Trading Paint (Racing on the Edge) (47 page)

Tommy chuckled and picked up our bags. He was flying out to Daytona with me and then he was off to Eldora for the start of the Outlaw season.

“He doesn’t, that I know of
...
but when has he ever had a girlfriend?” he looked at me like I was stupid.

I felt stupid for even asking.

“Good point
...
but you never know.”

“He spends all his free time on the phone with you.” He insinuated.

“So?”

“What I mean is how would he have time for a girlfriend? He’s either racing or talking to you. Obviously I’m no judge of character here because I can’t keep a girlfriend more than a few months, but I’m almost certain no woman would tolerate that.”

He had a good point there. Jameson and I talked every day no matter what time of the night it was. It was almost as though we had an unspoken rule that we
had
to talk.

The entire flight I was nervous and downright jittery. I hadn’t seen him since last April and I wasn’t sure how to act around him. I knew once I saw him, everything would be back to normal but I was still nervous anticipating what he would think. Did he want me there? He said he did but then again maybe he was just trying to make me feel better.

So now, here I was surprising him in Daytona. It was Tommy who convinced me to surprise him. I planned on going to Daytona but surprising him seemed like a better option or a dumb one, not sure yet.

As I said, we hadn’t seen each other in nearly a year and if I was honest with you, my feeling for him hadn’t diminished. If anything, it was stronger from the separation. My TV in my dorm in Bellingham was kept on the SPEED channel or ESPN just in case I was able to catch a glimpse of him in an interview or just the mention of his name.

Our plane was delayed due to a thunderstorm rolling through Atlanta during take-off so when we finally touched down in Daytona, the race had already
began
.

The Budweiser shootout was not a race you qualified for but in Jameson’s case, he was the wild card who made it by setting the fastest lap time. The shootout was an annual Winston Cup series invitation-only event the weekend before the Daytona 500 held on Saturday night. It generally served as the kick-off for the NASCAR portion of Speedweek. The field consisted of drivers from previous race wins who clenched automatic berths, former pole sitters who also clenched automatic berths and a wild card. Jameson.

The event consisted of an opening 25-lap segment, followed by a 50-lap race to the finish after a ten-minute intermission. Similar to the All-Star race held at Charlotte, the race carries no championship points for the winner just a large purse.

The field was made up of twenty-eight cars as opposed to the usual forty-three starters in a typical cup race, with the starting line-up determined by a random draw.

To me, the racing itself to me was similar to what you’d see at the local bullring tracks.

With no points on the line, drivers usually went all out and created some of the most exciting racing.

By the time Tommy and I made it to the track, got our hot passes and into the pits to find Alley, the second 50-lap segment was underway. I was so eager to get a glimpse of Jameson’s car on the track I hardly heard anything Alley was telling us. I hadn’t seen him race stock cars in person yet. I’d seen him on TV but not in person.

I was literally in awe at how huge the venue was. You can’t grasp how large it is until you see it in person. Under the lights, you could hear and feel the loud resonant rumble of the cars as they roared down the straightaways, vibrating right through you.
The smells;
oh the smells
.
Rich sharp biting aromas of racing fuel pooled with rubber from the heated tires on the asphalt. Once we stepped out of the car, I inhaled a deep breath, remembering everything I missed about racing and Jameson, the two fused together. Distinguishing between it all, burnt rubber and racing fuel surrounded my senses, I thought of Jameson and always would.

“Calm down,” Alley grumbled as I bounced up and down once we found her.

Pit lane was busy, as to be expected. I knew enough about being at the dirt tracks to know that the pits or in this case pit lane, was a place of business and when the guys are working on cars, that’s their job and they take it seriously. To be competitive in this sport, they have to otherwise, they wouldn’t be here.

Tommy shot a sideways glance at me while looking toward the pit box. I was showing an alarming amount of enthusiasm for this.

Kyle was up on the box, though I hadn’t met him yet, Jameson talked about him often so I felt as though I already knew who he was.

“He’s running fourth right now.” Alley announced staring at her Blackberry. “He placed second in the first segment.” She tucked her phone away and waved goodbye.

Being the Public Relations representative for the team, she was busy, always busy.

I don’t think you could wipe the grin from my face. This was so exciting. I couldn’t see much, being as short as I was so Kyle motioned for me to come on the pit box with him. You couldn’t see much better from there either as the infield was never a good spot to watch a race but it was the most exciting. You get to hear all the commotion between the crewmembers. I believe that being in the infield at the races is the place to be as it gives you the full experience including hearing the strategy calls made by the crew chief and car chief.

Kyle smiled and pulled his headset away from his ear.

“I’m Kyle Wade, Jameson’s crew chief and this is Mason.” I shook hands with both of them while Kyle pulled the headset back. “Hey bud,” he began in the microphone attached the headset. “
Sw
—”

I smacked the back of his head so hard his headset fell off his head. “Don’t tell him, it’s a surprise!”

I don’t think Kyle knew what to do so he scrambled to adjust his headset.

“Sorry bud, uh
...
ten laps to go.” He gave me a glance like I was clinically insane but smiled despite this.

I’m not sure what Jameson was saying but Kyle was lying. “Don’t worry, it was nothing. I just dropped the headset.”

I shook my head and watched as Jameson’s black number nine car flew past us on the front-stretch. Mason moved around Kyle to sit next to me. I watched as Tommy hung by the pit wall to get a better look at the cars when they came by. At tracks like Daytona, you can only see them on the front-stretch when you’re watching from the grid.

“So you’re Sway?” Mason asked peeking over his clipboard.

