*Mel's POV*
"Dominic, you have to stop, we're leaving in two hours and we both have to get ready!" I tried to push Dominic off of me while he was trying to make a move by kissing my collarbone. He only snickered and carried on, nonplussed by attempts to reject him. I'd been nice all week, since I'd missed his touch and kisses so much… that morning that I woke up with all of my memories intact, the only thing I could really think of was that Dom and I hadn't seen each other in so long… I missed it.
"You weren't complaining yesterday…how's today different?" He asked looking at me with his eyes full of mock curiosity and innocence.
"Well, the difference is that I didn't have to get dressed to go anywhere yesterday. All we did was have dinner and watch a movie with the team."
Dom growled in a low baritone and whispered into my ear, "You most certainly didn't have to get dressed…"
I sighed and pushed him off. "You're cute Romeo…but not that cute…go on, get dressed in Jesse's room, he's not here tonight."
"What do you mean he's not here? Where is he? And why can't I change in here?"
"He went out with Kat, he's going to meet us by the shop so that we can still do the formation thing. You can't change in here because I'll be changing, and you're going to be breathing down my neck to finish up quickly. Besides, Letty and Mia are going to be in here too since we always borrow each other's makeup."
"Ew."
"What?"
"Letty naked…I've known her for so long it'd be like Vince giving me a lap dance."
"Mental picture, Dominic!!!! Get out before I think of anything else you and Vince could be doing together!"
"You're nasty, you know that?"
I glared at him (the glare that Letty taught me to use around the guys when they were being annoying) and threw a pillow at his head. "OUT!!"
Dom held his hands up in defeat and backed out of the room, only to return a half of a second later. He grinned sheepishly. "Forgot my clothes…"
I watched him until he was out and had closed the door behind him, chuckling a little bit at his actions. Turning around, I moved to the closet so that I could pick out my outfit for the night. I'd been considering my tight black jeans with red and orange flames riding up around the bottom and a chain dangling along my side, along with a black halter-top that showed off just a little bit of my stomach, mainly as something to go along with the new paint job and decals that I'd just given my latest car, a rescued Skyline. I rummaged around the small space that was occupied mostly with my things and pulled my pants out. As I reached for the shirt, I caught the sight of a purple sleeve hanging out of my wardrobe. Oh shit! I'd forgotten to tell Dom about Kat's brother.
Running to the door, I realized that I was still in my underwear and Dominic's old work shirt. I slipped on the jeans and made a mad dash to Jesse's room once again.
"Hey Dom, I completely forgot to tell you that…oh my." I'd walked in on Dominic. Dominic was wearing boxers and nothing more, and he looked up at me when I came in with a real innocent look in his eyes.
"You have to stop doing that, Dominic."
"Doing what?" he asked with a look of curiosity striking his sweet features.
"Showing off your body. How do you expect me to keep my hands off of you?" I grinned at him as I trailed my eyes down his rippling chest, all the way down to his rock hard abs.
He prowled over and grabbed hold of my waist, pulling me closer to him. "Why'd you come here if you didn't want me, princess?" he growled.
"Oh, that's right! I almost forgot again, thanks for reminding me, Dommy!" Dom dropped his hands and started to curse in Italian while I continued, "Kat called a little earlier and told me that her older brother would be coming with us. His name's Paxton, and from what I've heard, he could be as strong as you."
"'Kay, I guess we'll meet him later, and I'll see just how strong he is!"
I waved my finger at him in warning as I walked out of the room, "Be nice!"
***
One hour later, the guys were yelling for Mia, Letty, and me to come down while we were still putting on makeup. I had my hair down and straightened, the red streaks in my hair standing out amongst the natural chocolate color I was born with. I was pretty much finished; I was just waiting for Mia and Letty to finish up (and being a pain in the ass to the group of impatient men below). Letty was wearing black leather pants and a deep red shirt that showed almost as much cleavage as it did stomach. Her hair was flowing down in the usual dark cascades. Leon would once again be fighting his wife's admirers off with a stick. Finally, Mia had on a pair of tight jeans with a gold chain belt and a brown shirt that matched the sandy tint on the jeans. Letty slipped her wedding ring back on as we all walked down the stairs.
