Blind Love (Sulfur Heights Series) (6 page)

As best as
I can, I shrug my shoulders, my arms following along with them, and spread a look of innocence across my face. “What?”

“You called me cupcake
, and per our agreement, if I go do crazy stuff with you, you would stop with the stupid, little comments. Shall I go back to my room?” She’s giving me an ultimatum, but what she still hasn’t realized is that she wants to go crazy just as much as I do.

“
Listen, I don’t do ultimatums, so if you want to go back into your room that’s fine. Do what you want; you’re a grown ass woman. But I will tell you, if you don’t come, you’re missing out on one of the biggest thrills a person could ever have.”

“Why are you so frustrating? All I want is
for you to stop calling me cupcake. Is that so hard to ask?” Delilah’s reddening face is evident. She’s getting pissed. God, how I love to get under her skin. Her reaction makes me want to keep it up.

“Like I said
, do what you want. We’re leaving in five.” Just to drive my point home, I walk out the door, leaving her with her thoughts and irritation in the kitchen.

Yes, I did go against what I said and called her cupcake, but
I’m not sure I can stop now that I’ve started. Maybe I’ll try, maybe I won’t. Only time will tell. I’m still trying to decide if I want to take that next step with Delilah and actually make her my friend. It’s really hard for me to respect anyone, especially a woman. I can thank my dear old mama for that one.

When I make my way down the back steps, Jeremy is standing by the Challenger
, talking on the phone. “…Thursday night… Yes… Ten, and don’t be a second late.” He abruptly hangs up the phone and shoves it in his pocket. Then he looks at me. “You ready to go, bro?”

“Almost. What’s going down on Thursday? Did Ronnie line up another race?” I ask.

“Nah, I’m meeting up with him and some of his contacts to see if we can get more races scheduled away from Sulfur Heights. Apparently, he’s having a hard time finding people who want to take us on.” Jeremy looks down at his watch and back up to me.

This leaves me completely baffled because we’ve been racing more than we ever have. The better we are
, the more people want to take us on and knock us from the top spot. Before I can question him, Delilah makes her way down the stairs and practically stomps toward us.

“Oh
, yeah, she’s coming with us.”

Jeremy gives me an
are-you-serious look. “Tell me someone else is coming along with us or you’re sitting this one out. You can’t leave her standing by herself with this crowd. She’ll be mauled or beat up within five minutes.” Concern spreads all over Jeremy’s face. He’s such a good person, and another reason why we’re completely opposite from each other.

“Oh
, no, I’ll still be shotgun and Delilah will be an extra passenger.” I give Jeremy a wicked smile and he just shakes his head in true Jeremy fashion. He expects nothing less of me. I’m a bastard and he knows it.

“Hi
, Jeremy.” Delilah waves to him and then looks over at me then back to him. “So, here I am. Unlike some people,” the daggers are flying from her eyes as she glares into mine, “I have integrity and stay true to my word once it’s given. Maybe you hanging out with me will be a good thing, Jake. You can learn some much needed morals.”

My irritation skyrockets
. With that very statement she’s proven she’s just like all the snobby bitches on the north side and it’s time to set her straight.

My voice is laced with anger. I want her to be fully aware she can’t talk to anyone here like that, especially me. “There you go again
; being holier than thou. Listen, cupcake.” I say it just to piss her off even more. Yeah, I’m a dickhead. “My morals are fine and maybe
you
can learn something too this summer. You’re not better than anyone here. Just because you were raised with money in your hoity-toity gated community, doesn’t make you any more moral than us gutter trash.”

Hurt flashes in her blues eyes
, but it is soon gone and replaced by anger. “I never said I was better than you. I was simply saying tha—”

“I know what you were sayin
g, and I don’t want to hear it. A word to the wise, you’re not better than me and you never will be. So get off your fuckin’ pedestal and live life with the common folk. I guarantee you will learn something.”

