Pride surges through me and I find myself standing a little taller. “Thanks, Court. It couldn’t have turned out any better.”
“You got that fucking right,” Jesse says, joining our small group and pulling me in for a tight hug. He slaps his hand on my back twice before pulling away. “I can’t wait to get on this track.”
I choke back a laugh as I imagine this idiot trying to make his way around a track. “You?” I scoff in disbelief. “In what? You’re Range Rover? That’d be the fucking day.”
“Hey, if all you fuckers can do it, then I can do it too,” he states, talking himself up. “Besides, it couldn’t be that hard.”
“Come on, babe,” Kaylah says with a cringe. “We all know racing isn’t your thing. You’d do better at being the handkerchief girl in your bikini, short-shorts, and heels.”
Jesse shakes his head as he stares down at his girl. “The faith you have in my abilities is just astounding,” he mocks as though her comments had stung, but she’s right, Jesse is more suited to that then trying to get himself around a track.
“Oh, hey, look,” Courtney says, walking over to the railing that looks over the track and practically hangs over it in her excitement. “Brooke and Tora are here.”
Warmth fills me at the sound of her name and images of her pressed up against my garage wall travel through my mind. In fact, nearly every moment since then I’ve had the images of her sexy little body trapped inside my head. I have no idea what it means for us, but one thing is for sure, it was fucking awesome.
I glance over the railing and sure enough, there she is. Brooke makes her way towards the stairs that lead up to the VIP area with Tora and Nate. Jackson and Elle come in behind them with a few of the guys from Haven Falls and just like that, I know tonight is going to be incredible.
The second Brooke appears at the top of the stairs and her friends welcome her in, all the nerves fade away. This was all for her and the smile on her face makes it all worthwhile and I know that no matter what, everything is going to be alright. Her eyes come to mine and she gives me a cheesy as fuck grin before nodding, letting me know just how fucking proud she is.
I want to go to her, but the girls steal her away as Nate strides towards me, looking fucking amazed that I was able to pull it all together. The boys crowd around and drinks are cracked open as Jesse and Puck drill Tyson about his relationship with Brylee. Though naturally, he denies everything, just as he always does.
The two of them have been skirting around each other for over a year and it’s about time we get some answers. Though I have a feeling they don’t know the answers themselves.
A text comes through on my phone and I glance down and see the time. Fuck, I’ve been getting carried away with the boys that I nearly forgot why the hell we’re all here.
I look up at Nate with a grin. “It’s time. Make me proud.”
His eyes sparkle with excitement, desperately needing that adrenalin hit that comes from speeding around the track. “Fuck, yeah.”
Within seconds, Nate is flying down the stairs and diving into his car with Tora watching his every move over the railing.
Nate sits at the starting line with all his adoring fans cheering him on. It’s been months since the kids of Broken Hill have been able to let loose, chill out, and watch the races. Their energy spurs me on and I find myself walking back into the control room and taking over. “I got this one,” I tell Ben, the guy I hired to run this show.
Ben nods and steps back from the microphone and I instantly take his place. I hit a few buttons, glad that I took the time to play around with the sound system when it was installed last week, and get the show on the road.
I welcome everyone here before announcing Nate and his opponent, and not a second later, the bikini girl walks up between their cars and drops her handkerchief, officially opening this track for business.
As Nate and his opponent take off, I find myself desperate to watch the race up close and personal. After all, I’ve put so much effort into this that I don’t want to miss a single thing. I walk back out to the VIP area to find Jesse and Tora practically hanging over the railing as they watch Nate. I don’t know what it is about these two, but the second Nate gets onto a track, they both seem to shut up and watch with bated breath. Brooke stands beside them, holding onto the railing and watching on in interest just like the rest of my friends do.