Victory Lane (Shady Falls #1) (4 page)

They both scowled at me and I had to hold back my giggle. It was the same exact look on both their faces, and it reminded me of the eleven-year-old boys who used to get so mad when my go-carts would be better or faster than theirs. They always gave me the same frustrated scowl; it was cute. Sometimes I wished I could see one of them in a romantic way. They were sweet and genuinely kind. They both brought women flocking to them with their good looks and bright blue eyes. I loved them dearly, but they were my brothers as far as I was concerned, and I didn’t think either of them looked at me in any way other than as the annoying little sister. Whatever women ended up with them would be extraordinarily lucky.

“Yes,” Cade growled at me, “he trains here often. He comes in when the regular customers leave or he comes in the back entrance and uses the private weight room. He’s consulted with me several times for the best workouts to keep him in shape for racing.”

I was shocked. I had no idea they knew Julius Fuller. I was impressed they kept the secret of the ultra-hot racecar driver working out in their gym a secret. That kind of information would have given their business a huge boost, but the twins wouldn’t do something to benefit from others. It was something I respected them for.

Nervously I asked, “Is he a nice guy?”

Jake smirked and teased, “Are you intimidated, little Toni?” I scowled at his patronizing voice, but it just made his grin widen. “He’s alright. He does seem kind of arrogant, but you find a successful athlete like him and not find some arrogance in them. I’d be shocked if he wasn’t arrogant. Hell, when it comes to cars, you’re egotistical too.”

I furrowed my brow at him. “I am not!”

They both laughed at my annoyance. “Don’t worry, sweetheart,” Cade said. “You’ll be fine. Just go and do what you always do, you’ll win over the other mechanics. Besides, you’ll probably never see Julius Fuller anyway.”

I’ll probably never see Julius Fuller?
The idea made me both happy and sad. I wanted to prove myself without getting caught up with ogling the driver, but I also wanted to meet the famous face in front of the team. It was probably better I stay in the background and prove myself to Kyle first anyway. Besides, it wasn’t as if the infamously handsome racecar driver would ever pay attention to some random intern anyway.

“Well since this is apparently a news sharing day, I have my own good news,” Cade said with a sideways smile.

“What?” I asked. Jake had his own grin working on his face.

“I have news too,” Jake included. He played with the cell phone in his hand. He typed away on the screen, making me wonder what he was doing or whom he was texting with. Who could be so important he felt the need to text them now.

“Come on guys, what’s going on? Did you two find twin girlfriends or something?”

They both scowled, but there was a chuckle working its way through. “As fun as that would be,” Jake started, “nope. No twin girlfriends.”

“Besides, you’re the only girl for us,” Cade said sliding onto the table next to me.

I furrowed my brows at him. “What’s going on?”

Cade looked at Jake, then he smiled widely at me. “Well, I enrolled in a Physical Fitness bachelor’s program. I’ve decided to get my degree so we can expand our business.”

I looked at Cade in surprise. I hadn’t realized he was even thinking about going back to school. I launched myself into his arms and hugged him tight. “That’s tremendous!” I exclaimed. “When do you start?”

With a smile, Cade said, “End of the month. I’ve been tossin’ the idea around for a while and figured the gym is doin’ great, it’s as good a time as any.”

I turned to Jake, smiling hugely. “And what’s your news?”

“Nothin’ like that. I’m good; I don’t need more school. I hated it years ago; I doubt it’d be any better now. You’ll find my news much more fun.” I found his words to be strange. Why would I find fun in his news? He seemed stiff and a bit put off when he got up and walked across the room. I watched his every movement, confused. Whatever the surprise was, it made him uncomfortable. He opened the door which leads to the private gym area. Standing in the doorway was my best friend Mia. Her long golden brown hair hung in perfect ringlets around her warm tawny brown face. She hadn’t changed at all since the last time I saw her. Still beautiful and elegant, her long thin limbs were covered in her stylish dark jeans and a red sweater that brought out the bronze undertones in her skin. She lit up with excitement when her bright hazel eyes landed on me. She pushed past Jake and launched herself at me, knocking us both down onto the couch giggling.