“Jake! Stop putting words in my mouth!”

“I’ve got something for your mouth.” I’m awarded with another slap across my cheek. The burn against my skin proves she’s got a fire inside of her and it’s going to be my job to bring it out. Her fake, high society persona is not the real her and the smack across my face proves it. She’s passionate. She’s got much more inside than she’s letting on. I’d bet my life on it. Say what you want about me, but if I’m good at one thing, it’s judging someone’s character; it’s one of the main reasons why I’m a great hustler. I can always manage to bring it out.

“Okay
, it’s five after nine,” Jeremy snaps, clearly annoyed. He can’t stand being late. Looking at Delilah he asks, “Are you coming or not?”

“Where are we going?” Her feelings are hurt, but it always take
s being knocked down a couple of pegs before you realize the person you really are.

“Get in the car and we’ll show you.” I open the door and allow her to climb in. I
tried
not to look at her ass when she’s getting into the backseat, but it’s really hard to live up to my non-piggish ways. This woman has got the sexiest ass I’ve ever laid my eyes on. Thinking about anything other than her ass is nearly impossible, though it’s a great way to lessen my current state of irritation.

I’m
going to need an outlet for all this pent up energy. I wonder if my little redhead will be at the races tonight. I rarely give second chances to the women I bag, but she made it very clear last night that she’s not looking for a relationship. That’s the best thing a guy like me could ask for.

We
pile in the car and Jeremy plows down the driveway and off to Old Miller’s Road. Once we turn onto the dirt covered roadway, and the closer we get to the starting point, the more cars there are lined up and the crowd of onlookers gets thicker.

Jeremy eases the car to the starting point
where we will be taking on yet another ego-driven asswipe. He thinks his little Honda is going to beat us. Ignorant fucker. This isn’t The Fast and the Furious movie and he’s definitely not Vin Diesel.

Delilah’s eyes are huge
as she looks out her window. She connects them with mine and then back out toward the growing crowd several times. “Uh… what are we doing?”

I lean back in my seat
, staring directly into her eyes. It’s obvious she’s terrified—she looks like a scared little kid—but what she doesn’t know yet is how much fun she’s going to have.

“
Stay here.” I exit the car and make my way over to Ronnie where everyone is placing bets and exchanging money. I add my bets to the mix and climb back into the car. My usual trash talk is mute when I get a look at Delilah. She’s about to bail out of the car and I can’t have her freaking out just yet; we’ve got a race to win.

Jeremy fires the engine and all you hear is the
loud roar of the Challenger. We turn on our traditional racing song,
The Boys are Back in Town
by Thin Lizzy and put our game faces on.

I turn in my seat just before the race starts and say, “This is the part where you’re going to piss your pants.”

“I’m gonna… what?” Delilah barely gets the words out before Jeremy slams on the accelerator and flies down the straightaway, leaving a cloud of dust behind us.

Chapter 4

Delilah

On the short ride to wherever
we are going, I start thinking about what Jake has said and it’s unsettling to say the least. I’ve never used my social status or my parents’ money to determine who I can and cannot be friends with. Presley is a prime example of that. She hasn’t grown up in the same gated community I have, but when I found her hiding under the slide when we were six, I wanted to help her. I didn’t care if her parents were middle class individuals or she lived on a more modest side of town. Presley needed my help and I did exactly that, I helped. We got to know one another and she became my very best friend.

However, when Jake clearly states I portray a person who acts better than any of them
, I’m immediately taken aback. Do I really give off that vibe? Is that why Darcie treats me the way she does; because I carry myself like I’m better than her? I’ve never thought of myself like that. If they really want to know, I thought I was giving an impression of the exact opposite and that’s the God’s honest truth.

As much
as I respect my mother, I’ve never once wanted to treat people of a lower class the way she does. Not once. Frankly, I’m ashamed to be around her when she acts like that. Now I’m questioning every move I’ve made the last three weeks that I’ve been here.

