Wildly Driven

Chapter 38

For a guy who talked a lot, Robert sure seemed to be silent. His hands were buried in his pocket and he looked like he had seen a ghost.

Perhaps, that was the effect that Ashley had on the other racer guys.

"How's your training going, Stone?" She asked casually. "I hope they are training you hard."

I gulped audibly. According to what I had heard, Ashley was one of the best woman drivers that were out there, and she didn't hesitate to flaunt it out.

To say I was nervous was an understatement. I was more than petrified. With the look that she was giving me – like she was inspecting an insect – I wanted nothing more than to run to my Dad and say I couldn't do it anymore.

"I, uh..." I stammered like an idiot. "It's good."

I had never felt so inferior to anyone my entire life. With only one formal race as an experience, I didn't know how to react to those questions. I didn't know if she intimidated me or if I was just looking up to her – like my role model.

Ashley's smirk only got wider, her white patch on her cheek dipping into a dimple. "Make sure that Robert teaches you all kinds of tricks, honey." She flipped her hair for more effect. "You might need it."

I looked at Robert for some kind of support, but he only gritted his teeth and looked away. As if he had a lot to say to her, buy was holding himself back.

"Tell Ed I said hi." She said and stepped away from me. I released a breath that I didn't know I was holding.

We stood still, staring at the void, wondering what in the hell just happened. My whole demeanor towards the exhibition was taking a complete one-eighty-degree turn and I didn't know what to say.

"That was harsh." I muttered, once I had recovered. Apparently, Robert was taking more time than me. But, taking it that they knew each other, I didn't know what made him look like he swallowed a fish. "No wonder she wants revenge."

I heard Robert sigh. "She's not that bad."

"You only say that because you know her." I said. Then as if the realization hit me, my eyes bulged out of my sockets and turned to face him. "Don't tell me she was your ex-lover!"

At this, Robert's uneasy tension shifted, and he only laughed at it. "No, she was not." He snorted. "Though I wish she was. Isn't she hot?"

I rolled my eyes at him.

We spent the rest of the evening like nothing happened. We went to the Starbucks to have some cold coffee. All of them scattered away as soon as we had reached home except for Robert, of course. James and Lily wanted to celebrate getting back together err... privately while Nick had got a call from his mother asking him to run her errands.

"Want to come in?" I asked Robert who stood like he was deciding what to do. His smile was contagious, like I had read his mind.

"Hey kids." Dad said, once he heard the door lock behind. He was in his wheel chair with an old match of baseball running in the background while he was immersed in today's newspaper. "Had a good day?"

"Yeah," I said, tucking my hair behind my ear. "We went to a car exhibition."

"Really?" Dad asked, his eyes popping out, face full of enthusiasm. I wondered if he actually wanted to come along with us, after all, he was a racer and that fact was a little too hard to settle down. "Did you see the decorations? The flowers and all that? It was not wilted, was it?"

"Did you by any chance make the decorations there?" Robert asked, just like Dad wanted us to. "They stood even with all the heavy pour last night."