The Champion (Racing on the Edge) (44 page)

“Hey, she’s a step up.” He winked at the girl and if I
was being honest with you, I wasn’t entirely sure she was a woman but I wasn’t
telling Tommy that. “In college, I once fucked a female body builder. Not cute
and it was like fucking Vin Diesel with a twat. Beastly even.”

I laughed until I nearly pissed myself before he looked
at me with a straight face. “I was so disgusted with myself that I only lasted
fifteen seconds and then she proceeded to bench press me. Talk about
emasculated a man.”

“Oh fire crotch,” I leaned against him using him as
support. “What would I do without you?”

“Probably laugh a lot less.”

“So what
...
did you
date her after that?”

“Hey, I didn’t say it was a relationship. We fucked and
occasionally I took her to Subway.”

“Some would classify that as a relationship. Not me, but
some.” I smiled when he glared. “But it was nice of you
...
to take her to Subway an all.”

Another half hour passed after Alley called Van to have
him come get us but apparently he couldn’t so he sent Jameson. I was a little
worried.

“So Emma,” I kicked her shin when she fell asleep beside
me. “Was this your idea of a good time?”

“Actually,” she burst into tears. “No.”

Oh Emma. She was just Emma. Wanted the best and ended in
disaster every time. Look at her kids. Perfect example right there.

Tommy perked up. “Hey look, it’s Jameson.”

We all looked over to my husband leaning against the cell
with a smirk. I burst out laughing at his appearance. The girls had gotten a
hold of him, braided his hair, put eye shadow and lipstick on him and managed
to paint his eyelashes and fingernails. He belonged in here with us.

He smiled at me. I frowned.

He laughed. I stuck my tongue out. It was like a game
until the officer came to release us.

It took a pretty penny to get us out and Tommy said he’d
pay Jameson back.

“Goddamn right you’re paying me back. And you can help
explain this to reporters when they ask why my wife
and
mother were
arrested.” Jameson, though amused, wasn’t pleased by this.

Tommy agreed and Nancy looked at me and Alley standing
against the wall outside the jail looking like we’d been ganged raped.

“You mean to tell me I got a tattoo?” Nancy’s face was somewhere
between complete mortification and humiliation that her son knew what happened.

Tommy put his arm around Nancy. “We outta party more
often.”

“No,” Jameson shoved Tommy away from his mom. “Keep it up
and you’ll be finding yourself another job.”

That shut Tommy up.

Like I said before, going out together never ended well
and it didn’t that night. I knew Emma and all of us needed to let off some
steam and getting arrested wasn’t exactly planned but the funny thing was it
was all laughable after you got over the shock of it all.

On the way up to the suite, Jameson and I stood in the
elevator in silence when an older couple on their way to breakfast stepped
inside. Though I still looked very gang rapped, my husband appearance was far
more laughable.

Through snorts and gasping, they contained themselves and
exited a few floors before ours but what really set me into fit of giggles was
the group of college girls we passed on the way to our suite who stared Jameson
down.

“So many judging looks coming your way.” I whispered his
direction only to have him trip me.

The groups of girls snickered at me.

“Now who’s judging who?”

I glared picking myself up from the floor. It was my only
redeemable response. I had nothing left in me after that night.

19.
        
Air Wrench – Sway

Air Wrench – This
tool uses compressed air to quickly remove wheel nuts on contact. A crew member
proficient with the air wrench can save a team valuable seconds on a pit stop.
It can also be called an air gun or impact gun.

After being arrested, we kept things low as the season
was getting intense but so was the interest in my relationship with Jameson.
I’m not sure why, but everyone wanted to challenge. It was like nowadays people
didn’t believe in a lasting relationship that had stress and obstacles in its
way. Well I did and I damn sure wasn’t about to let anyone threaten it.

One night after the race in Bristol, I was walking back
to the motor coach to meet up with Jameson and then we were heading to Elma for
a couple days. I got half way there and realized I’d forgotten Casten’s stuffed
monkey in the hauler so Van ran back to get it for me. I stood waiting for him
when Rusty, a Nationwide driver approached me.

