JASON, BRANDON AND Victor’s jaws instantly dropped meanwhile, Drake wore a smug smile on his rugged face. The rest of the crew were oblivious to who Tabitha was and stood idly as they waited for somebody to say something… anything.
If Jason could move, he would’ve literally lunged at his brother and beat him to a pulp. Beat him till that tiny Neanderthal brain of his was nothing more than a bowl of slimy mesh!
Five years. It’s been five long years since he’d seen Tabitha; since he’d drop her off at the airport for her flight to Boston where she was to attend Northeastern University for Engineering. She wanted to become an Engineer just like her dad had been.
Last he’d heard, she’d graduate from college but he didn’t think that she would move back to Miami. The way she use to complain about the crowded city and it’s hot temperatures, Jason thought that she would’ve stayed and reside in Boston, but she apparently didn’t.
Clad in a pair of light blue shorts with rips in it topped off with a flimsy light blue v-neck shirt and loosely tied black combats boots, Tabitha looked just as hot and care free as she did when she left Jason for college. But he wasn’t just bitter about it. He was angry and bitter. They had to go their separate ways and he had to find a way to get over his bruised ego after she practically brushed him off for a month before she left for Boston then gave him a pathetic excuse as to why she did it when he asked her.
Jason wasn’t too keen on the girls that attended his high school for one specific reason, desperation. They were all desperate to get into the circle that he was a part of just because they wanted to be known by everyone. They all wanted high school fame and to become the only girl to be accepted into their circle but Jason and his friends never let it happen; that is to say, not until Tabitha came along their senior year.
When she first started attending their school, she was automatically known as the girl who didn’t give a damn what anybody had to say about her. Outspoken, witty and unbiased, she easily made friends but was never actually inducted into a circle until she crossed Brandon and Carter for not watching where they were going. The group took an instant liking to her and forcefully befriended her. She fought them off at first but soon relented and went with the flow of things.
She was genuinely interested in getting to know who Jason and his friends were and that was an attraction all on its own. She played sports with them, got dirty with them, ate like a pig with them, played wingman for them, tutored them and did it all while threatening their lives and manly body parts and making them laugh.
Things were great and they became one huge happy high school family. Brandon, Victor, Jason, Carter and Robby –who moved back to Canada after high school— were glad to finally have such a cool girl in their group. They treated her like one of the boys but at the same time, they recognized her for the beautiful and sexy girl that she was. Throughout their group, there was only one rule: Do not hook up or try to hook up with her. That was proven to be harder than they thought but the boys accommodated …or at least they tried to.
Jason was fine with that one rule until one night he found himself alone with her in her house with no parental supervision and about as horny as his teenage body had ever been. Tabitha noticed and made fun of him for ten whole minutes until he became annoyed and tackled her down onto her bed. One thing led to another and they somehow became friends with benefits for the rest of their senior year.
They snuck around and screwed each other every chance that they got. Things were great until Robby left football practice early one day and caught them all over each other in the back of a staircase in the school. All four boys banned Jason for a whole week then showed up at his house and high fived him for being the only one to get her into the sack while also admitting that they all tried to do the same at some point.
Tabitha on the other hand didn’t see the big deal. “Jason’s a cool guy and I like him.” She said. To make it up to them, she played wingman for a whole week and got each of the four laid by the end of that week. She was instantly forgiven of course. She was a gem; their gem. And they would be damn if they let any other guy who was pinning for her, got too close.
Summer came and Jason found himself in a whirlwind after he realized what he felt for Tabitha was more than just lust. He was jealous for the dumbest reasons and he was constantly thinking of her but he made sure to never let it be known to anyone and later he realized that was the smartest thing he could’ve ever done. A month into summer, she stopped coming around, she stopped calling him or answering his calls and she cut off all connections with Jason indefinitely. He was more annoyed then hurt.
It wasn’t until the day she was leaving that Brandon mentioned having to drop her off at the airport and Jason wits went out the window. He insisted on taking Brandon’s place and sped over to her house without thinking. Not only was she surprised to see him but she looked a bit frightened. She refused to get into the car with him and Jason flipped. He practically hauled her and her baggage into his car by force and drove her to the airport.
