Someone knocked on my door. "Go away," I said.
"Can I come in?" Lucas asked through the door.
"I said go away!" The door opened and in he walked anyway. "I said-"
"Yeah, I heard, Tegan."
I sighed sharply. "What do you want?"
"To make sure you're okay." Why the hell was he so damn nice to me all the time? It was making everything ten times harder.
"Want to sit?" I sat up, making space for him. Smiling, he flopped down onto the bed, making me bounce.
"Child." I joked and he poked his tongue out. "I refer you to my earlier statement." He smiled, making my anger melt. "Was my mum really pissed when I walked off?"
He nodded. "She's upset. She's just being a mum. Kai is older; you can't blame her for being protective. She doesn't know what to do to make everything better for you." How could Lucas say that about Kai being older when he wasn't far off twenty?
"He's not that much older and it's not like we're together or anything. She doesn't need to do anything. I don't need to talk to anyone. I'm. Fine."
"So you really don't think seeing a counsellor will help?"
Was he just ignoring the fact that I'd just said I was fine?
"I don't need to see anyone," I replied.
"I just think if it's going to help you then maybe you should give it a go."
"Do you think I need to?"
"I think you should do whatever it takes to help you get through it."
"That's what I have been doing," I said, throwing my hands up in the air. Why couldn't anyone see that? Not everyone dealt with things in the same way and just because I wasn't crying and going through Dad's things like Mum and Ava didn't mean I wasn't dealing.
"Really? So Kai was helping, was he?" he asked sarcastically, raising his eyebrows.
"Kai is... a distraction. Yeah, it helps." His jaw clenched. I didn't know what else to say so we just sat in silence until I couldn't bear it anymore. "Luke?" He looked up. "You wanna get out of here?"
"Yeah." He smiled. "I know exactly where to go, too. Come on."
We snuck out of my room and down the stairs; everyone was still in the kitchen so that made it easier. The front door was about five meters away. I covered my mouth to muffle my giggling at how stupid we must look. "Come on," Lucas whispered, darting towards the door.
We made it out and into Lucas's car. I started laughing as soon as we were inside his car. We'd make shit ninjas.
"Okay, where are we going? I asked.
He chuckled and replied, "You'll see. I need to stop off at mine and pick something up first."
"Pick what up?"
"My car." Huh? Was he aware that we were already in his car? Oh God, was he really drunk? He'd only had one beer after that sip of punch but I didn't think he was drunk.
"So...we're in the invisible car now?" I asked sarcastically.
"Very funny, Tegan," he replied.
I shook my head. "You have another car?"
"Yep."
"Why're we getting it? Where're we going?"
"I'm taking you somewhere I go a lot and we need the other car."
"Why do we need the other car?" What was the point in driving over an hour back to his house to get another car when we already had one?
He smirked. "No more questions. You'll have to wait and see."
"Pleaseee," I asked in my sweetest voice.
"Nope." He looked at me out of the corner of his eye and did another crap job of looking indifferent. He'd make an awful actor.
When we eventually got to his house, he led me to one of the garages at the side of the house and unlocked the garage door. He lifted it up to reveal a striking blue Subaru Impreza. I stood there drooling over it for a bit. I was a bit of a car whore. Dad loved cars, too, and took me to a lot of shows and track days.
"You like it?" Lucas asked, following me as I walked round the car.
"Um, yeah!" I said. "It's the STi, too, nice." The shocked expression on his face was priceless - mouth open, eyes wide - I wished I'd had a camera.
"You like cars?"
"Yeah, since I was little."
Lucas stared at me like he was trying to figure something out. Don't figure anything out. I had no idea what he was thinking but the way he looked at me gave me butterflies.
I suddenly remembered why we came here. "Where are you taking me?" I asked, narrowing my eyes playfully.
"You'll see. Get in." He opened the door and nodded his head for me to get in. I sighed dramatically, making him laugh as I slid in the passenger seat. Guess I was just going to have to trust him.
We drove out of town towards...somewhere. I hated not knowing where we were going but I did trust him. Still, it would be nice to know when I was being taken, not that it really mattered as long as I was far away from my mother.