As always, we bumped into appreciative whistles and catcalls from the so-called men of the house.
"Alright, alright! Guys, I know you like to see me, but it's so rude to whistle like that for me! What about Let and Mia?" I asked, letting Dom pull me closer to him.
We went into our cars, Letty calling from a few feet away, "Yeah, Mel, you think they were cheering for you, don't ya?"
I flipped her off in a loving, sisterly, and sincere manner while I called for everyone's attention.
"Hey! You guys remember that piece of tin shit I was working on in DT?" I meandered over to a car that was covered with a white cloth.
"Wait, don't tell me…you oiled the hinges?" Vince guffawed, causing a few more laughs to erupt among the group.
"That's funny, V, but I did a little more than oil the hinges. Look!" I pulled off the cover in a flourish and revealed my brand new Skyline, fully souped-up and ready to go.
I watched the faces drop and noticed Dom wandering over to see my latest best friend. "Okay, guys, quit drooling and let's go! I want to see everyone else's face when they see my baby!"
***
We drove up to the shop, flooding three figures with light. The first two were familiar- Kat and Jess, and the other was completely foreign, probably Paxton.
The team got out to start the introductions and plan out the night's activities.
"Hey guys, this is my big brother, Paxton Romeo Lopez. Pax, this is the team. Dom, Melanie, Letty, Leon, Mia, Brian, and Vince."
Beside me, I heard Letty mutter, "¡El Oh mi dios, ese hombre es tan fino!"
"You're a married woman!" I whispered back.
"You're telling me that he's not gorgeous?" she asked.
"Good point," I replied, as Dom went up to Paxton and started talking.
"What's up Pax? How come I've never seen you around here?" He asked.
"I usually just keep to myself… I don't really know anyone here," Pax answered, looking at the ground.
Letty joined into the conversation, saying, "Pax? They should call you Pecks, look at you!"
Mia laughed from her spot, standing next to Brian.
Dom looked upset as he faced Letty. "Why won't you call me Pecks? I got muscles!"
"Is your name Paxton? Would it be witty if we called you 'Pecks' for no reason?" I questioned, following Letty's lead.
"No…" Dom mumbled.
"Point taken?" I asked again.
"Yes…"
"Good. All right guys, let's go before we miss the races entirely! Come on, we've got bills to pay!" I called out, herding everyone into his or her vehicle.
***
It was like parting the seas when we drove in with two extra cars at the rear. Everyone into street racing knew we were formidable, and Kat and Pax just made us look even more so.
The same routine ensued, Dominic stepping out of his RX-7 as though he were God's gift to cars, then us following, usually to chase off the skanks that attached themselves to Dom's arms like leeches. This time, however, he did something completely unexpected. He brushed them off without a word from anyone on the team and doubled back to where I was standing, throwing a sinewy arm around my waist.
"You look too hot in that outfit… how about I cool you down?" He whispered.
"Dominic, look! You race, you rock, you win! All of those cars, dying for an opponent… remember that?" I asked him, indicating the mob around us, full of kids from every walk of life. "Dom, you've still got a race to win, you know that. Go on, Dommy, do your thing, then let me do mine, and we'll both be very happy at the end of the night, I promise." I hugged him tight and left a kiss lingering on his cheek.
Dom pulled back for a second. "Wait, you didn't tell me you wanted to go tonight. Are you racing?"
"Yeah, I was hoping I could, since I just finished off that Skyline."
"About that…"
"Yeah?"
"I wanted to tell you that I thought you did a really nice job putting it together. It looks great, Melanie."
"Thank you, Dom! Oh…and thanks for taking me in all those years back when I was still a newbie. I owe you," I replied, blushing. I wasn't exactly used to compliments, or at least I didn't respond to them well.
"Aiight, come on, we'll talk to Hector and put you in," he said, grabbing my hand and pulling me towards Hector's crew. "Oh, and I want to talk to later, okay? It's important."
I nodded, "Of course." Not to jump to conclusions, but I think I heard wedding bells…
***
After putting in my $2,000, I wandered off to join Mia, Letty, and Kat, huddled together and talking about none other than the 'men' in their life.