When he asked her why she ignored him for a whole month, her answer to him was “Things were a bit hectic with the whole college stuff. Since I’m moving to another city, I had a lot do and just lost track of time. Daddy insisted that I prepare for the move and took up all my time. I’m sorry.”
The only thing Jason could do was nod, give her a fictitious smile and let her go. What else was he to do?
Now five years later there she stood. With the same easy and lovable smile plastered on her beautiful face. Thanks to the cold weather in Boston her skin was lighter, what use to be dark brown hair was now a reddish brown and cut into layers that fell down her back giving her a more feminine look, her brown green hazel eyes were just as mesmerizing as it had been in high school and her extremely pink lips that he use to love poking fun at were even more captivating.
“I guess introductions are in order.” Drake’s voice snapped Jason out of his reverie and he switched his gaze over to his brother. He was going to shove his boots so far up his-”
“Like I said, this is Tabitha.” Drake grasped her hand and brought her closer to the crew. He introduced her to first the strangers then to her old friends. “This,” Drake pointed at Sierra “is Carter’s girlfriend. He stole her away from Victor.” Tabitha brows shot up.
“Excuse me?” Sierra exclaimed. “No one stole me from anybody. I decided to leave Victor on my own.”
“Yeah,” Drake retorted “for his friend, Cater.” Sierra gave Drake a dark and evil eye and he quickly moved on to the next person in line for introductions before she shared him with her gold eyes that was quickly changing colors. “This is the Richie Rich of the crew, Dennis. He’s loaded!”
Dennis scoffed at drake’s comment then smiled at Tabitha. “I’d like to see what you can do. That little trick down the block was nice and all but it takes more than that to be a great racer.”
Tabitha nodded. “It’ll be my pleasure to show you.”
“Ok, moving on.” Drake intervened. “Next is Chico. Obviously the immigrant of this crew and when it comes to making your car shiny and beautiful, he’s your man.”
“Chico?” Tabitha asked him. “Why do they call you Chico?”
“Blame the ass next to you.” Chico answered as he narrowed his eyes at Drake for the immigrant comment. “He has this thing about forgetting my name and called me Chico so much that it stuck. But as for a vistoso lady like yourself, you can call me by my given name: Valentino.” Chico grabbed her hands and shook it for longer than necessary. Tabitha face redden a bit.
“Watch yourself dude. She’s already spoken for by someone in this room.” Drake shot his brother a wink and turned back to Tabitha. He knew that Jason was going to get him back for this but frankly at this moment, he didn’t care one bit. He was enjoying the outcome.
“You already know dip shit number one and dip shit number two from high school.” Drake pointed at Victor and Brandon.
“Dip shit?” Tabitha laughed. “After five years, you’re still mean as hell Drake. Do you even have a nice bone in your body?”
“Sure I do!” He answered with a bright smile. “I show it all the time when I’m in the company of beautiful woman who I know will end up naked in a bed with me.” He wiggled his brows.
“Jerk!” Tabitha looked at the two cousins who were also giving Drake an angry look and smiled. “Well, can I get my hug? It’s been five freaking long years!” She exclaimed excitement in her voice. They chuckled at her enthusiasm and enveloped her in a tight three way hug. She kissed them both on the cheeks and smile. “Are you two still breaking hearts?”
“Vic still is. I quit a while ago. Something called karma bit me on the ass and taught me a lesson. My dear old cousin on the other hand is still looking for his to bite him.” Brandon insisted.
“He’s lying.” Victor replied.
“Sierra would be exhibit A.” Brandon said slyly.
Victor said nothing and Tabitha caught a glimpse of regret appear on his face before he quickly masked it and shrugged.
Tabitha wanting to change the subject and lengthen the time with them reached up and touched his hair. “I like your dreads. Last time I saw you, you was wearing it clean cut and low.”
Victor grinned. “Thanks. Started growing it in college.”
“Yeah? They look good on you. Do you plan on le-”
“Stop stalling and talk to him.” Drake cut her off as he whispered in her ears. Tabitha turned and looked at Drake then Victor and Brandon and all three shot her an expectant look. They figured that she was stalling to speak to Jason. But how could she? If he ever found out about the ba-
“I’ll be in the office. Victor, change Sierra’s oil. She’s going to be late for school.” Jason spoke with a harsh authority, walked into the office and slammed the door shut.
