Page 2 of War

I don't know whether or not she listened to me.

Adrenaline pulsed through the air as we waited. Eric and I revved the engines. The light would turn at any minute.

My hands gripped the steering wheel, and my heart thudded faster. Anticipation coursed through my veins.

The light changed, and I floored the gas. The truck raced forward into the muddy track.

We pulled forward so fast that the back fish-tailed in the mud but the vehicle kept moving forward.

The woman shrieked and grabbed onto the handle above her head.

We splashed down into a huge pothole, mud and water flying everywhere around us.

The Jeep appeared beside us.

Oh, Hell no.

I gassed it, water and mud splashing as our tires tore through it.

There was a drop-off ahead holding a mud pit — the biggest obstacle.

“Hold on!” I called out.

The truck went airborne as we drove off the ledge.

My companion screamed and held onto the handle for her life.

The truck landed in the boggy mud and continued forward. We got stuck, and the tires whined as they spun, the back end fish-tailing.

I tapped the brake and, when the wires stopped spinning, I shifted to four-wheel drive.

We rocked up out of the mud pit.

“Whew!” I yelled as the tires climbed out of the pit.

The mud and potholes that followed were nothing.

Eric pulled out of the mud right behind me, though. Fuck.

We raced neck and neck to the end, the windshield wipers on the truck groaning as they slashed through the mud thrown up by Eric's vehicle.

In the end, I beat Eric by an inch.

The woman in the passenger seat squealed and chattered excitedly about the win.

I smiled and brought the truck back around to the main lot.

I parked the truck in front of the small building that housed the track's office. I turned to face the woman in the passenger seat. Her cheeks were flushed.

“Want to have a little more fun with me?” I asked her with a wink.

Her eyes flashed with knowledge. “Yes,” she said.

Chapter 2

My pulse beat hard in my throat. I stood on the second-story roof in shorts, shingles rough under my bare feet. The cool night air blew against my bare chest. Music thudded and light flashed at the party beneath me.

A crowd on the patio cheered up at me.