“Yeah, and you’re Mason.”

“Jameson talks about you
a lot
.” He grinned, his smile boyish. “So does Spencer and Emma.”

“What can I say—I’m awesome.”

Mason laughed, as did Kyle.

“He’s freaking out right now.” Kyle said motioning toward his headset. “You guys might want to watch this.” He gestured with a flick of his wrist at the laptop they had opened to the broadcasting station.

I glanced over at it to see Jameson drafting with Bobby only Jameson was leading.

“Holy shit!”
I yelled and practically sat on Kyle’s lap to get a good view of the screen. “He’s leading!”

“That’s what he just said.”

By the looks on their faces, I couldn’t have made my obsession any more obvious.

Chicane – Jameson

I wasn’t sure what to make of it all. I was leading a pack of cars at Daytona International Raceway, in a race. Yeah it wasn’t the Daytona 500 but it was even better, it was a race with the best of the best, the Budweiser shootout. I shouldn’t have even been in the race but by setting the fastest time, I was picked as the wild card. So there I was, racing with past winners, pole sitters and past champions.

“Is this the last lap?” I asked Kyle when we crossed the start/finish line.

“Yeah,”

Tate and his teammate, Austin Yale, teamed up beside Bobby and me on the inside. They had the preferred line coming out of turn two. “Inside on the line, ten cars got a run
...
inside at your door
...
clear.”

Tate took over position but he did something I least expected him to do; he shot over in front of me on the outside instead of teaming up with Austin again. I wasn’t sure what to do so I drafted with him. Bobby stayed right behind me and Austin swung in line behind him creating a four-car line coming to the green.

I had two options. Stay where I was, or try to pass. I knew Bobby would follow but I wasn’t sure my car could pass Tate, he was strong. He did just pass me outside of the draft, there wasn’t enough time to make a move so I stayed where I was, second place.

I grinned when I saw the checkered flag. I just ran a race with the legends of stock car racing and placed second.

I’d say that’s respectable.

I hated not winning, I don’t know of any racer that didn’t, but when you think about, what experience did I have in race trim on a track like Daytona?

None.

I’d never raced a cup race before this and to finish second, I shouldn’t be complaining. I think the part that upset me the most was the fact that I could have won, there just wasn’t enough time.

Tate waved when I pulled up next to him, as did I. I’d finish second to a guy like him any day. This just goes back to my feelings about that Triple Crown Championship over Justin, you want to win so badly but you also know that means beating a guy who wants it just as badly.

When I pulled down the grid, still smiling, I removed my helmet while Spencer pulled my window net down. That’s when I heard a familiar giggle. My head shot up, my eyes glancing around figuratively; no one else had that giggle.

Sway.

I’m almost certain I got out of that car quicker than I would have if it was on fire and had her secured in my arms.

“You lied to me.” I breathed against her neck.

“No, I didn’t.” she giggled. “I just didn’t tell you the whole truth.” She pulled back to look at me. “I was in Atlanta, getting ready to board the plane, when you called.”

I still hadn’t let go of her. Instead, I pulled her against my chest tighter.

“Thank you
...
thank you so much for coming honey.”

“Did you honestly think I’d miss Daytona two years in a row, let alone,” Her eyebrow arched derisively. “
your
first cup race?”

“No but
...
you’re busy these days.”

“I’m never too busy for you.” She assured me kissing my cheek.

Dad was at my car after that so I couldn’t kiss her the way I wanted to. “Good job kid.” He smiled.

“Thanks.” I pulled Sway closer and tucked her under my arm.

She giggled. “You’re wet.”

“I’m sweating.” Her eyes focused on mine when I spoke. “It happens.”

She didn’t say anything for a
while,
just stood there beside me as I did a few post-race interviews. When the last reporter left she reached up and kissed my cheek again.

“I’m so proud of you!”

I had other plans and pulled her aside out of the public eye. We walked back to my motor coach; I kicked Spencer and Aiden out and brought Sway inside. After a few beers, I wasn’t thinking, neither was she and before we knew it we were making out on the bed in the back.

She deserved so much better than this and I couldn’t just have sex with her.

What would happen if I did?

All the times we’d been like this with each other, she never stopped me and that scared me. If I instigated it, she went with it. If I pulled away, so did
she
. After a few minutes, I was ready to ask for more, take more, and
oh
did I want more.

Her body moved against mine in a desperate way pulling me against her. Her soft hands swept over my shoulders and down the contours of my back. I let a whimper pulling her hard against me. My mouth moved from its place against her neck back to her warm lips, moving frantically. Lust began drowning any rational thoughts I had about this and I was scrambling to gain control.

Her arousal was evident, as was mine but how could I take this from her?

This would change everything. The worst part about it was she was leaving in a few weeks. It wouldn’t be anything more than what I had with other women and I wanted more from Sway. I didn’t want a one-time thing. Did she?

No, she couldn’t want that.

Unconsciously, my hand moved from her breast to the button of my jeans and she moaned arching against me. I froze, that moan made me comprehend what exactly was happening. I couldn’t do this. She deserved better. She wasn’t just another pit lizard. This was Sway, my best friend.

I moved my hand from her waist to run through her hair lightly skimming the apple of her cheek. My gentle touch elicited a moan of pleasure from her.

It was hard to pull away. Her legs were wrapped around my waist and her hips moving against mine. I briefly contemplated just giving her pleasure but I also knew I wouldn’t stop. It’d been almost a year since I’d been with anyone and I was close already just by her hips wiggling against mine. I also knew that seeing her pleasure, I wouldn’t be able to stop myself and she was far too willing.