Racing to You: Racing Love, Book 1 Read Online Free PDF

crowd erupts in applause, and a rash of fireworks boom, announcing another troop of dancers.
    The pop music returns, the party continues, the revelers resume their celebrations, as though the sublime moment of the flaming birds never happened.
    I forget where I am until a light turns on behind me, and the people on the balcony start to move inside.
    “What did you think?” Braker’s eyes flicker, and he leans against the railing beside me. “Neat, huh?”
    I gulp, unable to stop staring at his eyes. They’re so light and open. “Yeah. Really beautiful.”
    “The best part of Carnival. I thought you’d like it.”
    “You…” Words catch in my throat.
    He gestures back inside where a half-dozen people mill in the kitchen. I recognize some of his teammates.
    “Have you eaten?” he asks. “There’s risotto if you want.”
    “Risotto?” I haven’t had cooked food in over a week, not since I splurged on a bowl of soup one rainy day.
    “Yeah. Come on.”
    I follow him inside, shuffling my feet. I feel like a mooch, eating his food when I just walked in.
    I fidget and spot the red wine stains on my cream-colored coat. I forgot about them. I try to cover them with my hands, but there are too many. I must smell like a wino.
    “Actually,” I say to Braker before he gets to the kitchen. “Thanks, but I think I should go.”
    He says, “Eat first,” and saunters away in those too-sexy jeans.
    “I’m not hungry,” I lie.
    He ignores me and asks the guys in the kitchen, “Any risotto left?”
    I furrow my brows in annoyance. I don’t like being ignored. If I say I don’t want something, I don’t want it.
    “No, Terr,” Gary says. “It’s gone.”
    Braker turns back to me with a shrug. “Good thing you’re not hungry, I guess.”
    Everyone’s eyes in the room are on me.
    I fail to cover the wine stains with my hands, and I retreat for the door. “Thanks for letting me up to see the show.”
    Braker follows me. “Hey, wait. You don’t got to run away.”
    The situation is too awkward. It’s been a hell of a night, and while watching the light display from the balcony was amazing, I need a break from people. I need to get home.
    “Thanks for having me up, Braker,” I say again, galloping down the stairs.
    “Where are you going?”
    “Home.” I round the first-floor landing, hoping he’ll stop following me. I can feel him behind me.
    He follows me out the door into the darkened alley. “Do you know where to go?”
    I turn around and bump into him.
    He clasps my shoulders, and when I try to step back, he steps closer. “Why are you in such a hurry, Frenchie?”
    He’s so close it’s shocking, and the alley is so dark it freaks me out. This time when I step back, he doesn’t follow.
    A gaggle of drunken partiers passes by the end of the alley, their squeals and laughter echoing.
    “I’ll take you to the tram stop, if you want,” he says gently.
    The street-level tram. I’ve ridden it before. It’s nice, quiet, safe. “That would be good.”
    Nodding, he turns up the darkened end of the alley, not toward the lighted Promenade.
    “Where are you going?” I point toward the carnival.
    “I’m not going through those crowds. This is way faster. I need to get to bed.”
    “Bed?” I follow him.
    “Early ride tomorrow. No days off for me. Come on.” He grabs my hand again and leads me down another dark alley, to a staircase sidewalk up the hillside.
    “You’re not going to party?” I take my hand back, not wanting him to touch me. It’s distracting. I may need his help to find the tram stop, but I don’t need his help to walk.
    “I’m a dead man walking. Supposed to be in bed an hour ago.”
    There’s no wine smell on his breath. No one in his apartment was drinking either. They were all cleaning up for the night.
    He walks slightly ahead of me, glancing back, then tries to slow next to me, but I stay behind him.
    “You usually out this late?” His voice is amused. His question