He turned down a small track off road and I had absolutely no clue which direction we were going in.
"Luke, can I ask you a question?"
"Yeah," he replied.
"Are you taking me in the woods to have your wicked way before murdering me?"
He laughed and shook his head.
"Actually, I'm serious. Bit creepy that you're taking me down here to be honest."
"As fun as the first part of that sounds, no, that's not my plan. This is a short cut." A short cut to where? "We're almost there, quit whining."
"Better be and I'm not whining. It's not unreasonable for me to want to know where I'm going."
"Do you trust me?" he asked.
"If I say no will you tell me where we're headed?"
"No."
I sighed. "Fine."
Lucas didn't respond but he did grin. Arsehole.
We pulled into what looked like an old deserted business park about ten minutes from his house. Two rows of run-down and abandoned warehouses and buildings with no windows or doors lined the ground in front of us. Why would he bring me here?
"Err, this is it?" I asked. "You don't take girls out often, do you?"
Fighting a smile, he shook his head. "Just get out of the car, Tegan."
The first thing I heard when I got out was loud music but I couldn't figure which song it was, a few playing at the same time muffled the sounds. We were going to an illegal rave?
Chapter Sixteen
Tegan
We turned a corner and I realised I was very wrong. Lined up on either side of the road were loads of high performance cars. Hundreds of people were walking around drinking and dancing. Okay, have I stepped onto the set of Fast and Furious?
We pulled up against the most gorgeous orange Lamborghini Gallardo. How is Lucas in this world? I jumped out of the car and stared at the Lamborghini's beauty. Beside me, Lucas said hello to a couple people but I couldn't take my eyes off the car that I was seriously considering stealing.
"So, Luke, who's the hottie?"
Oh, great.
I looked up and saw three men that all looked similar with dark hair and green eyes. They didn't look like brothers but I would put money on them being related in some way. "Danny, Zack and Leon, this is Tegan," he said, pointing to them as he said their names. Danny, the one that called me 'hottie', took my hand and kissed my knuckles. Like that shit was going to work on me.
"Hello, Tegan," he said, releasing my hand.
I raised my eyebrow and turned to face the love of my life, the Lambo. "Is this yours?" I asked.
"Yep. Do you wanna go for a drive?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows and dangling the keys in front of me.
What kind of a question was that? "Uh, yeah!"
Lucas eyed me with a blank expression. Not liking the idea of me going off with Danny maybe? I snatched the keys off Danny and threw them to Luke. He caught them just before they slammed against his chest.
"I'm taking your motor, Dan," Lucas said.
"Knock yourself out, dude, but you scratch it and, like always, I'm cutting your balls off."
Lucas rolled his eyes and stuck his finger up at Danny.
<
br /> I walked round the side and stopped. "What's up?" he asked, frowning at me. I looked up at him getting captured by his deep blue eyes; it literally took my breath away. "Tegan?" He waved his hand in front of my face, smirking.
Right, his question. "Um, how do I get in? I mean the car's really low and this dress..." I trailed off, gesturing to the dress. He looked down; tilting his head slightly, eye-fucking me. "Lucas!" I exclaimed, clicking my fingers in front of his face. I was greeted by a schoolboy grin and a deep chuckle.
Bloody pervert.
"Just get in, Tegan, no one's looking." I raised one eyebrow, there was someone looking - him! "Right, sorry." He turned his head to the side while I climbed in the car. There really was no elegant way of getting in it so I let myself drop in the seat.
Luke got in, a lot more elegantly than me, and turned the key in the ignition. The engine roared to life. I stopped myself stroking the soft leather seats. "Ready?" he asked.
"Oh, yes."
As he pulled away, I heard Danny shout 'don't stack it'.
Fuck! My scalp prickled and my heart thudded against my rib cage. Fuck, fuck, fuck. I gripped the edges of the seat as the air was sucked from the car. Fear gripped me as I pictured the car rolling over, just like Dad's had. I blinked rapidly, trying to stop the images and the tears. Everything was closing in. My vision blurred and black dots danced in front of my face.
