Bump and Run (Wide Open #6)

Chapter Twenty-Two

Jones

Four Years Later

Someone called my name as I walked down to the garage on my way to the race. I raised my hand in a hello, a smile pulling at my lips. The sun was high in the sky and beating down on my face. It was so warm. It was going to be a hot day here, but I didn’t mind. I liked days like this. Sweating in my car, hands at ten and two, as I stomped on the gas pedal. The roar of the engine. Passing my competitors on my way to the front. I loved being a NASCAR driver. I was living my dream, and I wouldn’t give this up for the world. I had a great feeling about the race today. I could feel it in my bones. That maybe I would get that big win that I had been pushing so hard for.

“Jones!” My best friend, and the fuel man on my pit crew, Ollie, grabbed my arm, stopping me from going inside. “We need to talk. Now.”

I stared up at him, my eyes zoning in on the black eye he wasn’t sporting yesterday.

“Ollie.” I sighed.

When I reached up to touch his face, he pushed my hand away. He looked way too serious.

“Everything okay? What happened to your face?” He was blocking the door, so I couldn‘t even see inside. “Ollie, what’s going on? You look kind of mad, and I’m not going to lie, it’s kind of scary.”

“You know you’re my best friend and I care about you, right?” He glanced behind him, but when he turned back to look at me, his green eyes flashed with anger, which was very unlike him. He was a gentle giant whom everyone adored. Everyone loved him. Well, that black eye meant not everyone loved him.

I beamed up at him. “Just tell me, Ollie. I’m a big boy. I can handle it.”

“Charlie’s here.”

Just hearing that name made my stomach drop. “Charlie? You mean my Charlie?” Tears suddenly stung my eyes. He wasn’t my anything. Not anymore. Maybe not ever. “What is he doing here?”

“Jones, maybe we should go for a walk.”

“Yeah, sure, okay.”

It felt like my legs were going to give out. Panic began to zip over my skin. Why was Charlie here? But that’s when I heard his voice. That familiar Boston accent that haunted my dreams for months. The way he said my name. Jonesy. My sweet, sweet Jonesy . His laugher filtered through the air, and I felt my knees buckle beneath me. Ollie caught me before I went down. He had to be sick and tired of picking me up as often as he had to.

“I got you, Jones,” he murmured, hooking an arm around my waist and spun me around right as Remington Edward Charles Callahan IV appeared in my line of sight .

“Isn’t this fucking cute?” Charlie’s dark eyes flashed with anger as they moved over us. “But I shouldn’t be surprised to see it.”

Ollie’s hand tightened on my hip, to the point it hurt. “Back off.”

“Are you two together now or just fucking? Can’t say I’m shocked, considering the way you were always watching Jones the way you did. All moon-eyed and puppy love.” Charlie folded his arms across his thick chest, and I noticed the way his biceps flexed in his fire suit. The one that had Callahan Motorsports written on it.

Wait a second. Callahan Motorsports? Since when was there a Callahan Motorsports?

I stared up at him, my heart ramming against my ribs. “What are you...” I stopped to lick my dry lips, trying to control my trembling body. “Why are you dressed like that?”

“Jonesy, you really should pay more attention. You’re so sweet but a little na?ve.” Charlie flashed a smile my way, that mole I was forever obsessed with on full display, and I wanted to slap him.

I wasn’t a violent man, but he had hurt me in ways I never thought imaginable. Ripped out my heart, stomped all over it, and then instead of giving it back, ran off with the stupid organ so I couldn’t give it to anyway else, no matter how hard I’d tried. And believe me, I had tried.

Ollie growled next to me. “Don’t talk to him like that, you big jerk.”

“Oh, is your guard dog upset?” Charlie pouted, then chuckled softly but took a step back when Ollie released me to move toward him .

Ollie had only gotten larger, thicker, and stronger with all the hard work he put in for his job. He worked out every morning, lifted those heavy cans of fuel for my car, and was a force to be reckoned with. I had watched Ollie knock over men larger than he was on the football field years ago, but now he was double that size. He’d take Charlie out without thinking twice about it.

I raised my chin at my ex-boyfriend, hoping my hurt didn’t show in my eyes. That my bleeding heart wasn’t there on display for him to see. “Answer the question.”

I saw the flicker of lust in Charlie’s eyes as he looked at me. The way they moved over my face, down my body, and back to meet my gaze again.

“You look good, Jonesy. Filled out nicely. That fire suit fits you like a glove.” Charlie held up his hands when Ollie growled. “Jesus, relax. I’m fucking with you both. I’m racing now. With you. Well, more like against you.”