“Surprise!” she shouted through her laughter.

“What are you doing here? When did you get here?” I asked. I was so excited to see her. I’d missed her so much. After graduation, she moved to Nashville to attend school. We talked through texts and online, but we hadn’t seen each other or had a real conversation in a while.

Glancing at Jake, there were a myriad of emotions in his eyes. He looked angry, sad, and relieved, among other things. The fact that she was there with him confused me. They weren’t really friends; they hadn’t been since we left the safety of grade school and entered high school.

Turning and looking at Jake, she placed her hands on her narrow hips and contorted her pretty face, looking skeptically at Jake. “I didn’t believe it, but I guess you can keep a secret.” She smiled back at me, her dark skin seeming to glow with her grin.

Jake scowled. “You know damn well I can keep a fuckin’ secret.”

His declaration startled me. He looked furious now, like there was more meaning behind Mia’s skepticism. Looking between the two, I wondered what was going on between them. Mia turned and glared, but didn’t respond. She turned back to me, a smile-like grimace on her face. She wasn’t good at pretending to smile.

“I just got here a little while ago. I’ve been hangin’ out back here for the last hour waitin’ for Jake to finish with his client. He was gonna take me to Uncle Bobby’s bar to see you. When you got here, he texted me and we decided to surprise you here instead,” Mia explained. “I’m movin’ to Mooresville. I graduated in December and got a job at a school here in town.”

“That’s great!” I exclaimed. “What’re you gonna be doin’? Where’re you gonna be livin’?” I sent rapid-fire questions her way. I was excited to have my friend so close. Looking at Jake though, I became increasingly concerned about what was going on with them.

“I’ll be teaching in a classroom for students with disabilities. I’m not sure where I’ll be livin’ yet. I was gonna sleep on Jake’s couch tonight and start lookin’ for somethin’ tomorrow.”

“I have two bedrooms; you’re welcome to stay with me.”

A huge smile crossed her face. “That would be great! Are you still livin’ with Uncle Bobby?”

“Sort of, my apartment is in the garage behind his house. He’s right there if I need him, but we have our own space. It’s cheap, it’s safe, and it’s nice.”

“I would love to. It would help me tremendously, actually. It’s way better than having to sleep on a couch,” she said, glancing at Jake.

Jake scowled, but didn’t say a word. Mia just smiled at him. The air between them was tense and uncomfortable. I didn’t understand any of it, like how she ended up contacting him when she got here. They didn’t talk at all once we reached eleventh grade, and they were barely friends even before then.

She turned back to me, “So what are y’all up to?”

“Before you two get started,” Cade interrupted. “I’m starvin’. Let’s go to dinner. We can all catch up there and celebrate Toni’s internship and Mia’s new job.”

~oOo~

“I’m interning with Kyle Redding,” I told Mia over the music and noise. “On the number fifty-five team.”

“Are you freakin’ serious? Julius Fuller? You get to work with Julius Fuller?”

“I won’t be workin’ with him; I’ll be workin’ with his crew chief. I’ll probably never see Julius Fuller.”

Mia looked incredulous. “It’s Fuller’s car, Toni. Of course you’ll meet him.”

“I don’t know, Mia. I don’t think I even want to.”

“It’s Julius freakin’ Fuller, Toni. Of course you want to meet him. You’ve had a crush on him for years.”

Smacking her arm, I growled over music coming from the jukebox, “This is different, Mia. He isn’t just some famous driver that I’ll stare at from afar anymore. I’ll be working on the cars that he drives every week. I’ll be part of his team, at least for a little while. What if I get nervous talkin’ to him, he’s famous.”

“You’ll be fine,” she insisted. “You’ll be able to separate the fantasy with your reality. That guy on those posters ain’t real, Toni. The guy behind the wheel, that you’ll meet soon enough, is very real. Hell, maybe reality will be better than fantasy for once.”

I looked at her and noticed how tired she looked. She seemed so much older and beaten down by life. “What’s goin’ on with you?” I asked. The dark circles under her eyes and the slight discoloration on her cheek sent alarms blaring in my head.