My inner turmoil
dissipates when I take in my surroundings. Where in the Sam-hell have they taken me? Looking out the small window, crowds are gathering around a long line of cars. They are fisting beers and liquor bottles while holding cigarettes and laughing with one another.

Jeremy pulls up and stops next to a small purple car. Holy. Moly. Have they taken me to the
races? Presley would talk about them incessantly the first year she moved here and told me they’re an experience like no other.

At first
, I assume Jake and I are going to get out and watch Jeremy race, yet when he tells me to stay in the car, I grow increasingly more nervous. Almost instantly, I know why. Before I can even protest, the loud roar of the engine is vibrating my seat and filling my eardrums, and then we are flying down an old dirt road, leaving the crowd covered in dust.

A shrill scream is burning my throat as I watch my life flash before my eyes. Granted
, I like to drive fast, but that’s when I’m in control of the car and not trusting my life to a guy I barely know and his idiot brother.

“AHHHHHH
,” I scream again.

Jake is laughing hysterically and Jeremy has the most
intense look on his face.

I’m feeling out of control and
that we’re going to die. I just know it. He is going to kill me at the age of nineteen and I will be a mangled mess for my funeral. It will have to be a closed casket. My poor family; they’ll never see me again. I look out the windshield between Jake and Jeremy’s shoulders and can clearly see the road is coming to an end, but we’re not stopping. Oh, my sweet baby Jesus, he’s speeding up.

I grab Jeremy’s shoulder and start smacking his arm. “STOP!
We’re going to crash!”

Jake pushes
me back, hard against the seat and demands, “Sit back and hold on, cupcake, here comes the fun part.”

I can’t protest anything. My body is spinning in a
n out of control vortex and my stomach is lurched in my throat, threatening to fly out of my mouth. I keep my eyes closed tightly as the car makes a sharp turn to the left and then accelerates again. Only a few more seconds go by and I’m being thrust forward into the back of Jake’s seat. Then the car comes to a screeching halt.

When I open my eyes, a cloud of dust is surrounding the car and Jake’s brown eyes are lit up
, dancing with excitement. I’m going to kill him. He’s nearly had me killed and now I’m going to tear out his throat.

“So, how was that for fun?” The smirk on his face is evil and
conceited; I’m going to knock it clean off his face.

“Let me
out!” I shout at the top of my lungs. My chest is heaving from anger and my hands have taken on an uncontrollable shake. I start pushing against his seat as hard as my muscles will allow, but he refuses to budge. “I said, let me OUT!”

Jake just stares at me, the look of rage boiling
right below the surface of his eyes, but I refuse to back down, not this time. We are in a tight space and our eyes are locked in an internal showdown. Neither one of us is going to give in. I envision slapping him across the face as I stare him down. I push on the back of his seat again until Jeremy exits the driver’s side and I quickly follow suit. I move to the back of the car where I suck in large gulps of air. I can’t stop my hands from shaking; I’m not sure if it’s from anger or the mere fact I was about killed two minutes ago. It’s probably a combination of both.

Once my anger starts to subside
, I really notice everyone staring at me. I stick out like a sore thumb around here in my pale pink sundress with matching wedges. Everyone around here looks like they’ve stepped out of a hard rock video wearing black… everything. I need to calm myself down. I guess I was acting a little crazy, but I didn’t know how else to act. I’ve never done something so reckless in my life.

Turning my back to the onlookers,
I spot Jake as he makes his way to the back of the car, eyes still intense while he wears an indecipherable mask. He’s stalking toward me like a stealth panther, his body moving effortless and slow.

I close my eyes. I need to focus because I’m
really angry with him right now, however it’s not because I’m scared for my life. Oh, no, it’s because he was right and the good Lord knows I don’t want to admit it. Flying down a dirt road at one hundred miles per hour was exhilarating, liberating and out of control.