My jaw dropped. “You’re what? You’re not a... This is a joke, right? You’re just messing with me?”

“Sadly, no. After I left North Carolina and went home, I started thinking about how much I enjoyed watching you race. How I wanted to learn as much as I could about the sport. I researched everything and anything I could. Being rich has its perks, and well, here we are.” Charlie shrugged like it was no big deal. Like I didn’t bust my tail to get where I was; although some of it was with his help. “I am proud of you though, Jonesy. Rookie of the year and Xfinity Champ. You’re good. I’m looking forward to driving against you. And beating you. ”

Ollie shook his head. “No. No way. You’re not... I don’t believe it. You’re not just going to barge in here and disrupt Jones’s life again. You nearly ruined him; do you know that or just not care?”

“Aw, that’s so sweet. You two are cute together. I ship it.” Charlie’s voice was filtered with sarcasm, but he wasn’t looking at Ollie. He kept his chocolate brown eyes on me, his face void of emotion.

“We’re not together. We’re just friends. Ollie’s my gas man,” I said quietly.

Charlie nodded. “I am aware. I’ve kept tabs on you. But, you know, you could be fucking in secret. Behind the scenes, no one saw it. A little spicy and very scandalous.”

“You’re disgusting,” I hissed. He knew how I felt about Ollie. I loved him like a brother.

Ollie suddenly stepped in front of me. “You don’t get to look at him like that, Charlie. You don’t even seem to care that you broke his heart, do you? That you...God, why do I even bother talking to you?” He threw his arms up in the air. “You broke his darn heart and then just ghosted Jones like he was just some casual fuck.” I flinched at Ollie’s choice of words. “Can’t you even apologize for what you did?”

“You don’t have to do this, Ollie.” I put my hand on his arm, but he shrugged me off.

“I do, Jones. Travis and I were the ones who had to nurse your broken heart. Rescue you from that house when Charlie disappeared on you. Fill the hole inside you that this asshole created!” Ollie roared, and when I looked, I saw a few other drivers watching from the garage. “He thinks he can just show up and act like it meant nothing after he promised he wouldn’t hurt you. Charlie lied to get into your pants. He’s a prick. He’s a fabricator, and I don’t want him anywhere near you because he’s going to do it again. You wouldn’t get out of bed. You were so depressed I thought you were going to—” Ollie lunged forward like he was going to hit him, only for Charlie to trip over his own feet and land on his backside. “Stay away from my best friend, do you hear me? I will hurt you, just like I said I would.” He grabbed my arm and dragged me into the garage but not before I glanced over my shoulder to stare at the only man I had ever loved.

Charlie was watching me right back.

***

Oh, my goodness. This was so bad. So very, very bad. In the years I had been racing, I had never once hit a crew member. Not one of my own or someone else’s. It happened way more than it should, but I had always made sure to be extra careful when I drove down pit road. Keeping my eyes on the other cars and crewman, because I didn’t want to do that. Only today I was more than distracted. Charlie had once again disrupted everything, which caused me to lose focus on what was important, and I hit Holt Walker, the tire carrier and stepbrother for another driver, Watson Brooks.

I felt sick to my stomach. “Is he okay?” I whispered to my crew chief, Adam.

When there was silence on the other end of the radio, I immediately thought the worst. Bile rose in the back of my throat as I gripped my steering wheel. I was a horrible, terrible person. Too consumed with myself to pay attention to my surroundings, and now someone was hurt because of me. Or worse.

“He’s fine,” Adam finally answered. “He’s being checked out by the safety team. Holt is alert. Talking to everyone. I think you just bumped him. You don’t have to worry so much.”

Tears pricked my eyes as I tried to suck air into my lungs. “Really?”

“Buddy, are you okay?” Adam was a good man. We worked so well together, and I never would have won my Xfinity championship without him.

I coughed nervously. “I’m just having an off day. We all have them.” I wanted to ask him about Callahan Motorsports, about Charlie, and where he might be running, but I bit my tongue. That would only bring on more questions that I wasn’t ready to answer.

“You’re right about that,” Adam assured me before he spoke again. “You might want to avoid Watts Brooks, though. Word is he’s pretty upset with you right now.”

I swallowed nervously. “He has every right to be.” Not only did Holt work for Watts’s team, but they were stepbrothers and best friends. They reminded me a little bit of Ollie and myself. They both shared an RV, something Ollie and I did in the beginning of my career, were extremely close, and did everything together. I would be more than mad if someone hit my best friend. Again. But Ollie always seemed to bounce back.