"Ha! They call themselves men, they're just boys!" Kat said with a dry laugh.
"Oh, I know," Mia chirped, "the other day when I went to ask one of them to help me with the dishes, I caught them playing some old video game."
"But they always do that Mi. It's childish, but then again we play too," I offered.
"They were wearing old t-shirts! Brian had a shirt with the Superman symbol on it! I was so close to asking them if they'd finished their homework!"
"Oh, that's nothing Mia! The other day when I went to ask Leon to make the bed for me, he folded his arms across the chest and shook his head. He looked like he was gonna have a temper-tantrum!"
We chortled as Leon passed by us, giving us an odd look.
"Yeah, okay, you think those are bad! You know how little kids poke you non-stop if they want something? Dom wanted something! I told him he'd get a time-out! His face was so funny when I said that!"
Letty choked out, "I bet they'd all prefer spanking!"
I backed away from her and (tried) to look her in the face solemnly. "Leticia Santos, what you do in your own room is your business. Believe me when I say I don't want to hear about what you and Leon do when you're alone, girl!"
We all busted out laughing at that, getting even more odd looks from people around us. I turned my head to the side and a man standing by a gold Honda Civic caught my eye. He was just standing there watching us. I motioned for the other girls to quiet down and we all looked casually in his direction, only to see him being swallowed up by a group of seven girls and one more man, all of whom were just a bit dangerous-looking. These weren't just the usual race whores, these women actually looked… capable of thought, not to mention the well-built men they surrounded.
"They're probably a new team…" Kat thought out loud, following them with her eyes as the first man moved to where Dominic was standing.
From where I was sitting, I noticed something in Dominic tense up and he turned around, meeting the stranger face to face. I moved to go to Dom, with the others behind me.
"Look, man, I can't do that, my girl's racing and we're going to be done for the night. Come back next week," Dom was already arguing with the newcomer, a bad sign for the latter.
"Are you afraid of me?" Everyone who heard that must've broken a rib at this guys' boldness. Everyone was afraid of Dom; Dom was afraid of no one, according to the streets.
"Am I afraid of you? What, do you do drugs too? I'm, sorry, kid, but I don't race no druggies. Why should I be afraid of you?"
"My car might be faster."
"It's not how fast your car is, it's the skill of the person in it, son." The crowd that had now gathered was nodding at Dominic's wisdom. If anything, a fight would break out between the two and they'd get their free entertainment.
"Then I have more skill than you." Shouts of "Idiot!" and "Asswipe!" were heard through the crowd.
"I can tell just by looking at you, you don't. Look, I told you that I'd race you, but not tonight. Now I'm not sure if you're even worthy of taking me on. Just keep talking and you're gone."
"I want a race now, Toretto."
Dom opened his mouth to speak, but I stepped in before him. "You've got balls kid. What do you say, Dom? I'll pass up the Skyline's introduction if you take this loser on and show him how a real racer does it." Dom grinned at me in approval. "Does everyone agree on the new terms? Good. I guess you two should place a number on the buy-in. I'll wait right here so that I hear what you're putting down. Besides, of course," I glanced at Mr. Newbie, "your dignity. What did you say your name was?"
"It's Chris. That's all you need to know now."
I raised my eyebrows at him, questioning his rude behavior and passed back into the crowd, pushing my way through to Mia and the others, who had already grabbed spots right by the starting point.
Dom pulled up right next to where his supporters were standing, giving me a grin before turning away to boost up his CD's. Before he turned back, I was standing by his side, leaning in through the window.
"Come to wish me good luck, Mel?"
I laughed, "You don't need luck, Dominic Toretto. I came to give you a kiss and show my support. All of that lovely crap."
He smirked as I kissed his cheek lightly and went back to the group while Chris pulled up in a green Ford GT90, oblivious to the taunting crowd around him. All eyes were on Hector as he stood at the head of the roaring machines, and those same eyes followed his arms as they fell to his side, signaling for the cars to go.
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TBC
What do you think, peoples? I miss my lovely reviewers! lol