussed.

Jesus Christ. I let out a breath.

“But, the good news is,” he rushed to add, “we have a way to solve the stalemate.”

And then he let out a god-awful grin that made bile rise in my throat. Zack could be devious.

“A rematch?” I hoped.

“Kind of.” His smile widened. “If you boys want to settle this, then your cars will race again, but…you won’t be the drivers.”

My eyes burned. I couldn’t blink.

What the f**k?

“Excuse me?” Roman blurted out, inching into Zack’s space.

“We know you’re exceptional drivers,” Zack assured. “The race was close enough to prove that. Let’s see who has the better machine.”

Enough already.

“So who’s going to drive the cars?” I shouted.

Zack’s lips thinned out. “Your girlfriends.”

WHAT?

“Oh, yeah!” some idiot in the crowd laughed like it would be great entertainment.

No one, and I mean no one, was f**king driving my car!

The spectators gathered closer to hear the fall-out, and yes, there was going to be a fall-out. Roman and I would agree that this idea sucked, while most of the crowd would gladly lose money to see a couple of girls race.

“Dude! That’s not happening!” Roman scowled and looked over at his girlfriend. She was cute as hell, but the petite brunette looked like she had just enough muscle to drive a moped and nothing more.

I smiled to myself, thinking about how Tate would do against her.

Nope. Don’t go there.

“Zack,” I sighed. “I don’t have a girlfriend. I never have a girlfriend.”

“What about the pretty little thing you arrived with?”

I twisted my head and gave K.C. an aggravated look. I assumed he was talking about her.

Her eyes about popped out of her head when she saw our attention focused on her.

“He’s just my rebound,” she held up her hands and joked. The crowd covered their mouths and laughed, taunting me like I should be hurt.

K.C. couldn’t help but smile at her cleverness, and I raised my eyebrows at Zack, hoping he understood.

“No one drives my car,” I stated.

“I agree with the Princess here,” Roman piped up. “This is stupid.”

“The crowd’s already seen you two race. They want to be entertained. If you two have any interest in settling this score so people can get paid, then you’ll play it my way. Be on the starting line in five minutes or leave.” He turned to walk away but stopped. “Oh, and you can ride shotgun if you like…you know, for moral support.” The last words broke up as they left his lips.

The dickhead was laughing at us.

“This is bullshit.” I combed my fingers through my hair and walked back towards Madoc and K.C. as Roman stalked over to his crowd.

I straightened and fisted my fingers over and over again. If Zack weren’t a friend, I might have to cut him.