No matter what Stephanie did to us, or how many videos or pictures she sent, she would never take this moment away from us.
Never.
MY MIND DRIFTED OFF TO the plans I had made for dinner tonight when Waldo snapped his fingers in front of my face. “Hello? Are you listening to me, Emmit?”
I shook my head as I tried to think of what Waldo had said. The first race of the season, Daytona, was tomorrow and I was not focused at all. Standing in the garage, I let out a laugh and looked at Waldo. “What did you say?”
Waldo rolled his eyes and threw his book down as he cursed. “Fucking son-of-a-bitch. Where in the hell is your brain? You’re not focused, Emmit! Focus, son! Focus.”
I recognized the laugh from behind me and glanced over my shoulder to see Malcolm Wallace standing there with his crew chief, Dalton Price. I liked Dalton, but I hated that he went to work for Wallace.
“What the fuck are you laughing at?” I asked as I turned and faced Malcolm.
He pointed to me and looked at Waldo. “You see, this is what a woman does to you. You lose focus and the only thing you can think about is her pu—”
I held up my hand to stop him. “Don’t even say it, dude, or I’m going to punch you in the goddamn mouth.”
Malcolm threw his head back and laughed harder before placing his hands up in surrender. “It’s fine. You think all you want about that pretty little thing you have back in your bus. It only makes it easier for me to win tomorrow.”
Letting out a gruff laugh, I took a few steps closer to Malcolm as half of my team went on alert. “You think you’re going to win tomorrow?”
Malcolm’s smile faded as he shot daggers at me through his eyes. “Fuck yes, I’m going to win tomorrow.”
My smiled faded as I stared back. I could see the anger building in his eyes as I stared him down. I finally laughed and slapped Malcolm on the chest and gave him a good friendly push. “I like your optimism.” I brushed off an imaginary piece of lint from his shoulder and winked. “Too bad it’s going to be me driving across the finish line first and holding my wife in my arms as she congratulates my win with a kiss.”
Malcolm took a step back and laughed. “Jesus. You’re one guy I never thought I’d see pussy whipped. Have fun with that whole marriage thing while I make plans to fuck the two girls waiting for me back in my bus. At the same time.”
Giving Malcolm a shocked expression, I asked, “What, do you have two dicks?”
Robby Quick, one of my tire changers, walked between us. “Guys, knock it the hell off. There are fans walking around and that is the last thing they need to hear from you, Malcolm.”
Malcolm shot me one last dirty look before giving Robby a slight smile and walking off. With a slap on the back, I winked at Robby and said, “Thanks, bro.”
Robby rolled his eyes as he walked away and mumbled, “I’m getting too old for this shit.”
Waldo cleared his throat behind me, causing me to turn around. Shrugging my shoulders, I motioned for Waldo to continue talking. “You have one-hundred percent of my attention. I swear.”
After talking for a bit about our strategy for tomorrow, Waldo walked me back toward my bus. “Anything new with the whole Stephanie thing?”
Frowning, I blew out a frustrated breath. “Nothing. We can’t trace a damn thing back to her. She was in town during both events. No leads on the person who delivered the phone. The only thing she said she did was send me the picture of me and Lola. Said she thought I would rather have it than her. Things have been quiet though, so maybe she came to her senses when the police showed up at her new job.”
Waldo rubbed his chin as he thought about what I had just said. “Here’s to hoping so.” Clearing his throat, he slapped my back and gave me a wink. “Go enjoy your evening with my beautiful daughter.”
My smile couldn’t possibly get any bigger any time someone mentioned Adaline. “I will. She wasn’t feeling very good yesterday, so I’m hoping she took it easy today. I’ll talk to you later, Waldo.”
“Get some sleep tonight for Christ’s sake!”
I laughed as I held up my hand and waved Waldo off. If there was one thing Adaline and I were lacking, it was sleep. Most nights, as soon as we hit the bed, we were tangled up with each other. I was waiting for the honeymoon-phase to be over, but Adaline was going strong and I wasn’t about to object.
On my way back to my bus, I was stopped a few times by fans asking me to sign things. I didn’t mind one bit. I would be heading to Texas next week to spend another day with the young boy I met last year at Texas Motor Speedway. Adaline and I had become rather close with the family, and I couldn’t wait to take him out on the track again.
By the time I got to my bus, I was ready to jump in the shower and take Adaline out to dinner. Walking into the bus, I was greeted by Lola.
“Hey girl. Where’s your mommy?”
Lola headed back to the bedroom and stopped right at the door. My heart leapt up to my throat as I looked at Adaline sound asleep in bed. Her hand was tucked up under her cheek as she wore the most beautiful glow I’d ever seen. I would have woken her up if I hadn’t thought she might still be feeling bad.
I peaked down at Lola and motioned for her to head out to the living room. Reaching for her collar, I slipped it on and checked my phone really quick before I headed outside.
The second the door shut, I heard a girl let out scream. My eyes widened and then relaxed when I saw my sister. With a shake of my head, I shot her a dirty look. “Jesus, Ashley. You scared the piss out of me.”
Laughing, she jumped into my arms as Lola barked and jumped all around. “What in the hell are you doing here?” I asked as I set my sister down and kissed her on the cheek.
“Can’t a girl come see her brother and support him on his first race of the season?”
My arm draped over Ashley’s shoulders as I chuckled and said, “Of course she can, but I thought she was doing a girls’ weekend with her friends.”
“It’s called planning big brother. Girls are kind of good at that. I just told my friends I wanted to do girls’ weekend in Florida, hit up a NASCAR race, and then hit the beach.”
As we walked along, I couldn't help but notice how many guys were staring at my sister. Taking a look at her, I couldn’t believe my eyes. When had she grown up into a beautiful woman? Her long brown hair was pulled up into a ponytail and she wore a TSU T-shirt and cut off blue jean shorts that showed way too much leg as far as I was concerned.
“Who all is with you?” I asked.
“The normal gang. There’s six of us all sharing a condo for the rest of the week right smack on the beach. Hell to the yes!”
Lola barked at another dog as I dropped my arm from my sister’s shoulder. “Don’t hook up with any of these fuckers here, do you hear me?”
Ashley stopped walking and I turned to see what was wrong. She stood there staring at me in disbelief as her mouth hung almost to the ground. “What’s wrong?”
“Did you really just say that to me, Emmit? Do you think I’m a whore or something?”
I stared at my sister with a dazed look. “Why in the hell would you think I thought you were a whore?”
Ashley waved her hands all around as she talked. “Oh, I don’t know, Emmit. Maybe because you just told me not to hook up with anyone.” Ashley walked over toward Malcolm, who had his back faced to her, and pointed to him. “Like I’m just gonna walk on up to some random guy and be like—” Tapping on Malcolm’s shoulder, he turned and looked at Ashley. The way his eyes moved up and down her body pissed me off instantly. “Oh hey you, random guy. Want to fuck?”
No words. I was too stunned to say anything. Meanwhile, Malcolm took advantage of my moment of shock and flashed my baby sister that smile that I knew melted the panties right off of women. “If you’re asking, I’m willing.”
Ashley turned back and looked at Malcolm. “Oh. Um, sorry Malcolm, I wasn’t really asking, and I thought you were someone else. Well, actually I thought you were just a stranger.”