“All right.” He broke into another grin. I wondered if he was always this cheerful after being turned down. “It was nice meeting you.”
“Sure. I mean, you too.”
I walked as fast as I dared and prayed I wouldn’t trip over the rake or do something equally humiliating while I was still in Thomas’s line of sight. I did turn back once, partly to get one more glimpse of him and partly to see if he was still watching me.
He was.
Thomas
“GEN-TREEE!”
The howl came from the darkness at my back. Some of the guys who’d lost cash tonight were milling around and a few of them were eyeing me with scorn but I wasn’t worried. My buddy Lenny and his boys were still grinning while counting their winnings and they looked tough enough that some butt hurt college boys would think twice about causing trouble.
I turned and saw Lenny coming my way with his arms draped around two tall blondes with similar features. He detached himself long enough to offer a fist bump.
“Man, that was some crazy driving.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Did you bet a lot on me?”
“Damn straight. You don’t know how to lose.”
That wasn’t true. I’d learned how to lose the instant a gun was waved in my face. But I wasn’t thinking about that now. The euphoric sense that came from speeding around a racetrack wasn’t the same as firing a game winning strike. Yet it was good enough for tonight. And a lot of other nights lately. Six races won this evening and my energy was sky high.
This track was miles outside the nearest suburban lights and it had technically gone unused since a flashier version was built two towns over. I’d been told that a few messy crashes had stirred up some trouble with concerns over unregulated racing. However, the place was the property of a county politician and the kickbacks he received from the operators must be enough to persuade him to silence the complaints. A few months back one driver had spun out into a barricade and broke both legs, but he’d downed half a pill bottle and four shots of whiskey before his race. I never touched a drop of alcohol and I’d never swallowed a pill stronger than ibuprofen, not even when bottles of painkillers were shoved at me after the surgeries.
Sometimes the guilt was overpowering because my folks would hit the roof if they knew about my new hobby. After my older brother Derek’s drunk driving accident, my family had understandably sketchy feelings about reckless driving. And that’s how they’d see this no matter how I explained. But I was in control behind the wheel. I’d never crash.
Traces of dust remained in the air and the full moon cast enough of a glow to see just fine even after the harsh track lights were cut off. The betting booth was swamped by a mix of losers coughing up their cash and winners with their hands out. Others headed to their cars in small groups, likely making plans for whatever would come next. There was still plenty of night remaining.
Lenny sucked on a vape pen while the girls took a series of cheek to cheek selfies. The sight of their bare legs capped with glittery high heels stirred some interest in my dick.
Lenny noticed where I was looking. “They were asking about you. Wanted to know if you might be looking for something to play with after hours.”
The girl on the left flipped her hair over one shoulder, allowed the strap of her silky top to slip, and shot a smirk in my direction. She knew she had my attention.
I dragged my eyes away. “Aren’t they with you?”
He waved a hand. “Nah. They were just keeping me company. Both of them were models at the auto show I went to in Phoenix today. They kind of attached themselves to my side.” He exhaled a wisp of smoke. “I’ve got a better offer on the burner.”
“And she’s not here tonight?”
“Nope. She’s on shift at Phoenix Children’s Hospital. She’s a pediatric surgeon.”
I cracked up. “You’re full of shit.”
“Not this time.”
“You’re dating a surgeon?”
Lenny’s lips stretched into a grin. “She’s outrageous in the sack. You seem surprised that I can attract quality.”
“I’m surprised that you want to.”
A roar of laughter and a wagging of the vape pen. “Someday, young Gentry, you’ll grow to manhood and appreciate that a good life is about more than getting your dick sucked the right way. It’s about finding someone worth going to some trouble for.”
“Grow to manhood?” That was worth the world’s largest eye roll. This guy was starting to remind me of Kellan. “We’re the same fucking age, asshole.”
Lenny had to take a break from hassling me because one of his guys approached and murmured a question. Lenny was the owner of the two cars I’d raced tonight. In high school he used to play shortstop on a competing team so I’d known him for a while. He lasted a semester at Arizona State before getting expelled for hosting a party that ended badly when some indoor fireworks nearly burned down one of the dorms. After that he tossed the idea of school and sports aside and took a job at his dad’s Lexus dealership. He now owned a palatial home in Scottsdale and filled the vast garage with tricked out muscle cars. And apparently he dated surgeons. Once when I asked him why he didn’t race his own cars he laughed that he valued his health too much. I thought if he really valued his health then he wouldn’t occasionally dabble in recreational drugs the way he did but I doubted my opinion on the subject would make a dent.
While Lenny handed out orders to his associates I realized his last words were sticking in my head. Not about manhood. I’d pit my maturity level against his any day. But what he’d said about finding someone worth an effort was bugging me.
And somehow my thoughts returned to Gracie, the girl I’d met yesterday morning.
She’d never been a regular on the Dream Field’s maintenance crew and I’d only seen her a few times. She caught my eye because she was the only female swinging a leaf blower and because she was young and cute. Her dark hair was always tied up so I didn’t know if it was long or short. At first glance she looked too petite for hard labor but she seemed to keep her head down and get the job done. She was quiet and unsmiling and the tattoo on the right side of her neck was written in spidery script that I’d never gotten close enough to decipher. Her vibe was somewhere on the ‘don’t you dare fucking bother me’ spectrum but yesterday morning it looked like the old guy on the crew was giving her some trouble so I introduced myself. She immediately became flustered and shy, which surprised me. I would have liked to keep talking to her and for the rest of the day I wished she’d accepted my lunch offer. I woke up this morning thinking about her and was disappointed when I arrived at the field early, only to find that this was not a day when the landscaping crew worked.
I couldn’t explain why she’d made an impression and managed to stay on my mind. Some people might consider it weird to keep brooding over a girl I knew nothing about. Those same people might consider it even weirder that I wondered if she was out there somewhere tonight and thinking about me.
“Hey!” The girl with the sliding strap beckoned. She tilted her head and allowed her teeth to rake her lower lip. “Could you please come here and help me with something?”