Chereads / All His Stars / Chapter 4 - vroom vroom

Chapter 4 - vroom vroom

After we get done eating, I hand my card to Matt before Blake can even think and he gives me a funny look, stopping our conversation.

"The guy should pay." He grumbles.

"Well yeah, but I did it before you so...." I shrug and stack our bowls, clean up a bit and take my card back when Matt brings it. I stick my tongue out at Blake to which he rolls his eyes.

He opens the door on the way out for me.

"What now?" He asks pulling up beside me as I pull my helmet on.

"I'm going to my house to grab something." I put my visor up so he can hear better.

"It would be hardly gentleman-like if I didn't escort you." He exclaims and does a smile-smirk thing.

Oh jeez... I'd rather he didn't as I'm probably gonna go home to an upset atmosphere. I don't need him to know that I live like that.

I sigh and signal for him to come closer. He gets out of his car and comes closer as I asked.

"Can I tell you a secret?" I ask, my voice shaking a bit.

"Of course, anything," he says sweetly and smiles at me.

"I do motorcycle racing. I have a race tonight. That's who I was with on the phone earlier." I say with quiet hesitation and look at him with concern.

"So?"

"It isn't the most... legal thing in the world," I chuckle nervously and look away.

"So you make money off it?" He questions and I swear I can almost see a glitter in his eyes.

"Yes. If I win tonight, I can get a few thousand dollars," I glance up at him as his lips turn at the corners into a smirk.

"Can I come with you?" He asks, the excitement of a little boy in his voice.

"Why?" I tilt my head.

Why are you thinking about telling him no? We can trust him.

"I dunno... It's kinda sexy that you race and I'd love to watch you do something you love."

Did he just call me sexy? Does he know who he's talking to?

My cheeks flush red, and I look away again.

"I'll drive you home. Let's get your bike into my truck," he offers as I instinctively get off and help him get it into the bed of the truck without getting a scratch on it. He opens the car door for me, and I get in, putting my seatbelt on and holding my helmet in my lap.

He asks me more questions about my races and stuff as we drive to my house. I go to the garage and try to remain as quiet as possible so not to alarm anybody in the house. I fill my bike with gas and fix it up a bit, switching out some features to race instead of cruise. Blake helps me with some stuff not unlike the way a surgeon has a scrub nurse.

What do you know? He knows the difference between the wrenches!

Just when I thought I was in the clear, Evelyn comes out. I don't even have to look at her to know it's her. She douses herself in that God-awful perfume all the time that gives me a headache. She shoves past me to go to Blake who is sitting behind me glancing at my ass. I smell his testosterone increase, but it disappears when she shows up.

"Hey hot stuff, what brings you here?" she asks leaning on my bike.

I nudge her off, "stop flirting with him or I'll tell your boyfriend about the way you adjusted your shirt before you came out here," I say, my anger increasing ever so slowly as my wolf is already prepared to snap her arm in half. She pulls her shirt up to reveal less of her nonexistent, contoured breasts.

"You wouldn't dare," she sneers, getting in my face.

"Oh, but I would," I hiss back with a devilish smirk, loving the way the color is draining from her face.

I feel a change in Blake's temperament as he walks closer, his frame looming over both of us to a point where I start to get somewhat intimidated even though I wasn't the target of his anger. He pulls me behind him by my hand and directs her to go back inside, essentially telling her in a nice way to fuck off.

"Come inside and have a beer with us, leave the trash alone," she beams and reaches for his hand. Bad move, blondie.

"Keep your hands off her and off me and speak for yourself," he says in a sweet, scary way as tears form in her eyes, fear hopefully. She nods and goes back in the house.

I sit down on the stool he was on before he got up and just collapse. His expression goes from victory to worry as he kneels to be at my level and meets my eyes.

"What's wrong? She's gone now," he says in the softest tone I've heard his voice and puts my hair behind my ears. I love his touch, it gives me such comfort and the most obtrusive butterflies in my stomach. If wolves could purr, mine would be doing that right now. He seems more relaxed too.

He wraps his arms around me and just holds me for a minute while I try to catch my breath which has caught in my throat. He kisses my head and lets me go.

"That was pretty cool," I mumble and chuckle as I stand up again, still partially paralyzed from shock.

"It's nothing. She had that coming anyway," he grins.

The door opens, and Blake steps in front of me again holding my hand. A distraught Sandra comes out demanding to speak to me. Blake speaks for me and tells her no.