Lucas, sensing something was up, slowed down and called my name. He sounded really far away. I sunk under the water and his voice almost disappeared completely.
I felt the car jolt to a stop and Lucas touching my hand.
"I-I'm fine," I muttered.
"You're not fine. It's what Danny said, isn't it? About crashing? I would never put you in any danger, Tegan, I won't be driving fast."
"I know. It's just..." I stopped talking, completely unable to finish the sentence.
"Just what happened to your dad." I looked out of the window, clenching my jaw. I didn't want to talk anymore. "I'm so sorry, Tegan."
Shoving everything away, I met his eyes and smiled. "Can we go for that drive now?"
He blinked twice before replying, "Sure."
You're fine, just lock it all away. I couldn't think about what happened. I couldn't let myself go there. I wasn't strong enough to make it back.
We parked the car back beside his and although I'd enjoyed the ride, I was more than ready to get out. Plus, I felt like a dick after my freak-out.
"So how was it?" Danny asked.
"Awesome," I replied. "I want one."
"When I'm rich I'll buy you one," Lucas said and winked.
"Hmm, I'll hold you to that."
Lucas was currently being perused by two very tall, very bottle blonde girls. They stood beside him and laughed a little too loudly. I wasn't sure if he knew them or if the other members of Lucas's group had already turned them down so they were moving on. I got that cool cars were hot and hot guys with cool cars were double hot but I was not going to sleep with them to get a ride. But then again I slept with people to be numb so who was I to judge.
Turning to Danny, I ignored the Barbie sisters' play for Lucas. It wasn't bothering me. We weren't together and even if we were I wasn't the overly jealous, psycho girlfriend type.
"So, who bought you the car?" I asked. He couldn't be more than twenty-one, unless he'd won the lottery my money was on Daddy.
Cocking his head to the side, he replied, "What you're thinking is exactly how I got it. My parents are so rich they wipe their arse with fifties. They bought me the car last year. Gotta keep up appearances."
He sounded bitter about his folks but I had a feeling the Lambo softened the blow of not having their attention somewhat.
Lucas walked away from his female fans and stood beside me.
"Who's she?" Barbie number one asked, nodding in my direction.
"This is Tegan. Tegan, this is Sadie," he said.
"Hi, Sadie."
"Seriously, Lucas? How old is she? I can't fucking even..." She held her hand up, glaring at Luke and then stormed off.
"She seems nice," I said sarcastically. "She an ex?"
"Sort of. We went out for about an hour when we were eight and everyone else was playing relationships at school," he replied.
"I think she still might like you."
Lucas rolled his eyes at me.
"So, what's her deal then?"
"Luke, if you're not gonna get on Sadie, do you mind if I have a go? She's all upset and I haven't been laid in weeks," Zack asked.
"You're sick, Zack, but go for it."
"Hey, Zack," I shouted after him. He turned around and raised a rusty brown eyebrow at me. "Be careful, she might go all Fatal Attraction on you too."
He shook his head chuckling and walked off. Lucas, Danny and Leon laughed from behind me.
"I like this one, Luke," Danny said.
"So do I," Lucas replied. I bit my lip and looked away. Let's not do this.
"We need to get the car ready, Danny," Leon said, nodding his head towards what must be his car. They bounded off, excited about something.
"Ready for what?"
"Racing." His eyes widened. "Shit, Tegan, I'm sorry. Jesus, I'm such an idiot to bring you here."
"No," I said, holding my hand up. "I used to go to races and shows all the time, this is good. Granted, the ones I went to were legal but this is definitely better. Don't feel bad, I'm fine. Is it safe, though?"
He nodded confidently. "I know what I'm doing."
My eyes widened. Well, that changed things. "You're racing?" I started to panic. My stomach felt like it had been tipped upside down. Damn it, I cared for him.
"Yeah, I race."
I fought the urge to beg him not to. Deep down I knew that I had no right to demand he didn't go anywhere but I wanted to. My dad died behind the wheel of a car and he wasn't racing.
"You don't want me to?"
