Throttled: Dirty Air (Book 1)(46)

“Busy. She visited our parents back in Spain. Why?” He glares at me.

“Was curious why she didn’t come to the last Prix. Wondered how it would affect your racing.” My cocky grin seems to placate him. Back to our usually scheduled programming with one another—me being the cocky asshole and him taking it.

He scoffs. “I did fine. I raced without my sister by my side for years while she was in college. You’re the one who struggled this time.”

Santi has a fight in him. Good to know.

“Yup. You win some, you lose some.” I shrug. “Is she coming to this race?” I can’t tell if my voice sounds disinterested enough.

“Yeah. She’s already here.”

I follow Santi to the hospitality suite, disappointed when Maya isn’t there.

“Is Maya hanging out in there?”

He stares at me, his head tilting to the side as his lips press together in a tight line. “Nah, she went to hang out with Sophie. Said something about exploring the city for her vlog.”

My eyes nearly bug out of my head. They’re out alone in a random city they’ve never visited before where the people speak a different language. What if someone recognizes them?

“They should be more careful. Why do you let them go out by themselves? That’s irresponsible.”

Santi’s gaze hardens. “I can take care of my sister. It’s a safe city.”

“I think you forget you’re worth over twenty million dollars now. Why do you think people are kidnapped for ransom? Hint, it’s not always for pretty looks.”

His ignorance grates on me.

Santi’s jaw ticks. He takes a couple of deep breaths while I stare him down. I piss him off, but he can be a real idiot sometimes.

“Thanks for the advice.” He enters his suite and slams the door.

I text Maya to check if she still has a pulse.

Maya (06/19 6:58 p.m.): Thanks for asking. We’re all good. Going to dinner and then bed. Good luck at practice tomorrow.

I need to come up with something to do together that doesn’t include me shoving my tongue down her throat. Which I still want to do, but we have to do fun stuff too. A plan comes to mind so I enlist my friends to help me. She needs to see what she can have if she gives us a chance.



“Grab the girls and meet me at the Baku kart area.”

Liam stares at me like I’m talking to him in another language. Yeah, he speaks German, but he understands English fine.

“Why are we doing this again?” His voice matches the incredulous look on his face.

“Because I want us all to have fun before the race. What’s so hard to believe?” I control the urge to roll my eyes.

“Uh yeah. Your usual pre-race fun involves being balls deep inside of a model.”

I punch him in the arm. “Fuck you. Don’t tell Maya I planned this because then she won’t come.” My teeth grind together—my new bad habit lately, kind of like stalking Maya’s social media accounts. I’ve become that guy. The one checking her profile to the point of addiction, sneaking quick glances at what she does to fill the void of her absence.

Jax and Liam can take credit while I pretend to join because I don’t want her to find out I put in this much effort. Her avoiding me for weeks forced me to plan something drastic for her attention.

“All right no need to hit so hard. I’ll meet you there.” He rubs his arm and pouts.

Liam pulls up to the kart track an hour later. Jax, Maya, and Sophie hop out of the rental car. I didn’t invite Santi because I’m not a total dumbass, mainly because he’s been paying extra attention to me recently, sneaking random glances whenever his sister gets close.

Maya’s mouth gapes open when she sees me standing there.

“We’re going karting?” Sophie claps her hands and bounces around, her blonde braids swaying around her while Liam checks her out. He gives me a hard time with Maya when he makes heart eyes at Sophie.

“I haven’t done this since I was a kid.” Maya looks at the helmet in my hand. She blushes when I pass it to her, our hands grazing against each other.

“You only had an opportunity to ride karts when you stole your brother’s. So here’s your chance to drive them for real. Don’t put any unicorn stickers on them.” That totally makes it sound like I planned this. There goes my idea of her not knowing about it. Real subtle, Noah.

“Oh, no. But you guys are professionals. How is that even remotely fair?” Sophie crosses her arms over her chest.

Maya rubs her hands together while she shoots Sophie a grin full of mischief.

“Sophie, they’re used to fast cars. We’ve got this.”

That gleam in her eye? Definitely should be worried; no doubt she wants to kick our asses.

Turns out Maya does precisely that on the first run. I had no clue she was talented with a kart, and fuck it turns me on. I could blame the fact that I haven’t kart-raced in a while, but she’s a natural at it. Absolutely wiped the track with us.

My dick twitches at Maya sitting there, gloating in her kart, arms up in the air in triumph. She looks sexy as fuck with her helmet and borrowed race suit. I didn’t peg myself for having a racing fetish, but looking at her now makes me rethink the idea, especially when she whips off her helmet to reveal messy hair.