Black Flag (Racing on the Edge) (7 page)

“Yes, he’s suspended
from all three series as well as any NASCAR sanctioned track.”

Phillip left a few
minutes after that, leaving Kyle, Jimi, and me sitting in our large conference
room.

Kyle nudged my arm. “We
need to be at your shop by ten as we have a few drivers to meet.”

Interviewing drivers
who would be driving my car at my favorite track was not exactly a pleasant
experience for me. It was like interviewing men to take your wife on a date. No
one would be good enough in my eyes.

Justin drove the car at
Indianapolis and did exceptionally well for never being in a cup car before,
finishing thirteenth. Unfortunately, his prior commitments wouldn’t allow him
to race the car at Watkins Glen and Michigan so here I was interviewing.

Kyle handed me a
resume. Scanning it cursorily, I turned my head lazily to glance at him
sideways. “I hate doing this.”

 “This next guy is
racing on the World of Outlaws for Quincy
Saller
.”
Kyle told me ignoring my poor attitude. “Sway actually recommended him to
Justin. They’ve been racing together for the last year.”

My eyes shifted when
the driver walked into the race shop. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting when
he walked in. I guess appearances don’t dictate a driver’s ability but this guy
looked like a total douche to me and belonged in a boy band. His shaggy blond
hair looked like he tried to create the just woke up look.

Please.
If you have to try to
do it, you shouldn’t.

Besides the hair, what
sent me into a state of complete raging lunacy was when I heard him tell Kyle
and my dad his name.

Mike Tanner.

I may not have the best
memory in the world but I remembered
exactly
who Mike Tanner was.

And Sway had the
fucking nerve to recommend him?

I felt the twinge of
jealous rush through me that this was the guy she’d slept with last. I wanted
to kill him. I didn’t care if this guy is the best fucking wheel man around. He
was not racing my fucking car. That much I did settle on during the thirty
minute interview. I didn’t hear a word dad and Kyle said to him.

Unfortunately for me,
an hour later, I found myself escorting him through the shop to fill out a
background check.

“How long have you been
racing?” I asked coldly unlocking the door to the office. The keys clanked
together breaking the silence.

It was clearly a dumb
question considering I had his resume in my hands—hands that were currently
trembling as I tried to control my raging anger. All I could focus on was that
he slept with Sway.

“Since I was nine,”
Mike answered following closely.

I nodded. “I hear
you’re on the Outlaw tour?”

“Yeah,
for the last year.”
We passed by my office heading toward the main office at
the end of the hall. “I was racing outlaw later models prior to that.”

“How
...
” my voice faded when I didn’t hear
footsteps behind me.

Mike had stopped by the
door to my office, gazing toward a photograph of Sway and I that I had framed
in the hallway. It was from my last win in Loudon on my birthday.

When I cleared my
throat, Mike began walking again.

“How long have you
known Sway Reins?”

“A while,” I answered
dryly.

“I’ve gotten to know
her over the years.” He told me with a confidence I wanted to wipe from his
smug face. “We’re
good
friends.”

“I doubt that,” I
mumbled. My jaw clenched tightly when his arms crossed over his chest
insolently. “Is this about racing or Sway?”

“I think you know it’s
about both.” He had the nerve to reply with.

I shook my head and
glowered at him, my body tensed. “Sway is
none
of your concern.”

Mike laughed darkly
appearing relaxed. “You know
...
”
he stepped toward me and gestured with a nod at the photograph. “I can see how
a small town girl like Sway Reins was able to tame
Rowdy Riley
.” He
winked at me. “She gives good head.”

I lunged for him,
broken bones an all.

I had every intention
of kicking the living shit out of him. I curled my one good fist tightly, which
was tough considering I was left handed, and landed a punch into his jaw that
cracked loudly.

Now it wasn’t a fair
fight at all. There I was; broken ribs, broken collarbone, broken arm, and a
wrist that was in a cast.

But what helped me out
was when I ripped the sling off and used my plaster cast as weapon. It worked in
my favor. Caused an ungodly amount of pain, but it was effective.

I caught him off guard.
His head snapped back at the force of my one hundred and ninety pound body
hitting his stomach as my right shoulder took the blunt force of the impact.

“Don’t ever talk about
Sway!” I growled inches from his ear, pulling him back and then slamming his
back against the wall once more.

Mike struggled against
me, which wasn’t hard to do. I was hardly in any condition to be fighting and I
was already feeling the burn and sharp pains traveling through my entire left
side. I knew I would be paying for this tonight.

He surprised me when
his fist rose and before I could react he punched me once in the jaw. I
stumbled back, saw stars but he wasn’t getting away. One shot was all he was
getting before I was completely on top of him pounding the fuck out of him with
my one good hand and effective use of my cast.

“Get off me Riley!” He
shouted attempting to defend himself.

Mike wasn’t a large
guy, maybe one sixty, so I had weight on but considering I was impaired by
broken bones he easily threw me off.

By this time Spencer,
who was in the race shop, heard the commotion and was instantly holding me back
against the wall.

Mike stumbled and stood
leaning against the wall to support him, surrounded by the broken glass of the
picture frames that once hung on the walls. Blood dripped from his nose on to
the white tile floor beneath him.

“I’m sure your
possessive tendencies are appreciated.” He reached up to wipe the blood from
his nose, smearing it over his cheek. “What girl doesn’t want to feel wanted?
She was a good lay. Flexible if I remember correctly.” He smirked, clearly
amused.