"Have it your way," she says in a sing-song voice and pulls a bat from behind the door, going to my bike, raising it in the air. I see it and shove Blake aside running in that seems like slow motion to successfully catch the bat in my hand just before it hits my bike, I won't deny that it hurt. I fight to get the bat away from her eventually winning it and snapping it over my knee with wolf strength.

She's pushed me way over the edge, that's it. I let my wolf force her way through to go into full defense mode. Before I can do it, she lunges at me, getting me on the ground. Her nails sink into my skin which I feel but don't acknowledge. I kick her off as Blake comes to help me up and ask if I'm okay before she gets up.

"I will call your boyfriend up right now and tell him what a slut you're being. Go inside." He says, getting more impatient now.

"Blake, she isn't worth your time. She isn't worth anything. I've lived with her for long enough to know. Just look at her, she doesn't deserve anything," she says dusting herself off, feeding on the look of defeat in my eyes. I withdraw myself, trying to zone her out as her words still hurt. "If you want to be with a nobody, go ahead. It isn't my business," she laughs and scans him up and down.

Tears gather at the corners of my eyes as I tense up out of frustration that I can't rip her head off. "You're just jealous she got a date with me, and you didn't," petty, but true words from Blake.

It was a date?

Why is he defending me? It would be easier just to leave. He is gonna be under so many harsh rumors because of me.

She snorts and goes back in the house, slamming the door making me jump.

I can't look at him. I keep my head down as he comes up to me, taking my hand again which is now dirty with grease.

"Oh shit, Nova you're bleeding," he mutters, and I look over to where her nail marks still were where blood now runs down my arm. I honestly didn't notice.

He leads me to his car and sits me down, cleaning it up. I wince when he pours something on it. "I'm sorry about that," he says as he wraps it.

What? Why is he sorry?

"I'm the only one who should be sorry. I shouldn't have escalated her the way I did," I withdraw my arm once he's done and start to walk back to the garage, but he grabs my opposite hand.

"Hey, look at me." I do as told with tears still in my eyes. He wipes a tear that falls down my cheek with his thumb while holding my face in his hands, "she has too much plastic in her to compete with you."

"Being around me will make your life so much worse, Blake. It isn't worth it," I mumbled out trying to keep tears back, removing his hands from my face. I really liked him, but if he was going to be hurt because of me, I didn't want any part in that.

"The hell it isn't. You're different, Nova. Not just in the wolf way. You aren't like them, and I love that about you. Let them talk, we'll be away from it soon enough I promise," he proclaimed, "now, is she going to make you miss that race tonight?" He smiles when I look back at him.

"Let's load up," I return a smile and start to put my bike into his truck before he takes over. I grab a few more things before we leave and we stop at the gas station to get what Taylor asked for and some snacks for the ride. The track is about an hour and a half away.