All seven of them continued to stare after him even after he walked into the office and slammed the door. They were used to Jason’s hot temper flaring but this time it was so sudden. But then again, none of them knew about the way he felt about Tabitha or her secret. They only knew that they ended things on a bad note after she avoided him for a month and was ready to leave Miami without informing him.
“Wow.” Brandon drew out.
“Yeah, wow.” Victor added. “Drake why would you do this?”
Drake shrugged. “I was getting bored.”
“We just bailed you out of jail two days ago. How much excitement do you need in your life? And don’t you have community service hours to start today?”
“Listen you little piece of shit-”
“What the hell is going on?” Chico exclaimed cutting Drake’s banter off. “I’m confused.”
“Meet Jason’s ex girlfriend.” Brandon chimed in.”
“I was never his girlfriend.” Tabitha sighed.
“You might as well had been. Brandon and I watched you two together and it was as clear as day that what y’all had, was more than what you both claimed it to be.” Victor sent an annoyed glance towards Drake and shook his head before walking off with Sierra to change her oil.
“Drake, I know that you know that Jason’s going to hurt you in any way that he can now. You and I both know how bad his temper is so I’ll do you the favor of going into that room to calm him down but let’s hope that he hasn’t called Mrs. Mills yet and told her about you getting arrested this weekend.”
Drake groaned.
Brandon cackled and made his way towards the office where his best friend was hiding out. If it’s one thing that Jason wasn’t fond of, it was surprises.
Meanwhile.
Victor was having a hard time concentrating on his work with his ex girlfriend hovering over him. He hated being around her. Guilt, longing and regret filled him every time he was close to her. He couldn’t catch a break; especially when he saw her and Carter together at the races. It irked and saddened him at the same time.
He made one mistake by cheating on Sierra and she ran into the next guy’s arms. Unfortunately, the next guy happened to be his two faced friend, Carter. His heart broke when he heard about them being couple just two weeks after she broke up with him. At first, he thought that his Carter was just the rebound guy but then a week turned into months and it ate him up inside every time he had to watch them and pretend that he didn’t give a damn.
When Carter left the crew, victor was the only one that was happy about it even if he did act like he cared.
Victor sighed. “Can you not stand so damn close while I’m working?”
Sierra frowned and crossed her arms under her breast. “You use to love when I was around you while you were working.”
“Key word; used to. I liked doing the thing I loved while being with the person I loved but since that isn’t the case anymore, move your ass to the side.”
“And whose fault is that?” She asked fuming. “Love my ass!”
“You should’ve given us a chance to work it out instead of running into Carter’s arms. Makes me think that you were screwing with him from the get go.”
“You’re kidding?”
“I don’t kid.” He answered while gritted teeth.
“You cheated on me Victor. Twice!”
“It was once!”
“Oh that makes it so much better!”
“It doesn’t but I apologized! How many times am I going to have to say I’m sorry before you can forgive me?” He exclaimed.
“Till you freaking mean it!” Sierra stormed back into the shop and kicked a random tire lying on the floor and in the process stubbed her unprotected toes. “Oww!” She bent over and cradled her big toe that was now turning red.
“That’s what you get!” Victor laughed as he walked in behind her. Placing one arm behind her knees and one at her waist, he lifted her up bridal style and went over to sit on the empty chairs lined up again the wall of the garage.
“Put me down!” Sierra shouted as she squirmed in his arms.
“If I put you down, I’m dropping your irritating ass on the floor. Now hold up a second so I can take a look at your feet.” Victor sat and placed her on his lap for his own selfish reasons. He unbuckled her shoes and took a look at her toes. “Just need some ice. You’ll be fine you cry baby.”
“Whatever.” Sierra harrumphed and pouted while Victor continued to laugh at her. “I hate you.” She grumbled.
He slid her to the chair next to him before getting up and placing her feet on the chair that he recently occupied. “Sure you do. I’ll get you some ice.”
Tabitha watched as her new crewmates interacted with one another and smiled. They were like a big dysfunctional family. Apart from her having her work cut out for her with Jason, she was going to fit right in with the craziness of this crew. Moving back to Miami was the best thing that she could’ve done. Especially when half of Boston’s polices and her old crew were out to get her.