Adrenaline (Speed Series Book 2)(57)

His eyes widened in shock while he stumbled back a few steps. “Shit. Baby, I didn’t mean to call you that.”

I turned to face him as I let a sob slip through my lips. “Don’t call me that.”

He took a few steps toward me. “Paislie, wait I’m so sorry and I’m not sure why I’ve been acting this way . . . but let me explain one thing.”

My hand came up to stop him. “Stop. Just don’t say anything else. I’m leaving.”

He grabbed my arm. “Wait. Let me just talk to you.”

Pushing his arm away, I shook my head. “You’ve had plenty of chances to talk to me. I can’t do this. You promised me you wouldn’t do this. I’m not your dead girlfriend and if that’s all I was to you . . . a replacement . . . then you’re more f*cked up than I thought you were.”

He shook his head. “No, it’s nothing like that. I swear to you.” His head jerked back. “Wait. How did you know about Casey?”

My phone beeped with a text message. Glancing down, I saw my father’s name scroll across along with the beginning of his message. Baby, I need to borrow some money. Can you ask your rich boyfriend?

I didn’t even have the energy to talk. It felt as if every ounce of strength I had vanished.

“I can’t do this.”

Not even bothering to go to my room to get anything, I grabbed my purse and keys and ran out to my car.

Malcolm called out after me as I opened the car door. “Paislie! Please just give me five minutes! Paislie!”

Tears streamed down my face as I drove off. Leaving everything behind, including my damn cat.

This was why I never opened up my heart up to anyone.

I wasn’t meant to love or be loved.





“MALCOLM?”

The sound of Janet’s voice filled the empty room, causing me to open my eyes. “Did they leave?”

“Yes.”

“Is all of her stuff gone?”

Janet paused. “Yes, are you sure you don’t want to try and call her?”

“That’s all, Janet. You can head back to North Carolina tomorrow. I’ve been cleared to race this weekend.”

She paused for a moment and took in a deep breath. “Are you sure you’re doing the right thing? I mean, with the race and with letting Paislie go.”

Just the mention of her name caused my heart to ache. I tried so hard to hide the pain in my knee and leg from everyone that I started taking it out on Paislie. The one person who was doing her damnedest to help me and I f*cked up. I promised her I wouldn’t hurt her. She trusted me. I’d never be able to forget the look of hurt in her eyes.

“Have a safe flight back to North Carolina, Janet.”

I had never dismissed her like that, but I needed to clear my head. It had been a month since Paislie had walked out of my life. After a few appointments with the NASCAR doctors, I had them convinced I was ready to drive again. I needed to get back behind the wheel. The need to be racing around a track at almost two hundred miles an hour was greater than ever before. The rush I had with Paislie was the only thing that compared to the rush I felt driving, and even racing wasn’t nearly the same kind of feeling.

My phone buzzed as I glanced down at it.

Emmit: When are you coming in to town?

Me: Tomorrow.

Emmit: Dinner? My house? Addie would love to see you and so would Landon.

The thought of seeing them made my stomach drop. Emmit had everything I wanted.

Me: I’ll try but I may be busy trying to get back into the swing of things.

Emmit: Totally get it. Let me know if you can.

I stared at the text messages. It was hard to believe I now considered Emmit to be one of my closest friends. It wasn’t long ago we practically hated each other. Now I was having dinner at his house and playing with his son.

My hand dropped to my side as I stared out the window. Paislie was nothing like Casey. So why did I let it slip?

I brought the beer that was in my other hand up to my lips and drank the rest of it. I needed to feel numb. I needed to forget about Paislie Pruitt if I wanted to get back into the swing of things.

Forget Paislie.

I could never forget the only woman I’d ever loved.

My eyes closed as I dropped my head back and slowly let sleep take over. I barely heard the bottle hit the floor as I drifted off into a dream.



Richmond—one of my favorite tracks and the best place for my comeback race.

“How are you feeling, Malcolm?”

“Emmit?” Hearing Emmit’s voice over the radio made me smile bigger than I wanted. “What in the f*ck are you doing?”

“Applying for your crew chief position.”

I let out a roar of laughter as I waited for the green flag to drop.

“Hey, in all seriousness, be careful out there today. Listen to your body.”

I gripped the steering wheel harder as my emotions had me damn near choked up. “It means a lot to me you’re here for this.”

“I know. I can’t wait to rub it in your face when you lose.”

With a smile, I shook my head. “Fuck off, *.”

“One more to go,” Russ said into my ears. Damn it was good hearing his voice. I missed this. Missed us chasing each other around in a circle.