“Fuck you. And you can
forget about driving my car!” I hollered as Spencer shoved me back against the
wall, pinning me to it with his forearm across my throat.

Mike’s eyes shifted
from the floor, around the hallway and then back to me. “You might want to be
more careful with threatening people.” He said quietly before a twisted smile
formed.

“Get the fuck out of
here,” I growled, struggling against Spencer and fighting to get to Mike. My
body shook so badly I thought I was about to erupt.

Mike’s eyes narrowed
slightly before taking a step back and walking out.

“What’s the matter, not
up for the competition these days?” Spencer asked letting me go.

I winced adjusting my
sling. “Shut up,” I barked walking into my office and slamming the door. “You
have no idea what you are talking about.”

Spencer followed
sticking his head inside with a grin. “So that’s a no on Tanner?”

With all the force I
could muster, I grabbed the laptop from my desk and flung it toward the door. I
could hear his booming laughter.

Whether I wanted to
admit this or not, inside, I was that twenty-three year old kid I claimed I
wasn’t and I was acting as such.

My temper hadn’t
improved at all.

Another one of my
stupid ideas while pissed was the idea to destroy my office in my fit of rage.

I
was
pissed;
beyond pissed.

Had Sway slept with him
recently?
It
was a thought I couldn’t stop myself from thinking.

I wouldn’t
think
she would do something like that. Not my Sway. But the paranoid part of me was
unsure.

It wasn’t supposed to
be this way between us.

We were supposed to be
moving forward and not having doubts. This was the happily ever after part.
There shouldn’t be fighting and fear.

But there was.
Because of me.

I trusted Sway. I
trusted her with everything I had and wouldn’t doubt anything she told me.
Until now.
Maybe I was just jealous. Of course I was fucking
jealous. I won’t lie.  

How could I not be? He
slept with her.

Sway Bar – Sway

When I walked inside
his destroyed office, I didn’t know what to expect.

I thought Jameson was
angry when I left him in Sonoma that night but this ghastly temper flaring in
front of me was something I’d never seen before and I’ve seen some interesting
temper tantrums from him.

In all the years I’ve
known him, I’d never seen
this
side of him.

“Are you okay?” I asked
with a justifiable amount of hesitation.

“Did you fuck him?” I
could see his chest heaving even from behind as he rested his head against the
cabinet.

Not the question I was
expecting at all.

“What?” I gasped.

With his back to me,
his palms swiped down his face over his eyes before he spun around to face me,
his head lifted arrogantly. “You heard me.” He growled back. His voice heated
and his eyes were that cold ice jade color he got when he was so irate he
couldn’t see straight. “Did you?”

I’ve seen this look a
time or two in the past but had never been on the receiving end to understand
why Tommy called it the “Death Stare”.

“I already told you
that.” I was trying to remain calm but I couldn’t help my voice from trembling.
Never in my life had I ever been scared of Jameson, until now.

“
Goddamn it
Sway!” he shouted. “I mean recently.” His hand swept across the counter
knocking a glass against the wall. It shattered on impact, shards of glass
spread throughout the room just as sharp as his voice. “Did you?”

Now
I
was
pissed.

Here I was almost three
months pregnant with
his
child, and he was accusing me of cheating on
him.

“What the fuck are you
talking about?” I could feel a blush of anger creep across my face.

Jameson glared, his
head tilted slightly as if this was meant to be a warning of some sort; and
stepped toward me. “Did you fuck him? He said you gave him head.”

“My
God Jameson!”
I hollered losing control. “I never asked you about the sluts that sucked your
dick before us. What would make you think I would tell you who I did? Isn’t
that frowned upon in relationships?”

“No one ever has!” He
shouted back, his face turning puce with infuriating anger that briefly
overpowered the slur.

“Come again?”

He stepped closer with
nothing more than harsh breathing and silent words for a moment. Wounded green
eyes fringed by dark lashes settle on my face studying me with an unnerving
intensity. “I have
never
let another woman suck my dick.” He seethed
slowly, articulating each word with a careful quiet potency.

Jameson’s eyes searched
mine as I grasped the meaning behind his words.

“Well then.” was my
only response.

His right hand cupped
my cheek. I flinched away; too angry that he’d basically accused me of cheating
on him. He didn’t let me get away. Instead he raised my chin forcing me look at
him. His eyes glowered.

“I’m only going to ask
you this once. I
will
know if you’re lying to me,” he paused and
swallowed seeming to choose his next words carefully as his eyes held mine,
anger brewing. “Have you been with anyone else since we got together?”

Part of me, the
hormonal pregnant part, wanted to tell him to fuck off for even insinuating
such a thing but the other part, that part that was irrevocably in love with
this man, wanted to answer him.

I chose the latter and
went with the stubborn approach. “I can’t believe that you would even ask me a
question like that. Do you not trust me at all?” I didn’t wait for his response
before I was heading toward the door.

“Sway
...
wait,” He pleaded his voice was softer
but still sharp with anger. “I’m sorry. Please, just
...
don’t go.”

“No Jameson!” It was my
turn to shout again. “You don’t get to apologize. You don’t get to basically
call your pregnant girlfriend a whore and apologize not more than a minute
later!” I ran out of the office slamming the door behind me.

Once I reached his car,
I was in tears.