Page 49 of Tandem

I turned, holding Rosalie at my side after setting her down. I couldn't ignore the simmering anger in Jabari’s eyes. He had underestimated me, and it had cost him dearly. Now, it seemed, he was having trouble accepting defeat. “You got lucky, AJ,” he spat out, his voice laced with bitterness as he approached me. “That was a fluke, and you know it.”

I sighed, not wanting to engage in his sore loser antics.

“Jabari, it’s over. You lost, I won. Simple.” But Jabari wasn’t ready to let go. He stepped closer, and I moved Rosalie behind me. His fists clenched, his eyes burning with hatred, as he stopped inches from me.

“I want a rematch, AJ. I won’t accept this as the end.” I shook my head, not eager to prolong this rivalry any further.

“Jabari, you had your chance. Maybe it’s time to move on.” But just as I turned away from him, I spoke to Rosalie. “Let’s go, baby girl.”

Jabari did something unexpected. He whistled sharply, and one of his boys jumped into the ring, walking over to him with a brown bag. I quickly moved Rosalie behind me, and T reached into the back of his pants, where I knew he kept his heat.

Jabari slowly reached into the bag and pulled out a wad of cash, throwing it onto the floor of the ring. The bills scattered, and the crowd gasped at the sheer amount of money he had just tossed. There was easily a hundredG’s there.

“I'm not backing down, AJ,” Jabari declared, his voice cold and determined. “I’m putting up a hefty reward for a rematch. Winner takes all, and I mean all,” he said as his eyes looked hungrily over at Rosalie peeking out from the side of me.

I stared at the money on the floor, my mind racing. It was an enormous sum, more than I had ever seen in one place. The crowd murmured in amazement, and even T, theannouncer, seemed taken aback. Jabari’s challenge hung in the air, impossible to ignore. It wasn’t just about pride anymore—I had claimed that; it was about a massive wad of cash sitting on the floor. And I couldn’t refuse a rematch with such a high stake. Besides, I just kicked his ass once, I could do it again. Rosalie wouldn’t be in any real harm with this bet.

Reluctantly, I turned back to face Jabari, my jaw clenched. “Fine, Jabari. You want a rematch? You’ve got it. I’ll enjoy kicking your weak ass again.”

Jabari’s eyes flashed arrogance as he smirked at me, and his boy retrieved the scattered money from the ring. “You won’t regret this, AJ. It’s gonna be the fight of our lives—one neither of us will forget.”

There was something in his smirk that made me know he was formulating some sort of bullshit, but it was fine. Nothing he could do would affect me. As the crowd buzzed with excitement and the promise of a high-stakes rematch, I couldn’t help but feel like I was about to score even bigger than before. This rivalry was far from over, and the next battle would be the most intense yet with everything on the line. I pulled Rosalie tighter to my side, feeling the warmth of her body against me.

“Let’s get outta here,” I rumbled lowly as I went over to T, who handed me a stack of cash, my winnings from the fight. We walked out to my lowrider, and once we were inside, I turned the music on low, driving us back toward the customs to pick up her car.

CHAPTER 29

ROSALIE

We pulledup at the customs. I was still in awe over what I saw tonight. I never knew about other underground clubs like the one AJ was a part of. It was a little scary at first, but once he won, I saw how happy AJ was at that moment as the crowd came to life. I could watch it on repeat forever. I snuggled against his chest again, and he chuckled, lowering his face to my ear. “Hey, baby girl, I was thinking, maybe I could leave my lowrider here and take your Skyline home? You drive your Viper, and maybe I’ll give you one more surprise tonight.”

I blinked at him. “I don’t know if I can handle any more surprises tonight, because you already blew my mind.” I leaned into his touch as he stroked my cheek softly.

“Trust me, I think you’ll be able to take it. You always do.” His smirk let me know he wasn’t just talking about whatever this surprise was, and my blushing face let him know I knew that.

“Sure! I just have to get my other keys out of the shop… You might want to park your car there, too. I trust people, but I know this car’s rims are really nice.” AJ nodded and drove his lowrider inside the customs after I rolled up the garage door. While he parked and grabbed a few things from it, I went over to the personal car key box and grabbed my Skyline’s keys. Walkingback to him, I held them out. “Don’t crash her now. She’s my second baby.”

AJ smirked and took the keys. “Sure you can keep up?”

I nodded and kissed his cheek. “Think you can?” I walked backward out of the shop, our eyes flirting with each other as I locked it back up. Then we walked over to my two cars, and AJ slid into the Skyline while I got into my Viper. Hearing both cars come to life made my heart jump in a happy beat.

AJ led the way as we pulled onto the street and started driving toward my house, but as we went, I slowly realized we were picking up pace. Barely making red lights, and I started to hit turns fast enough to feel a drift start to initiate as we hit the Hills. I was ten million percent wrong if I thought I couldn't find anything else to love about AJ more than I already did.

As we hit the first corner, AJ initiated one of the best drifts I had ever seen. I followed him, hot on his tail. He took me away from the direction of my house, through more turns and twists in the streets of the Hills.

It was exhilarating, yet neither of us saw the cop chilling at a four-way as we slid through it until the lights came on. My phone rang as we took off, and I pulled it out and saw it was AJ. I answered and threw it on speakerphone in the passenger seat. “Time to put these cars to the test, baby girl. Stick with me, all right? I know you can do it.” I felt my cheeks getting warmed again.

“AJ, I’ve NEVER run from the cops before…” I pressed on the gas more to keep up with him as the sirens blared behind me. “W-what if we get caught?! Isn’t this considered felony evasion?!” I tried to keep myself from getting panicked.

AJ's voice was leveled and calm, which made my nerves lessen, as he responded, “Baby girl, you are the best female drifter I haveeverseen. Trust your skills. I know you can do this. Follow me, and we will lose this cop and be at your place withinthirty, promise.” I trusted AJ’s words. Shoot, just thinking back to the time he lost the cops, I knew he had ways and places to do things to get away.

“Alright, I trust you,” I shouted as we drifted through a turn.

His chuckle came through, along with words that always made me turn into a pile of goo. “Good girl.”

We took off, taking roads I had barely ever been on and going through alleys I never knew existed. It was like AJ knew another whole word inside LA than I did. When his voice came back over the phone, he said, “Rosalie, pull up next to me, now.”

I stepped on it. The cop’s lights and siren had gradually dipped back, though I figured in another moment or two, he would be down this road, too. “When I saynow, drift right, HARD.” I nodded to myself. Pulling up alongside him, he glanced over and smirked at me. “NOW.” He growled, and we both initiated a drift. Everything slowed, like time stood still, as we drifted in perfect sync.