Page 31 of Trading Paint
He surprised me though when we made our way over to the concession stands.
“Hey Ami, can we get some service around here?” Justin teased handing her a twenty. “I’d like a beer.” He told her with a grin.
“Yeah, sure,” she smiled at Justin. “In four more years’ sweetie,”
Justin laughed leaning against the counter. “Fine then, I’ll take a hamburger and coke.” He nodded his head back toward me. “And whatever he wants,”
“I can cover it Justin.” I said pushing his money aside and handing her another twenty.
“After Skagit...you owe me. Just let me buy this.”
I laughed. “So I wreck you and you buy me dinner. Isn’t that a little backward?”
“Probably,”
Ami handed us our food and we walked back to the haulers. “Listen...I wasn’t going to say anything last week...I knew you had your hands full with...women problems but I would hate for you to lose any chance at a sponsor because of it. They’re not worth it.”
“You have your fair share too?” Justin was definitely a favorite among the women at the track. He usually had three or four around him at all times.
“Yeah...after a while though...they only want one thing,”
I nodded taking a bite of my hamburger and then a long pull from my drink. “They do complicate things, don’t they?”
“That they do...wait until you find one you love. That’s when the shit really hits the fan.”
“And I take it you found one?”
He smiled looking over his shoulder at the pit concession where Ami was. “Yeah, she’s pretty special to me.” he turned his gaze back to me. “Just remember why you do what you do. If you want it bad enough, everything else falls away. Look at Jimi, he knew what he wanted and look at him now.”
Justin had dreams of racing in the World of Outlaw series someday so he looked up to my dad, as I did but I wanted more than just that.
I wanted to race sprints but I also thought maybe there would be something more for me out there. Not sure which way to go, I decided for now USAC was the way after graduation. With three different series’ to compete in, I could strive for the Triple Crown National title and that was where my interest was. Justin competed in USAC events as well but he attempted to qualify foreveryWorld of Outlaw race he could. Funny enough, he did qualify for most of them.
That night I broke the 410-Sprint track-record of 10.918 that was held by Tate Harris, a NASCAR Cup driver out of Charlotte with a new record of 10.032.
It was a good night that got even better when I won the A-Feature with an entire lap lead on Justin. Compared to that weekend at Skagit, I was on fire. It took me a good hour for the adrenaline to subside and stop shaking from the thrill of the win.
Justin and I talked again after the race with Cody Bowman. Cody was twenty-one now so of course he brought us over some beer as we sat around the haulers.
“You two didgoodtonight,” Cody said hunching over a stack of rear tires lined up right outside the doors of my hauler.
Justin glared toward Cody as they didn’t get along. Not sure why. All I knew was if they were on the track together, one was trying to take the other out.
Cody left with Spencer after that to go check out a group of girls that had gathered near the gates. Though Spencer was now dating Alley on a regular basis, it didn’t stop him from eyeing the opposite sex.
Justin watched me closely as I sent a text toSwayletting her know where I had finished. I promised I would and knew that if I didn’t, she’d have my ass when I got home.
“What’s with you and Sway?” he asked patiently gauging my reaction.
“She’s my best friend,” I shrugged. “Not much to explain. It’s not what you think though.” I added.
Justin scoffed. “Yeah—sure,”
“It’s not,”
“Really?” he countered. “I see the way you watch her...she’s more to you than that. You just haven’t convinced yourself of that.”
Was she more? Well of course she was but I was also not willing to take any chances. What Sway and I had was good so why complicate it for the unknown just because I was physically attracted to her?