"I don't want you to get hurt," I admitted.
He bent his knees so he was level with me and smiled. His pale blue eyes told me how he felt and I wasn't at all ready to see it. "I won't get hurt, I swear."
"You don't know that. Do you race often?"
"Most weeks. If you don't want me to, Tegan, I won't. I understand why you wouldn't want me to," he said.
"I don't know what I want." Lie. I wanted him to take me home right now so he wouldn't be tempted to race.
"It's fine, really. I won't do anything stupid."
"Promise?"
"I promise," he said.
We walked through the crowd to Leon and Danny who were looking over Luke's car. I felt nauseous and a little bit excited. I loved being around cars and watching the races at the car shows my dad took me to. Granted, those races were controlled and legal but I was still looking forward to watching. Well, watching other people's races, I was pretty sure I'd be closing my eyes for Luke's.
The first two races taught me street racing was so far away from track racing it wasn't even funny. They were fucking insane and I lost count of the amount of times I sucked my breath in and my heart leapt as someone narrowly missed the edge of a building or the crowd. Apparently, it was normal, no one else seemed to have a mini heart attack every time.
Leon finally hollered for Lucas so he gave me a smile over his shoulder and walked off, leaving me with Danny. That was fine by me; I liked him, mostly because he wasn't a huge pervert like Zach.
"He'll be fine," Danny said, smiling in amusement at the expression on my face, which was probably utter fear. I thought I was hiding it well but clearly not.
"Yeah," I replied. "Is he good?"
"He's good. Wins more than he loses. I have a feeling he won't lose tonight."
Because I was here and he wouldn't want to lose in front of me. I didn't care about male pride; I just wanted him to walk away once the race was over.
Stretching up on the tips of my toes, I managed to see Lucas's car line up next to a silver, suped up Lexus. God, I was not looking
forward to this one. Lucas shook the other guy's hand and slapped him on the shoulder. They were friends so hopefully there wouldn't be any dirty racing.
Leon shouted something and a bikini-clad Barbie number three raised her arm and dropped it. They really were following the cliche. Tyres screeched as they launched off the start line. Smoke blocked my view for a few seconds. I caught a glimpse of Lucas slightly ahead just as they disappeared around the first corner.
I felt sick and lowered my head. My stomach was in knots so I wasn't even going to attempt to watch any longer.
"You not watching this?" Danny asked, laughing.
"Can't," I replied, staring at my shoe.
"Lucas will be fine. Open your eyes, Tegan!"
I shook my head. Not happening.
There was another deafening screeching of tyres. I jumped in surprise, my eyes flew open and I gripped hold of Danny's arm tightly. "Whoa, Tegan, you're cutting off the circulation."
"What was that noise?" I asked, tightening my grip.
Danny shrugged with the shoulder I wasn't half pulling down. "Drifting."
"They were drifting?" That was all well and good in films but I didn't like losing control that much in real life. Things could so easily go badly when it wasn't controlled by professionals and a whole stunt crew.
"Yeah, there's a pretty awesome corner round the back there and if you hit it at the right angle you can drift it." He sounded so enthusiastic and absolutely thrilled with the idea. I wanted to punch him.
The cars came back into view. I craned my neck, daring a look at the race. Lucas flew over the finish line and slammed his breaks on. Thank God, they were both back safely.
Luke made his way over to me with a big grin on his face. It took a second for my legs to start working again but when they did I ran over and jumped on him, wrapping my arms round his neck tight.
He was shocked, that much was obvious from his statue-like state. But then it took him less than a second to respond. His arms snaked around my back, pinning me against his chest. My whole body felt alive again. No.
Damn it all to hell.
Chapter Seventeen
Lucas
The race gave me the rush I needed and for those few short minutes I wasn't constantly worrying that Dad's body would reject the new heart. I didn't worry about what Mum would do without him or how we'd cope losing our dad. It was just me, the car and a shit load of adrenaline coursing through my veins.
I got out of the car, allowed some of the guys to slap me on the back before I brushed them off to go find Tegan. I spotted her and started to weave through the crowd. She was smiling but smiling tightly.