“Fuck.” The word was nothing but a whispered rasp, she wasn’t even sure he meant for her to hear it, but she was glad she did.
He was quiet after that, for several seconds, long enough, if she hadn’t still been able to hear wind whistling in the background, she’d think they’d been disconnected. “You still there?”
He cleared his throat. “Yeah, I’m here.” She heard the sound of the door again. “I gotta go, babe, but I’ll call you tomorrow?”
“I’d like that.” The words were out before she knew what she was saying, before she could overthink it.
“Bye, baby.”
“Bye, Reid.”
She dumped her phone beside the bed and collapsed back.
How would she handle another phone call like that? The man was killing her, slowly. Could you die from overactive hormones? ’Cause if you could, she needed to get to the emergency room stat.
Reid turned to Dom, who looked close to jumping out of his goddamn seat, and grinned. The kid was in his element.
The roar of engines filling Homestead Speedway was deafening, their ears would be ringing for days, but after the shit Dom had been through lately, Reid was glad he could do something for him, take him out of his own head for a while. A lot of the guys at R.I.P. were into NASCAR, and even though it wasn’t his thing, he’d tagged along, managed to score a couple extra tickets for the final race in the Camping World Cup Series. It meant the shop was several men down, but fuck it.
Of course he’d had to lie. He’d told Dom that Law was supposed to come but bailed, and the ticket would go to waste if he didn’t take it. Dom would see it as charity otherwise and would’ve turned him down flat. He was stubborn that way.
Reminded Reid of himself at that age.
“You want a drink?” he yelled. Dom spared him a glance and nodded, reaching for his pocket. “I’ll get them.” Dom opened his mouth to protest, but Reid shook his head. “I’m getting ’em.” He gave in, but Reid suspected only because a race was about to start.
Reid made his way to the concession and bought a couple Cokes. He was heading back down the stands when he spotted a pair of distinctly tattooed arms going up in the air, not to mention the fiery red ponytail waving about like a race flag as she jumped around in her seat.
He headed Rusty’s way. She was on the end of a row, so he didn’t have to shuffle past a whole bunch of people. Her sister, Piper, was sitting beside her.
He leaned down. “Hey.” She didn’t hear him, so he tapped her shoulder. “Rusty.”
She spun to face him, scowling. When she realized it was him, her face went from ready to tear his balls off to fucking gorgeous smile in a heartbeat.
Pulling her earplugs from her ears, she stood. “Hey, what are you doing here?”
He pointed a few rows across. “I’m here with some of the guys from work.” Jesus, she was beautiful. She wore shorts that showed off her long legs and a black T-shirt that hugged her gentle curves to perfection.
Her mouth quirked up on one side, and she leaned in—close enough he could feel her breath on his skin—so he could hear her. “I’m shocked to see you here. Thought you were a Caddy man?”
His scalp tingled, followed closely by his balls. He turned into her, doing the same, letting his lips brush her ear. “Dom’s the NASCAR freak, not me.”
The smile on her face widened, tits brushing his arm when she turned into him again. “Well, it’s nice of you to bring him.”
He shrugged. He was no good Samaritan. He just knew what he’d needed at that age, in that situation. Nothing could change what Dom was going through, but time away from his life, the pressures and stresses, even for just a few hours, would have been more than welcome. “You wanna meet after? Grab a burger or something? I’ll text you, and we can meet up?”
She gave his forearm a squeeze, followed by another stunning smile. “Yeah, I’d like that.”
Two hours later, Reid rounded his car, Dom hot on his heels. “So Rusty, she’s your woman?”
“Yeah.” Or soon would be, even if it could only be temporary.
“Nice work, bro.”
He grinned at the kid. “Thanks.”
“We’re meeting up with her and her sister?”
“Yep.” Rusty said she was bringing Piper, so no alone time with “his woman” yet. Though he wasn’t sure how much longer he could hold out.
“How old is she?”
“Too old for you.”
Dom waggled his eyebrows. “Maybe she has a thing for younger guys?”
Reid chuckled. “You can always live in hope.”