chapter 40 - Being King in a car fit for a King.
Torrie couldn't believe the sheer amount of people who came up to them just to see the car and try to get Dom to show them under the hood. He refused of course. But he did it with the Toretto charm and no one seemed angry just even more curious. There were a lot of people who thought that an RX-8 was not a true sports car, just a sport compact. How wrong they were. Torrie wished they wouldn't let the extra back doors fool them. The new car was as bad ass as any other car LA would ever see.
Dom had gone all out on this car after all. His old one hadn't had a roll cage the new one did, it had a very heavy duty one at that. The new car was totally kitted out, even more then the old rex. There was a lot of speculation that the new rotary engines in the RX-8 were not as good as the J-spec series from Japan that was in the third generation RX-7 Dom use to drive.
Torrie knew the only thing to change these opinions people had was for Dom to race and kick ass. Otherwise everyone was just going to keep speculating about the performance of the car. She had no idea if Dom was racing tonight or just showing off. She hoped he raced. He was always so attentive to her right after he raced and won. It was like he was scared that other guys might try to take her away from him. As if that would ever happen. She had been wishing for this prize since she was what, 14, and she wasn't giving him up for anything.
She was standing just in front of Dom off to his left talking to Edwin when Dom wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her back against his chest. He was really going all out to make sure people knew who she was here with. Maybe he was sick and tired of hearing she was with Vince. That rumour still went around. She tipped her head back so the top of it was flat against his chest and her hair hung down between them, brushing his hands. "Sup baby?"
"Nothin'. I like how you feel there." Dom leaned down and kissed her mouth.
"Does this have anything to do with the fact that I hear I'm seeing other people all the time?"
"Nope." He answered. "I know who you're with an' that's all matters. I just don't want people to forget that either, plus I wanted an excuse to do this." He kissed her again.
"You don't hear me complainin' baby." She laughed up at him, lifted her head and leaned fully back into his warmth. "So you runnin' that bad ass car tonight, or is it just gonna sit there and look pretty?"
"No body asked me to run the car tonight." Dom said low, into her ear so that no one else could hear.
"An' no one will. You know that, you're gonna haveta tell Edwin how you wanna do it."
"I think that info is for your ears only." Dom laughed.
"Dom! You know what I mean."
"Yeah, I know what you mean. You think I should cut her lose tonight on these poor, unsuspecting racers? Kick a little ass." Dom grinned behind his girl.
"Yeah, if I had my car I'd take you up on the challenge myself."
"Oh really."
"Yeah. You owe me a race. We were supposed to race at racewars. But you raced the Tran kid instead and wrecked your car. Now I'll never get to take you in the 7 and we'll never know who woulda won." She frowned.
"Well, that's not really the end of the world is it? I mean it woulda just caused tension between us anyway to beat each other at racing right. Isn't it better to say we have no idea who's better? Then it could go either way."
"I wanted my chance to kick your ass." She laughed.
"Sweetheart, you and everyone else. I'm gettin' kinda sick of it really. So could you and I not go there? I'd rather you and I just be two people dating who both happen to race. You know, most couples who work together don't really ever go head to head." Dom frowned.
"Would racing me really bother you that much?"
"Yeah. If you beat me, I don't know if you could or not, then I'd be upset. If I beat you, you'd be mad at me for it too. Even if you think you'd be ok with it now."
"Well, maybe, but I beat Vince and he got over it." She laughed. "Or at least he let me think he is if he's not."
"Oh, he's not over anything, but he just cares about you." Dom grinned. "It won't be forever till he wants a rematch."
"Poor V. But Letty kicked Brian and Leon's butts and they're aight."
"No they aren't. But in the interest of peace in our home they're keeping their mouth shut. They'll want rematches too." Dom smiled.
"Did you mean what you said about getting sick of racing Dom?" Torrie was concerned. If Dom didn't race, what would he do? Racing was his life.
"Well, yeah, but now isn't the time to discuss it baby." Dom looked down at her.
"You can't tell me something like that and then stop talking about it. That's insane. I can't believe that. Dominic, what are you thinking?" Torrie was in shock.
"Can we talk about this after we get home? Please?" Dom was really regretting bringing it up here. He guessed he' had it coming, it was a bit of a bombshell to drop on Torrie out of no where. After all racing always had been his life, so to tell Torrie that he didn't want to do it anymore must have come as a shock. It wasn't that he was sick of racing, he was sick of being the guy that no one cared about. He was the guy that everyone wanted to beat. It wasn't a matter of racing Dom, it was a matter of trying to take his best on the street title away. He couldn't remember the last time he lost but if he was to ever loose now that would be it for him. He wouldn't be the main event anymore. If some punk beat him then it was all over.
