Page 61 of Full Throttle

“I’m going to head out to the garage,” Cyrus said. “Let me know if you need anything.”

“Will do,” Brian answered.

As soon as the room cleared, Brian closed the door. “You can’t look at her like that.”

“Like what?” Liam was frustrated.

“Like you’re her lover.”

“I am.”

“Can you at least keep it on the DL until after the race? We don’t need a mutiny. That would be one more thing for someone to tell Asher, and he leaks that to the press too. It’ll be game over for her.”

Brian was right. Liam wasn’t thinking straight. He found it hard to be rational when it came to Colby. Instead of chasing after the woman he was falling in love with, Liam decided to do what he did best.Work.

Lockwood Racing was in a crisis, and that he could help fix.

Chapter 20

Something was wrong, and Cyrus knew it. Colby had been withdrawn all day. She should be excited by the video going viral, but it seemed to be having the opposite effect.

He and Colby were working on Chris’s car when he finally spoke. “Want to talk about it, Lil’ Bit?”

Lil’ Bit.Colby hadn’t heard that term in years. Her dad only used it when he was in daddy mode. She was tempted to let him baby her but decided it was best to keep what happened with Liam to herself. It would upset the entire garage.

Her face was hidden as she pretended to study the problem with Chris’ clutch.

She mumbled, “I’m good.”

Cyrus was grasping at straws. “I hope you’re not worried about the race in Atlanta. You’re going to be fine.”

Tuh,she thought. They weren’t even going to let her drive.

Cyrus knew the best place for Colby to be when she was melancholy was on the track. “We’re going to do some practice runs with Chris and Jordan this afternoon. We need to work on our offensive and defensive moves.”

Colby glanced up. Her eyes were glassy, but she wouldn’t cry. “Did you read any of those comments under that video? I’ve been called everything but the son of God. N-word this, N-word that, slurs too vile to repeat.” Her throat was thick with pain. “I love cars. I love driving. Why does it have to be such a fight to do what I love?” Her voice was strangled. “Why does this have to be so damned hard?”

Cyrus was gutted. “Being the first is always hard because the path to get there is always near impossible.” Cyrus put down his tools and took a step a little closer to his daughter. He placed his large hand on her shoulder. “You’re the right woman for this moment.”

Colby wasn’t so sure. “Dad, we can’t be competitive with these cars. We need better parts. At just the hint of me racing in Atlanta, the top vendors have either canceled orders or stopped returning Brian’s phone calls. We don’t even have any sponsors.” Colby felt like screaming. “I don’t want to be someone they talk about as afirst.” The pain was evident in her eyes. “I want to fix a few wrongs, but more importantly, I want the chance to win. And right now, I just feel defeated.”

Cyrus didn’t know how to encourage her, especially when part of him felt guilty. He’d given Colby his love of cars, but it wasn’t a gift. It had been more like an albatross around her neck. “We’ll figure something out. We always do.”

Colby just stared at him. “I think I’m going to call it early. I’m not in the best headspace to get out on that track.” She lowered the hood of the car.

When the hood of the car closed, Liam was standing behind it. Colby’s chest tightened. She wasn’t expecting to see him. Colby wondered how much of anything he had heard.

Did it really matter? No. It didn’t. And even though she should hate him, she couldn’t.

While she could be mad at Liam, the real person she should be pissed at was herself. She allowed everything that went down between them to happen. There was nothing left to do but chalk her situation up to a long list of losses. It was what she deserved for ignoring all the warning signs, and Liam Lockwood was a walking, talking big-ass billboard.

She was out. Leaving. Colby was entirely done with the day. Who knows? Maybe she would be ready to fight tomorrow.

Maybe not.

Without uttering a word, Colby turned on her heels and left.

Cyrus watched her walk away. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen her like this. Sometimes, I wished she had liked playing with dolls over engines.”