Rusty was about twenty-three or so and had a knack with
the ladies. He thought, and I would argue this, that he was god’s gift to
women. He had no idea the man I had in my bed every night was by far the best.

So standing there in the darkness of the paddock waiting
on Van, Rusty came up.

“What are you doing out here all alone?” he asked
stepping from his golf cart.

“Oh, well I forgot something in the hauler and Van went
to get it.”

“So Van, he’s like your body guard?”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, something like that.”

He smiled, brown golden eyes trying to work their magic.
“I can see why a girl like you needs a body guard.”

That’s when he stepped closer blocking me against the
side of Paul’s hauler.

This is when I felt the nervous goose bumps and the
sudden urge to run. Since the incident with Darrin so many years ago, I didn’t
like to be cornered by anyone.

“So Sway, how about you say we, oh, you know,” he let his
voice drop lower to a whisper. “go back to my motor coach?”

Was he fucking serious?

I must have gave him that look when he replied with. “You
can’t tell me Riley gives you everything you need. He’s so focused on racing he
barely see’s you for what you are.”

Again, was he fucking serious?

He stepped even closer, breath blowing across my face.

That’s when the shit hit the fan.

“What’s going on here?” Jameson asked barely controlled.

I knew then, one wrong move, one wrong word and this
Rusty guy would have regretted ever stepping my direction.

Even submerged in the shadows and harsh lighting, his
temper was thick. Like a race at a superspeedway with twenty cars running in a
pack on the last lap, I knew what was coming.

Rusty stepped back distancing himself from me. “Nothing,
just talking to your wife here,” Rusty said casually with a hint of arrogance.
“Nice run tonight.”

Jameson looked to me for an answer avoiding Rusty. He
knew looking at me it wasn’t that.

“Sway,” Jameson’s voice had that tone and I knew then
Rusty was about to see the big one. “Meet me at the motor coach.”

My gaze upon my husband shifted over his shoulder to see
Van standing there. I joined Van and never looked back.

Van sighed and continued to walk with me. “How is it that
I can’t leave you for a second?” he handed me Casten’s stuffed monkey.

“I don’t know Van.”

I hoped Jameson didn’t get into trouble and frankly, I
was getting tired of this crap where everyone had to test us. Why wasn’t it
that no one could have a marriage without people trying to test their luck?

It was something I’d never understand.

Jameson returned with Spencer beside and motioned for me
to get inside the Expedition waiting for us. I loaded the kids and we took off
to airport without another word.

When we got home and inside our room, he looked at me and
leaned against the wall as I got ready for bed. “Did he hurt you?”

“No. Did you hurt him?”

“No.” his eyes dropped to the floor. “I just had a few
words with him.”

I knew what that meant and when I saw Rusty the next
week, he wouldn’t even look at me and had the faint yellow markings of a black
eye that was healing.

Rowdy Riley was still very much, Rowdy Riley.

Air Wrench – Jameson

Toward the end of the 2009 season, I had made it into the
chase and was well on the way to my fifth championship when we got caught up in
the big one in Talladega. A lot of chase contenders were involved as well so
that was good but not where I wanted to be heading into the final three races
of the season.

Everything was busy right now. Sway was in Mooresville
with the kids helping Tommy and the boys with the sprint car team. The World
Finals started on Wednesday and here I was on a Sunday night, after the
Talladega race, drinking with Tate and Bobby.

We all just needed a break. Sadly, I didn’t get one.

I was standing there next to the bar, waiting for another
round of beers when a man approached me for my autograph. I gave him one and
expected him to leave me alone when he decided to invade my personal life by
asking how my son was doing.  Now I don’t really have a problem with that
so much with asking about Axel, he was in the public eye now and there isn’t
anything I can do about that. What I had a problem with was those who asked
about Sway. Given our history and the year we’d been having, I took that shit
personally.