We talk on the way there about everything. We even made a rough escape plan for after graduation. Somehow his hand finds its way to mine and stays there for the duration of the drive.

~~~~~~~~Later~~~~~~~~

We see bright lights from a ways away and pull into the abandoned lot which has only been done up for racing purposes. My heartbeat quickens as excitement floods through me, so eager to get back on the track.

I love this feeling, and I missed it so much, the blood running through my veins to the heart that has become so dependent on the high I get from this. I have to remind myself to take deep breaths, Wolfie doesn't need the oxygen as much as I do. She is about ten times more excited than I am. This is one of the scenarios where we coexist in peace and are both happy with what's going on.

Loud music plays as I meet Taylor at our spot, give him his snacks and greet some friends who are probably high off their asses.

"Yo, me, Owen and Liam bet five hundred on you," one of the guys says as he takes another hit from whatever the heck he's smoking.

My eyes widen in surprise, "I won't disappoint," I smile, knowing that some of that money goes to me too.

After some time messing around with them, the music stops, and the announcer says over the loudspeakers for the racers to get to the starting line and start getting ready. I single-handedly get my bike down from the truck, and my group walks with me to the track where they wish me luck, I get a few bro handshakes and hugs before I put my helmet on and walk my bike the rest of the way.

Blake pulls me back and whispers just loud enough for me to hear over the noise, "don't do anything stupid. I don't have the first aid supplies to handle a broken bone," I nod and chuckle in his direction.

Because of the last race which I won, I get to be in the first position on the line. I make sure everything is in order and allow my wolf to come forward to engage better reflexes and whatever else she decides to offer. I'm nearly shaking with excitedness.

In what feels like a split second, the light goes from red to green, and I bolt off trying my best to stay ahead. It takes my bike a minute to adjust and really speed up, but when I do, I get ahead of everyone except for Mack. We don't like each other very much... He starts to get really close to my bike and makes an attempt to kick me and throw off my balance. He plays dirty, but in the nanosecond before he makes contact, I charge past him and finish the first lap.

One down, four to go.

I check my speedometer which reads one hundred and climbing fast. I've gotten to almost three hundred on my bike before. As a curve approaches, I slow down just slightly to put my leg out and give myself enough room to turn. I nail it and get to one seventy as I speed down the straight path, slowing down again at a turn on the huge track.

I hear a motor besides mine, and out of the corner of my eye, I see the unmistakable orange and green of Mack's bike.

We're almost done. If you let him pass us on this, your next shift will be painful.

I smirk as I pass the finish line for the third lap as he gets neck and neck with me, along with a few of his buddies.

Oh fuck no.

Yeah, he messed with the wrong girl(s).

The only thing that bothers me about my races is that it always goes by so fast. You'd think a lap would take longer, not here. In reality, it probably takes forty minutes but to the racers, it's nothing.

The next turn isn't for a while, I go as fast as my bike allows and leave him in the dirt. She takes over as much as she can without shifting for the last stretch and guess who is on my tail again... Mack.

Only 300 meters to go.

Shit, "come on, baby," I whisper, forcing the last effort the bike can put out, crossing the finish line right before Mack. When I finally come to a stop, I ride back slower. It took a while to come to a halt after how fast I was going. Upon coming back, I'm greeted by a mosh pit of people I don't know and people I do. Blake looks overjoyed.

It doesn't take long for Mack to get back too and start cussing at the tech guy for calling it wrong.

He would. Poor daddy's boy can't accept another loss.

I chuckle at her remark and finally take my helmet off, to address what's going on.

"Mack, we have it right here. Look for yourself," the tech guy says as he shows him the high accuracy video of me crossing the line barely a second before his front wheel touched it.

"Oh, bullshit! She's a cheater! I had that!" he roars, in a funny outrage. It's a jock version of a tantrum, and I'm struggling to keep laughter to myself. I don't want to say anything.

Taylor congratulates me, and Blake lingers a bit behind watching me get praise from mostly guys.

"I'll have the guys fix up your bike. It shouldn't take long," Taylor says loudly over the victory music and people at my side. He also hands me an envelope which I place in the inner pocket of my jacket and zip it up so no one can think to snatch it. Taylor gets a share of it too for being my primary sponsor, for lack of a better word. He gets money elsewhere, so he doesn't take a lot. I nod as I trust him with it. He knows what he's doing, and so do his guys.

I start to feel an aura of negativity approaching. I bet I know who it is too... Before I can turn around, my shoulder gets a harsh shove. I turn around and lo and behold, Bitchboy.

"Having a hard time accepting another loss, bud?" I ask innocently as his expression turns sour and he gets closer to me.

Blake steps in and warns him to back off. They stand around the same height, but Blake is significantly stronger than Mack. As strong as the steroids make Mack look, the look that Blake gives him makes him back down.

"Your boyfriend can't always protect you," he spits.

I'm not afraid of him. I just roll my eyes and move on as some security guys urge him on.

"Nova, your bike is finished," Taylor says as he comes to get me some time later. I walk over and listen to what they change. After they take it off the lift in the built-in garage thing that came with the course. I thank them and Blake, and I start to go back to the car, walking the bike.