"Sure, but you better believe we're gonna talk about it." Torrie said with a frown.
Mia walked up to them. "What has you two lookin' so serious?" Mia said. "This is supposed to be a fun night. You two are the center of attention. Everyone's watching you because they want to see Dom race and cause you two make the cutest couple." Mia grinned.
"Yeah, I can count about one hundred skanks that wanna mess my face up right now. I've got what they all want." Torrie's smile was both pleased and smug. "And I only had to bump heads with 'im every day for what, 6 months to get 'im too."
"I was playin' you all along girl. I wanted you from the beginning but I couldn't let you know that." Dom looked embarrassed at having admitted that.
"From the beginning as in the first night a saw you."
"You are full of shit Dominic Torreto. No way you wanted me when you saw me all scared and shaking, trying not to cry on your shoulder. I was the biggest loser ever and you had no interest in me other then taken' my car."
"Nope, I was gonna take your car. I knew I'd beat you. I'll admit that. But I had idea's how I was gonna let you keep your car even then." Dom gave her a wicked grin and a wink to let her know exactly what he meant. "From the moment you stood up out of that car I knew I had to have you. Then I got a good look in your eyes and I knew that you weren't the kind of girl that I could convince to 'work' off your dept the way I had in mind and I didn't want to when I looked into those big green eyes. I knew then I had a different plan in mind for ya. I didn't know I was gonna fall for you as hard as I did." Now Dom was really embarrassed to have admitted all that, and in front of Mia, Vince, Leon, and Brian at that.
Vince cheered. "He finally admitted it."
Leon looked smug. He'd known it was coming. Torrie saw the smug look on both their faces. "Yeah, well the two of you are next."
Vince gave Mia a look that was obviously supposed to be suble but was far from. Torrie shook her head. She had to find that boy a woman. Leon looked downright terrified. "Look at Leon." Torrie laughed. "He looks like he wants to find a rock to hide under. What're you Leon, a confirmed bachelor? Scared of commitment?"
"No dawg, I'm just too young to settle down girl!" That broke the tension and they all laughed. Edwin walked up to them.
"Yo Dom, how we doin' this brotha? Don't tell me you brought this car down here an' you got no intention o'letting us get a shot at it."
"Well, If I'm gonna run that car here tonight I gotta get 5 g's for the buy in Man. If you can set that up then I'm in. Oh, and try to find me some competition for a switch Bro." Dom unwrapped his arms from around Torrie and threw them out to the sides in the classic Dom, I'm the king of this world move.
"Dom, 5 g's is pretty rich man." Brian didn't know why Dom wanted to put down that kind of money on an untried car.
"I know Brian, I'm trying to bring people out to race me. It should look like after building this car we really need the money. Plus I'm getting sick of beating the same people time after time. I'd like a chance at beating someone new, someone who might be able to say up wit' me at the head of the race for more then 5 seconds." Dom said low enough for only his team to hear him.
"Good thinkin' Dawg." Leon said. "Real cleaver."
Dom smiled. "You all knew there was a reason why I was the leader of this team right?" Torrie smiled at the group in such a way that it was clear that she was hinting she was the real brains.
"Hey, we made it along fine without you girl." Dom said, laughing.
"Hey, where's Letty?" Vince asked.
"Good question." Dom looked around.
"Hey, who's that guy she's talking to?" Torrie asked. Letty was talking to a tall, built black guy beside a Purple eclipse Spyder.
"Oh shit, that's my friend Rome." Brian answered. "I caught back up with him a while back. 'Member that month I had to go on assignment and was gone away? I was doing a job with Rome. We parted ways when I came back here to be with you guys but he musta got bored in Miami." Letty was clearly interested in the new man, but she started to lead him over to the group.
AN:dundundun. Well what do you think of that development. Dom getting sick of street racing and Rome coming to visit. Is he the man for Letty. Don't you hate me for leaving you hanging there. What will Dom say about his bombshell later on? Stay tuned.
Torrie couldn't believe the sheer amount of people who came up to them just to see the car and try to get Dom to show them under the hood. He refused of course. But he did it with the Toretto charm and no one seemed angry just even more curious. There were a lot of people who thought that an RX-8 was not a true sports car, just a sport compact. How wrong they were. Torrie wished they wouldn't let the extra back doors fool them. The new car was as bad ass as any other car LA would ever see.
Dom had gone all out on this car after all. His old one hadn't had a roll cage the new one did, it had a very heavy duty one at that. The new car was totally kitted out, even more then the old rex. There was a lot of speculation that the new rotary engines in the RX-8 were not as good as the J-spec series from Japan that was in the third generation RX-7 Dom use to drive.
