Validation by Michele Lenard

Author:Michele Lenard [Michele Lenard]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Michele Lenard
Published: 2022-06-23T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

Carter

I park behind Murphy’s—which is no easy feat since half the roads in town are blocked for this damn race—wondering how the hell I let Sloane talk me into this. She may have a point about getting to know the townspeople, but I didn’t realize she meant all of them at once. Based on the crowds I had to navigate to get here, I think that’s what this is.

A knock on the car window makes my heart skip as air lodges in my throat. Turning to the sound, my breath catches again when I register Sloane in a black leather bodysuit. Goddamn. Us pretending to be friends is going to be one hell of an act with her dressed like that.

“What are you supposed to be?” I plaster myself to the door of the car after I shut it, a desperate attempt to keep from reaching for her.

“Wasp, from Antman.”

I give her a slow once over, trying to appear more intrigued than horny. “Looks more like Catwoman.”

Her cheeks flush in the adorable way I’m used to, although in that outfit it’s sexy as sin. “Don’t tell my sister that. It’ll crush her.”

“Huh?” What does her sister have to do with it?

“Ally takes her costumes very seriously. Speaking of, here’s yours.” She holds her arm out, a red and blue stretchy thing that sort of resembles a ski racing suit, dangling from her fingers.

“Spiderman? You remember how I said he’s my least favorite superhero.”

“This is the only costume left.” She shakes her arm again, like I haven’t noticed what she’s holding. I noticed, I just don’t want to take it.

“Can’t I just wear this?” I glance down at my t-shirt and jeans.

“Trust me, you’ll look less out of place in the costume. Where’s your bike?” She swings her head from side-to-side, looking for a set of wheels that doesn’t exist.

“I don’t have one.”

“You came to a bike race without a bike?” Her jaw drops open.

“I came to see you without a bike. I’m not racing.”

“Everyone races.”

“I thought we established it’d be silly for me to do pledge laps when I can just write a big check.” I cross my arms stubbornly. “I’ll just stand on the side and watch. I’ll even cheer for you if you want.”

“Nice try. We established that you can ride and write a check. Bathroom’s in there, go change.” She jerks her head toward the back door of the restaurant and thrusts the damn costume into my hands. I take it with a scowl and head to a stall to change, shedding my comfy clothes for the near skintight suit. Good thing I grew up wearing shit like this for races. I wouldn’t be caught dead in something like this otherwise.

On the plus side, the outfit earns me an appreciative glance when she sees me strolling back to the car. On the negative side, I still have no bike, so she ushers me to a nearby rental shop. It’s crowded and stuffy as people clamber in and out, getting last-minute gear to join the race.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.