“It’s like you just want to break loose and say ‘Watch me—I’m going to do something I don’t normally do.’” She laughed, excitement ringing in her voice.
Wayne couldn’t help it. He had to kiss her. He’d wondered for years what it would be like. Now he had the opportunity in the palm of his hands. Carefully, he leaned into her and brushed his lips against hers. His fingers tangled in her hair as he pulled her closer to him, rubbing his body against hers. In the back of his mind, he wondered just how hot the fling would get.
Chapter Six
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“I ’m hotter than a preacher in a whore house out here,” Wayne complained as he wiped the sweat from his brow.
His father chuckled as he watched his youngest son take his shirt off and grab a bottle of water. They couldn’t let the heat bother them, though; they had to get their tobacco hung before it started raining. Judging by the moisture he felt in the air, it wasn’t far away.
“C’mon, we got to finish this little bit, Wayne. We gotta do it before the rain gets here or we’re gonna lose everything we got.”
Wayne nodded. He knew his father was right, but he was hot and he was tired. Drained would actually be a bit more proper of a word for it.
“I know, Daddy. We’ll get it done.”
Billy watched with pride as his son picked up his pace. It hurt him very much to know that he couldn’t move faster. His bum leg wouldn’t allow him to. He had to depend on Wayne to get it done, because if Wayne couldn’t¸ he wasn’t sure he’d be able to do it on his own.
“I appreciate your help, Wayne. You know that, right? I thank God every day that you’ve stayed to help me. I know I’m going to have to let you go soon, but thank you for helping me now.”
Wayne wiped the dripping sweat from his hair and took another long draw of his bottle of water. “Shit, dad, soon as I can make enough from my race winnings you won’t have to worry about doing this anymore. I hate that you have to bust your back and ass out here to make a fuckin’ living while Justin Grimes sits in the lap of luxury. It burns up every part of me. That’s one of the reasons I have to beat Kevin every week. I will not let him go home and talk about how he kicked Harper ass. I refuse to.”
Billy sighed loudly. The feud between him and the elder Grimes was a long-standing one. At one time or another everyone in the town had to pick sides. It wasn’t something he liked talking about, and it sure as hell wasn’t something he wanted his youngest son to feel like he had to deal with. He hadn’t figured that eighteen years after the fact his son and Justin’s son would be continuing the legacy.
“I’m only gonna tell you this once, Wayne, and I want you to remember this every time you go out on the track. I want you to remember these each time Kevin says something to you that just makes your blood boil. Jealousy is an ugly, ugly thing. It will eat a man from the inside out. It can consume his life to the point where the only thing he thinks of is getting his revenge. It can either kill you or you can be killed by it. Jealousy is this limp I have. Don’t let that happen to you and Kevin. Be smarter than the people before you were. Don’t let it completely run your life.”
Wayne swallowed loudly. He knew little about what had caused his father’s limp besides the actual events of that night. His dad had told him that before. He knew that Justin Grimes had done it, but he didn’t know the exact motivation for it. It was something that had always nagged at him in the back of his mind. He had wanted to know the motivation for it, but as he learned bits and pieces of it, he thought maybe he really didn’t want to know the whole story.
“Dad, I’m gonna do my damnedest not to let anybody get hurt in this. I can’t help the way he runs his race. I can’t help the way he lives his life. He is his father’s son and he will do everything in his power to prove he is better’n
Leighann Dobbs, Emely Chase