When his attempts got him nowhere, he went a step
further.

 “You’re wife sure is pretty,” the man said
conversationally, though I didn’t take it that way by his dark tone. I didn’t
like this guy. One, he was standing too close to me and second, I just didn’t
like him.

I was aware my wife was attractive and understood other
men coming on to her. Who wouldn’t?

What I didn’t appreciate were the ones that felt the need
to try their luck with her. To me, marriage is sacred. It holds a bond like
none other. I valued it greatly and to have men disregard me as though my wife
wasn’t my wife was something I wasn’t okay with. Actually, it pissed me off to
no end and infuriated me at times. Just like the time in Bristol with Rusty, I
lost my cool.

“Don’t.” I shook my head slowly as I reached for the
three beers the bartender handed me.

“Don’t what?”

“Threaten me.” I growled turning to look at him. “Do you
honestly think you’re the first person to threaten my family?”

“I only said she was pretty.” His words didn’t match his
expression though. “Why are you so offensive about that?”

“Come on dude!” Bobby yelled from the table. “I could
have gotten them faster than you.”

I nodded toward Bobby that I had the beers and was
heading back to the table when the man followed me.

“I only said she was pretty. What’s the harm in that?”

Bobby and Tate caught on fairly quickly that I was
moments away from showing this guy what the harm in that was. Instead, I
responded with, “You’re in very dangerous territory.” I told him as
threateningly as I could. Now that I had the man back up against the wall, it
dawned on me who he was. He was the same guy from Indy, Gab. But as Van had
found out, his name wasn’t Gab Kinney. It was actually Garrett Kinney, wanted
for arrest in Atlanta, Houston and El Paso on possession of narcotics and
burglary in Seattle.

“You’re awfully protective.” He chuckled. “Has she
cheated on you or something?”

“You are lucky I’m even letting you say that to me right
now.”

“Oh, so that’s a yes?”

“Listen to me, Garrett!” His eyes widened in surprise
that I knew his
real
name. I snapped slamming my beer on the table as
both Bobby and Tate stood from their place at the table. “
My
wife and
my
family are none of your fucking business, is that clear?”

His hands rose defensively. “I was only pointing out a
fact.”

“A fact that it none of your concern,”

Keeping my hands securely in his jacket, he struggled
against me.

“Jameson, let him go.” Tate warned stepping closer.

“You should listen to your friend.”

I had half a mind not to let him go. Flashes of Darrin
surged throughout my blood leaving me boiling. This wasn’t Darrin, just some
smartass looking to piss me off, but it didn’t change the feeling. Throughout
the year, it seemed everyone was testing me and they did this by threatening my
family.

Knowing this came with fame, I tried not to read too much
into it. But still, it was there, haunting me.

Bobby ushered the guy away from me while Tate sat me down
at the table again. “Relax man.”

“Relax?” I balked. “That guy just told me my wife was
pretty. How do you think that makes me feel?”

Tate seemed to contemplate this for a moment but didn’t
answer.

“Let me ask you something Tate
...
how would you feel if someone threatened Anna or Jake?”

“I would have reacted the same way, but he didn’t threaten
you. He said she was pretty
...
there’s a
difference, Jameson.”

“Really? There is?”

“Yes, there is.”

“Could have fooled me because that’s the first thing
Darrin said to me.”

“What?”

“That Sway was pretty.”

Tate hung his head and then slowly shook it. “You have to
stop comparing every man to Darrin. Yeah, he was crazy but Sway is pretty.
You’re not going to get away from men thinking she’s attractive.”

“That’s not the fucking point.” I slammed my beer down on
the table and walked out. Bobby was coming back inside as I was leaving and I
blew past him with just a head nod.

Instead of catching a flight home, I decided to drive
that night. Once you were on I-85 it was only a six-hour drive and after the
race and then the bar, I needed the time alone. Throughout the season, it was
hard to find any sort of alone time. Like it or not, everyone needs it. I don’t
care how in love you are with your significant other or family, you need alone
time.