I strolled down the stand to where she was shoveling popcorn into a bucket.

Here we go.

“So, are you heading to the Loop tonight with Liam?” I asked about her boyfriend.

Without lifting her eyes from her task, she shook her head. “How often do you see me there, Jared?” she asked, annoyed. “A bunch of little boys moaning and groaning about the size of their dicks—oh, excuse me—I mean, the size of their engines, and I’m supposed to find that fun?”

“Take it easy.” I held up my hands. “I just thought that since Liam was racing, you’d be there to support him.”

Now she looked up. “He’s racing?”

“Yeah,” I said, trying to keep my tone nonchalant. “He’s racing Nate Dietrich. He didn’t tell you?”

Lifting her chin, looking none too pleased, she slammed the popcorn on the counter and turned around to get the soda.

Her boyfriend, while a pretty nice guy, was also pretty damn pathetic. He’s the type of guy that would give up top secret information in the first five minutes of torture. I had no respect for him.

And with all of his weaknesses, I also found out one more. Several weeks ago at the Loop one night, I saw that he had a girl on the side.

And that was my ticket in with K.C. Break up her relationship, get her in my corner, and piss off Tate. “Sorry,” I offered. “He probably knows it’s not your scene. It gets pretty crazy out there. Some girls love it. Some hate it,” I mumbled, trying to sound like the conversation bored me. But on the inside, I was

laughing. I couldn’t have predicted K.C.’s reaction better.

She handed me my food, refusing to speak, and I gave her a twenty and collected my change.

Grabbing the shit I didn’t intend to eat and walking towards a theater I didn’t intend to stay in, I turned around and lifted my—hopefully—innocent looking eyebrows.

“K.C.?” She looked up when I said her name. “You live on Evans, right?” “Yeah.”

“It’s on my way. I’d be happy to give you a lift if you want to surprise him tonight.”

My hands were sweaty, or maybe it was the condensation from the drink cup, but I was actually nervous. If she refused—or called Liam to confirm the race—I’d be up a shit creek.

“I don’t think so.”

Date: 2015-02-16; view: 644