It was the reason I went to talk to Holt after the race, which Watts won, to apologize. I needed him to know that I was sorry, that it was an accident, and if he needed anything, I would absolutely be there for him. The second I climbed from my car and ripped off my helmet, I saw Watts running across the field to get to him. Shoot, I had hoped he wouldn’t be around when I spoke to Holt. I dug my hand through my messy curls as I started toward where they were embracing, only for Watts to move so that he could block my view of his stepbrother.

“No, don’t you think you’ve done enough?” he hissed. His dark eyes were narrowed into angry slits.

Obviously not. “Watts, I just wanted to check on Holt; make sure he was all right. You don’t think I did that on purpose, do you? Because it was an accident, you have to believe me. I would never—”

“Fuck off.” Watts took a step toward me with his teeth clenched.

For a brief moment, I thought he was going to hit me, and I braced myself for impact. I deserved it. I would accept my fate.

“Watson, it was an accident,” Holt repeated my words. “You need to go celebrate your win. Why are you still standing here with me?” He nudged his stepbrother’s shoulder with his hand. Watts glared at me before he hugged Holt again and rushed off to go start burning donuts into the asphalt with his car.

“I really am sorry. I just wanted to make sure that you were all right. I would never do something like that on purpose,” I said.

He nodded. “It’s part of the job. You’re not the first driver, nor will you be the last to hit me. You don’t have to look so scared, Jones. I’m going to be just fine. A little bruising that should heal up in a couple of weeks. Then I’ll be just like new.”

“Holt, I just...I feel terrible.” I felt a hand on my shoulder as I spoke. I knew it was Ollie by the way he tightened his grip to assure me that he was there.

“He’s not wrong, Jones. It’s part of the job,” Ollie answered. He had been a victim of the same thing himself. Now I realized why Watts was so angry with me. It was scary.

Holt smiled. “I appreciate you coming to check on me.” His gaze moved to where Watts was once again climbing from his car with the checkered flag in his hand. Something passed over his face before he turned to look at me again. “Give Watson a few days. By the time we come back from break, he’ll have forgotten all about it.”

I let Ollie lead me away from the track, back to my RV, only to find Charlie sitting outside like he owned the place. My heart shot up into my throat at the sight of him, and I was glad my best friend was with me. I wasn’t sure that I was strong enough to deal with Charlie on my own. What if I begged him to kiss me again? Asked him to make love to me, to hold me, and tell me he was still mine.

“You never answered me before.” Charlie stood up, and I couldn’t stop the way my eyes took him in. His muscled arms, thick thighs, and those lips that kissed me like I was the most important thing in the world. I hated to admit that I missed him. “Are you two together now?”

I placed a hand against Ollie’s chest to stop him from going after Charlie. “Relax,” I murmured before I turned back to Charlie. “I answered you. You just want to believe what you want.” I put my hands on my hips and saw the exhaustion on his face.The dark circles beneath his eyes.

“Is Holt going to be all right?” Charlie asked.

Ollie grunted. “Why are you even here? Don’t you have someone else to bother? Don’t you have a girlfriend now?”

“Ollie, please.” I knew he meant well, but he had to stop trying to protect me. I was an adult. I needed to start acting like one. “Holt’s fine.” I raised my brows as I waited for Charlie to speak again, but when he didn’t, I let out a long sigh. “What do you want now?”

His eyes darted to the big man next to me. “Can we talk, Bashful? Alone.”

“No,” Ollie snapped, but then he turned to look down at me. “Right, Jones?”

The look of fear in his eyes made me wish I could return the feelings he had for me. It would make things so much easier to have someone care for me the way Ollie did. But it was never going to be like that between us.

“I can handle this,” I assured him, and the hurt in my best friend’s eyes was heartbreaking.I moved to hug him, but Ollie shook his head. “Don’t be like that.”

He frowned. “If he hurts you again, you’ll just expect me to what? Pick up the pieces like last time? Jones, I can’t watch you go through that again. Nursing your broken heart nearly ruined mine.”

“No.” I reached for Ollie’s hand. “Fool me twice, shame on me, remember?” I squeezed his fingers. “You’re my best friend, and I love you, but maybe this is the closure I need to finally move on. Find someone to settle down with and spend the rest of my life with. ”

Ollie’s eyes narrowed as he stared behind me. “Text me.” He yanked me against his chest so he could hug me, and I knew he was doing it to piss Charlie off. Probably glaring at him over my shoulder. “I’ll always pick you up. Just ignore what I said before.”

Then Ollie left me standing there alone with Charlie.