Spy Racers- girl's night!

Chapter 2

Pov Layla

It only took the girls about five minutes to reach the bar since Layla was driving. Even though it was only 8:30, cars were already lining the street outside, so they had to park on the next block. Echo pulled at her shorts as they walked inside.

"How do you wear these, Layla? It literally feels like I have a constant wedgie," she complained.

"Yeah, I know, they're tight- that's why I only wear them on nights like this," Layla laughed. "But they're not that bad. You won't even notice once you start dancing."

"I feel like that would just make it worse..."

"You'll be fine, I swear."

Inside, the bar was buzzing with people of all ages, and Layla knew it would only get more crowded as the night went on. They showed their IDs to the bouncer and he drew an 'X' on their hands with a black marker, signaling that they were under 21. Then, Layla led Echo to an empty tall table towards the back.

"Um...I'm not seeing any line-dancing," Echo said. "You sure this is the right place?"

"Yes," Layla sighed. "Look, there's the dance floor. They probably just haven't started yet. It was already like 11 the last time I came."

"Late night," Echo remarked, raising an eyebrow. "You and T were just 'racing,' huh?"

Not this again, Layla thought. She rolled her eyes.

"Yes! We were racing, that's it. Just lost track of time, okay?"

"Uh huh."

"Stop doing that!"

"Doing what?"

"You know what I mean, Echo," Layla muttered, fighting off the frustration building in her voice. "You keep turning every comment I make about Toretto into something it's not. And it's not just you- Frostee and Cisco do it all the time, too."

Echo's teasing expression faded and she sighed.

"Okay, sorry. I guess we do take it too far sometimes," she admitted. "But you get why, right? We only make those comments 'cause we know there's something there."

"I know! I know exactly why you do it and you're right, it's just-" Layla ran a hand through her ponytail. "It's complicated, okay?"

Echo looked taken aback.

"Hold up, I'm right? So you do like Tony?"

There was really no point in denying it anymore. Layla had already said too much, plus, maybe Echo would stop nagging her for the rest of the night if she finally admitted it.

"Sure, yes, I like him! Are you happy now?"

"Ha, I knew it! Miss Nowhere owes me five bucks!" Echo exclaimed, laughing triumphantly. "So what's the problem? If you're worried T doesn't like you back, don't be- he definitely does-"

"I know," Layla said quietly.

"You know? Why haven't you said anything? And...why do you seem upset?"

Layla had never seen Echo so invested in someone's emotions. Being in the garage all week must've been really getting to her. It was kind of nice to talk to another girl about this kind of thing. She and Tony gave each other advice all the time, but they couldn't exactly have this conversation- at least not yet.

"Like I said, it's complicated," Layla told Echo. "I think Tony knows, too. It's just...there's so many things that could go wrong, ya know? Like the team dynamic, for one- what if us being together makes things weird? I don't think either of us wants to risk that."

"Okay, I get where you're coming from, but dude- you guys already act like a couple now. I don't think much is gonna change just because you make it 'official,' or whatever."

Layla pursed her lips. Maybe Echo was right. While they hadn't explicitly said anything about it, Layla was pretty sure she and Tony both knew there was something between them. And even though she was always telling herself that not thinking about it would make it less real, that just wasn't the case. She and Tony did act like a couple already, aside from, well...some things. But it wasn't like there weren't moments where something could've happened. Maybe it was time to see where their feelings took them instead of dancing around each other for months on end.

"Okay, that's fair," Layla replied slowly.

Echo seemed surprised she'd agreed.

"For real? So...what? You're gonna talk to Tony?"

"Yeah. I will," Layla decided. "But...I dunno when. So could you maybe, ya know, just not say anything else about until I figure out what I'm doing?"

Echo smiled.

"I got you. Oh hey, looks like the line-dancing is starting up- show me what all the hype is about."