Until someone yells "cops! Everyone scram!" and the whole place is put in a panic. I get on my bike again and invite Blake to sit behind me as I rev it, "hold on tight," I chuckle and skedaddle again as the sirens get closer. When we get to the car, we hoist the bike in once more, get in and race away in the opposite direction.

Once we're in the clear, we stop at a gas station to breathe and possibly get more snacks. It is this moment when I realize I'm starving.

"You were so good," he says, pure exhilaration still dripping from his words.

"Thank you, it was nice knowing you were there. Comforting, I guess," I smile and sit back, allowing myself to relax for the first time since the last time I was sitting here, "I'm sorry about Mack, he's just a sore loser is all."

"I could tell, but he looked like he wanted to hurt you, " he says with a new tone I've never heard before.

"For every hit he makes to me, I have ten other people willing to punch him for me," I laugh realizing just how true it is, "he knows it too. He wouldn't touch me," I smile and sigh in contentment.

"I know a really good cafe up the road a bit, it's open all night," he suggests after a moment of silence. I like trying new places, and if he likes it, I should too. Our tastes are fairly similar in food so far as I can tell.

I agree, and we drive for a while in the opposite direction of home, going further out and finally coming to a cozy looking place amidst other little shops. Not many people are inside.

Immediately upon going inside, I recognize fresh ground coffee and pastries. I take a second to appreciate it, with Blake apparently watching me the whole time.

I love the exposed brick, the huge glass windows, the skylights which are open now to look at the stars, the sofas and rugs everywhere. I feel more at home here than I do in my actual house. It has such a cozy vibe to it.

"I know right?" he says in a low voice and guides me to the register where I order some kind of tasty sounding tea latte. He orders hot chocolate. I don't know why but it just seems so much like him. It sounds weird, but hot chocolate just matches his personality. The big heart, staying up too late, how easily excited he gets, how he saw the good in me right away. He's definitely a hot chocolate aesthetic.

I notice a piano and as he pays (which he insisted on) I wander over to it and pull the cover up to just play with it. Piano is one of my hobbies, I play by ear mostly. I start with one hand and eventually lose myself in the sound, the depth. I've only ever played keyboards, so this baby grand is phenomenal. There is also an arsenal of other instruments strewn around the cafe. I don't notice him sitting next to me until I finish the piece I was playing.

"Is there anything you can't do?" he asks as he hands me my drink which is in the cutest mug. They even put steamed milk art on top, what a lovely touch. The warmth of the mug spreads to my palms and fingertips. I allow the heat to travel up my arms and through me as I sip it. This ability to feel everything will be gone soon, it always comes after racing. I cherish it as long as I can.

"Guess you'll have to find out," I say and shrug with a smile in my eyes. I put the mug on a table nearby and start to play again, singing under my breath. The song is "I See The Light" from Tangled, an instrumental version but I sing where Rapunzel's part is. I can't resist.

I continue to play, and his voice kicks in when Flynn's part comes. I'm surprised and almost stop playing, but am encouraged to keep going by his warm hand on my shoulder. I feel his eyes on me the whole time.

I smile and play through his part and on to the duet where both our voices melt together into one of the most perfect things I've ever heard.

"All at once, everything is different. Now that I see you."

"Now that I... see you," we sing as my fingers continue to play to finish and hit the last note. I find myself looking at him, glancing from his lips to his eyes, instinctively leaning in closer as both our eyes close.

Just as I feel his warm, sweet breath on my lips, the barista asks us if we want refills.

Now?! Really?!!!

I hold back the annoyance in myself that is mirrored in Blake. We both get our drinks topped off and proceed to normal, messing around, laughing, cracking jokes. I teach him how to play Seven Nation Army and bass boot it. Long story short, we eventually end up making our way to a couch sitting opposite each other with my legs in his lap. We split a sandwich which satisfies my once rumbling stomach.

I check the time a while later and see that my watch reads 3AM. I love when conversations make you lose track of time.

He starts to talk about driving me home as I look dead and probably need the sleep. I agree, and we drive the rest of the way home, talking about everything from school to what color licorice is better.

As we pull up to my house, I put my bike on the side of the house to keep it safe from prying eyes and the twin terrors.

"Are you sure you're gonna be alright?" he asks putting the car in park, looking at me.

"Yeah, they'll probably be drunk or asleep. I'll be okay," I reassure him and squeeze his hand.

"You should come over tomorrow, why don't I pick you up around ten?" He offers at which I blush and smile at him again. I do an awful lot of smiling around him.

"Ten it is," I confirm and open the door to leave.

He maintains his grip on my hand and plants a soft kiss on the back of it, making gentle eye contact with me.

"Goodnight Nova," he releases my hand.

"Goodnight Blake," I say softly with a smile even I can hear through my words.

He waits for me to get in the house and I hear him drive away when he hears no commotion. I head to my room as everyone seems to be asleep and lock my door behind me, slipping into pajamas and snuggling into the warmth of my blankets.

None are as warm and soothing as his embrace is my last thought before I drift off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Stupid barista...