“Nothin’s goin’ on,” she instantly denied. But I knew better. I could feel her sorrow. It was emanating from her every pore. Something happened to her.

“Well, how’d you end up here with Jake then? I mean you didn’t even call and tell me you were comin’.”

“I just wanted to surprise you.” She smiled, but it wasn’t quite right. She seemed like she was hiding something.

She looked toward the brothers. They were standing there laughing with the bartender, oblivious of her gaze and the looks of several other women. They certainly drew the attention, even if they didn’t seem to want it.

Mia looked exhausted. Her hazel eyes seemed more gray than brown and were red and puffy. She seemed smaller and frailer than she was last time I saw her. “I messed things up with him so long ago, ya know? I don’t blame him for never forgivin’ me. But in spite of how bad I fucked it all up, he still was willing to help me out when I told him I wanted to surprise you.”

I just stared at her, confused, waiting for her to explain. When she didn’t elaborate, I asked. “What’re you talkin’ about?”

She paused a little longer, looking longingly toward the brothers. “Nothin’. It’s nothing’, never mind.”

“Mia, what the hell’s goin’ on? What happened to you?” I reached over and touched her discolored cheek. “And what happened between you and Jake. Neither of y’all ever told me and Cade shit in high school. It was just like one day y’all hated each other and couldn’t be near each other again. Then years later, you contact him instead of me when you get in town. I doesn’t make sense.”

She looked sad, and, for a moment, I didn’t think she would tell me anything. Back in school, all either of them would say was nothing happened. Jake always said he didn’t like fake people. Mia wouldn’t say anything about the situation at all, just that she couldn’t be around Jake. Then Mia’s declaration shocked the hell out of me.

“I lost my virginity to Jake one weekend in eleventh grade. It was that weekend after the homecoming football game.” She stopped and smiled. “It was a great game, wasn’t it?” Jake and Cade were both on the football team, starting wide receiver and linebacker respectively. “We went to the party after the game. Cade took you home because you were tired and had to wake up early for work, so Jake took me home. My parents were away for the weekend, some couple’s getaway tryin’ to fix their marriage or whatever. Anyway, he came home with me and stayed. We didn’t intend it to happen, but I always had a thing for him. He was so handsome, kind, and popular. He never treated me like I was different like so many other guys did. You know, a lot of guys had a problem with me because of my skin, but never Jake. It was sweet and gentle; it was beautiful. But then I got to school Monday and I didn’t know what to do or how to act. I mean, Jake and Cade were on another level in high school, you know? Every girl wanted them; everyone wanted to be friends with them.

“The cheerleaders were all standin’ around talkin’ about them and all the things they wanted to do with them and I just felt …,” she paused and took a long deep breath, “I felt I wasn’t enough for him. I was never like you, ya know. You were always so confident. None of those girls fazed you. I know it’s stupid, but I didn’t want the cheer team to hate me because I was with one of them and they weren’t. Jake and I made no declarations. We didn’t decide we were goin’ together or whatever, everything was up in the air, ya know? So when Greg came up to me and backed me into the lockers, I let him. But when I saw the hurt in Jake’s eyes, my heart broke. I fucked up so bad and there was no way I could take it back.”

Everything that happened in high school with Jake becoming a dick to just about everyone but his brother and me became perfectly clear. The fact that he and Mia couldn’t be in the same room together for any period of time, Mia suddenly becoming a serial dater, and the fact Jake has never been with a single girl longer than a week made complete sense. She hurt him terribly; it was obvious to me now. Jake acted like a tough guy, but I knew my friend’s heart. If he was with her, he cared for her deeply. He always said he wanted the kind of relationship his parents had. He was a romantic at heart. Now his change made perfect sense. After high school, he decided love was a myth. He said it was because of what Todd did to me, but it made complete sense that it would also have to do with what happened between him and Mia. But what he was doing now, helping her, offering his couch to her, I hoped he wasn’t setting himself up for future hurt. And I hoped he didn’t hurt her.