Taming the Street Racer ✔️

12 | heart on fire

My finger hovers over the call button, unsure of itself. I squeeze by eyes shut and relax into the seat, breathing heavily. I count to three:

1...What the hell am I doing?

2...He's probably going to laugh and hang up on me.

3...You can fucking do this, Riv!

My finger presses the call button and my heart stops when the phone starts to ring. Holding my phone up to my ear, I bite my nails waiting for him to pick up. I never bite my nails, but it feels fitting, considering my whole body seems to be twitching with anxiety.

The rings stop after the fourth and I hold my breath, hearing my own heart beat through my chest.

"Hello?" He sounds out of breath, impatient. Actually, he sounds unbelievably hot and my heart stutters. I have trouble forming words with my mouth and my face feels hot. "Hello?" He says again, his voice even more irritated and breathy.

"Hey, this is River," I say, stopping to hear him say something. He's silent on the other end. God, help me. "So I just...my parents...can I come over or something? I just kind of need to be anywhere but my house right now."

My voice sounds high and unsure, far from my usual tone. He's silent for a moment and I am about to back out and say that I'm actually going to Violet's and that I'm sorry for bothering him. Then he laughs, but it doesn't sound genuine. "You want to come over to my house?"

"Uh, yeah. If that's fine with you. I really don't want to intrude or anything," I sputter, inwardly groaning at my fumbling of words. Hearing his voice does something to me. It makes it hard to feel or act like my normal self. What's happening to me?

He goes quiet again but this time, the silence is cut by a high-pitched squeal in the background. I can tell Grayson pulls the phone away from his ear by the far-off volume of his voice. "Yeah, you better hide, Gracie. I'm gonna find you."

Gracie screams in delight again before Grayson presses the phone back to his ear. "I guess. I'll be with Gracie all tonight." His voice is strained, as if he doesn't want me there. I push away the sting that comes along with that realization. "If you're fine with that..."

His voice trails off, as if he wants me to say something. "That's perfect," I say quickly, a bit hurt that he seems all but enthused that I'm coming over. I ponder cancelling again, second-guessing myself, but confidently decide against it. "Just send me your address. I'm already in the car."

"Yeah, sure. Hey, River, I kinda gotta go right now," he says over Gracie's yelling in the background. I hear a faint crashing sound. "I'll tell the doorman to let you up. See you soon."

Then he hangs up hastily. I'm frozen, holding the phone to my ear for a few seconds, pondering what I'd just done. When I finally pull myself together, I look at the text Grayson just sent with his address and type it into my GPS. Taking a deep breath in, I start driving toward Grayson Maddox's house.

With my radio blasting 2010s jams and my head swimming with nerves, I hardly notice that my navigation is taking me far from home. When I turn onto a street I've never seen before, lined with glossy, mid-century modern homes and tall townhouses with thick, white columns, my breath catches in my throat. This is a part of town my parents could only dream of living in.

The grand single-family houses give way to to sleek, glass skyscrapers as I get closer to downtown. These apartment buildings have names like The Avalon, NewStar, and The Abodes and I wonder how the hell Grayson can afford to live here. Then I think back to his thick stack of hundred dollar bills and it all makes sense.