One For The Road

23: Dedication

Before long, I was back at the Sacrilege house. Drake didn't seem thrilled with me, but he wasn't pissed either. How could he hold being a person against me? He knew he couldn't, and Josiah and Annie did too.

That was all it was. I was a person who sometimes needed a little freedom (or a lot of freedom, actually). I always came back, and as long as I didn't throw up everywhere, what was the issue?

As I laid in bed next to Drake, all I could think about was that guy I met at the bar. Oddly enough, he bought me a few drinks, I ranted about my recent issues, and when I didn't sleep with him, he didn't even get mad. I had told Griffin that I wasn't going to get into any sort of relationship, and I still didn't want one, but the unnamed gentleman certainly took that as a challenge.

You were drunk, Katie. So was he. It went nowhere. Except it kinda did. I needed someone to talk some sense into me, because I wasn't doing a great job at it myself.

"Drake," I whispered, and when he didn't reply right away, I tried louder. "Drake."

He turned over to face me. "What?"

What did I even have to say? Nothing. But if I had one talent besides pissing people off, it was talking for no reason. "Do you think I'm a mess?"

"A little, but so is everyone else. You're just a little more public than the average disaster."

Maybe I was glad that my love life never went anywhere. All it did was disappoint me in a variety of ways.

Every single time I took an evening off from Team Sacrilege, I called Griffin and then proceeded to get myself into a slightly drunken encounter with a guy I'd never see again. I did it when we were in Spain, I did it hours ago, and I'd probably do it again in the near future.

"Drake," I whispered again.

Ever since I accidentally told him about the whole murder situation, I wasn't sure if things were different, or if I was just losing my mind. It could have very well been just the latter, but I needed to know. I needed someone who I could feel close to, because Griffin was a thousand miles away from me, and it hurt every single time I thought about him.

"I'm sorry for making things weird. I just feel like I have no one anymore, and I accidentally picked you to be my new someone. It was a complete spur of the moment thing, and if you want, we can just pretend that—"

Drake interrupted me. "Katie, you don't have anything to worry about." He turned on the light, and I squinted as it burned my eyes. "Listen to me. When I say I want you here, that doesn't just mean you as a driver or you as a name. I mean that I want all of you on my team, because just part of you isn't enough."

"What?"

"I'll take the ups and downs. I know you're not used to that, especially with your recent thing with Roger Truscott Racing, but—"

"Why?"

"What do you mean why?"

I hesitated. "Why are you willing to deal with that?"

"Fighters fight things. It's in the name, and you're no exception."

I paused for a moment. Yeah, everybody wanted someone who would wreck a bitch for a win, but no one wanted someone who struggled to keep herself out of trouble simply because she didn't want to.

"Then let's just hash out this contract right now, then. And you better make it quick, because I'll probably change my mind in an hour," I said.

Drake sat up straight. "Katie, it's midnight."