Torrie knew the only thing to change these opinions people had was for Dom to race and kick ass. Otherwise everyone was just going to keep speculating about the performance of the car. She had no idea if Dom was racing tonight or just showing off. She hoped he raced. He was always so attentive to her right after he raced and won. It was like he was scared that other guys might try to take her away from him. As if that would ever happen. She had been wishing for this prize since she was what, 14, and she wasn't giving him up for anything.
She was standing just in front of Dom off to his left talking to Edwin when Dom wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her back against his chest. He was really going all out to make sure people knew who she was here with. Maybe he was sick and tired of hearing she was with Vince. That rumour still went around. She tipped her head back so the top of it was flat against his chest and her hair hung down between them, brushing his hands. "Sup baby?"
"Nothin'. I like how you feel there." Dom leaned down and kissed her mouth.
"Does this have anything to do with the fact that I hear I'm seeing other people all the time?"
"Nope." He answered. "I know who you're with an' that's all matters. I just don't want people to forget that either, plus I wanted an excuse to do this." He kissed her again.
"You don't hear me complainin' baby." She laughed up at him, lifted her head and leaned fully back into his warmth. "So you runnin' that bad ass car tonight, or is it just gonna sit there and look pretty?"
"No body asked me to run the car tonight." Dom said low, into her ear so that no one else could hear.
"An' no one will. You know that, you're gonna haveta tell Edwin how you wanna do it."
"I think that info is for your ears only." Dom laughed.
"Dom! You know what I mean."
"Yeah, I know what you mean. You think I should cut her lose tonight on these poor, unsuspecting racers? Kick a little ass." Dom grinned behind his girl.
"Yeah, if I had my car I'd take you up on the challenge myself."
"Oh really."
"Yeah. You owe me a race. We were supposed to race at racewars. But you raced the Tran kid instead and wrecked your car. Now I'll never get to take you in the 7 and we'll never know who woulda won." She frowned.
"Well, that's not really the end of the world is it? I mean it woulda just caused tension between us anyway to beat each other at racing right. Isn't it better to say we have no idea who's better? Then it could go either way."
"I wanted my chance to kick your ass." She laughed.
"Sweetheart, you and everyone else. I'm gettin' kinda sick of it really. So could you and I not go there? I'd rather you and I just be two people dating who both happen to race. You know, most couples who work together don't really ever go head to head." Dom frowned.
"Would racing me really bother you that much?"
"Yeah. If you beat me, I don't know if you could or not, then I'd be upset. If I beat you, you'd be mad at me for it too. Even if you think you'd be ok with it now."
"Well, maybe, but I beat Vince and he got over it." She laughed. "Or at least he let me think he is if he's not."
"Oh, he's not over anything, but he just cares about you." Dom grinned. "It won't be forever till he wants a rematch."
"Poor V. But Letty kicked Brian and Leon's butts and they're aight."
"No they aren't. But in the interest of peace in our home they're keeping their mouth shut. They'll want rematches too." Dom smiled.
"Did you mean what you said about getting sick of racing Dom?" Torrie was concerned. If Dom didn't race, what would he do? Racing was his life.
"Well, yeah, but now isn't the time to discuss it baby." Dom looked down at her.
"You can't tell me something like that and then stop talking about it. That's insane. I can't believe that. Dominic, what are you thinking?" Torrie was in shock.
"Can we talk about this after we get home? Please?" Dom was really regretting bringing it up here. He guessed he' had it coming, it was a bit of a bombshell to drop on Torrie out of no where. After all racing always had been his life, so to tell Torrie that he didn't want to do it anymore must have come as a shock. It wasn't that he was sick of racing, he was sick of being the guy that no one cared about. He was the guy that everyone wanted to beat. It wasn't a matter of racing Dom, it was a matter of trying to take his best on the street title away. He couldn't remember the last time he lost but if he was to ever loose now that would be it for him. He wouldn't be the main event anymore. If some punk beat him then it was all over.
"Sure, but you better believe we're gonna talk about it." Torrie said with a frown.
Mia walked up to them. "What has you two lookin' so serious?" Mia said. "This is supposed to be a fun night. You two are the center of attention. Everyone's watching you because they want to see Dom race and cause you two make the cutest couple." Mia grinned.
"Yeah, I can count about one hundred skanks that wanna mess my face up right now. I've got what they all want." Torrie's smile was both pleased and smug. "And I only had to bump heads with 'im every day for what, 6 months to get 'im too."
"I was playin' you all along girl. I wanted you from the beginning but I couldn't let you know that." Dom looked embarrassed at having admitted that.
"From the beginning as in the first night a saw you."
"You are full of shit Dominic Torreto. No way you wanted me when you saw me all scared and shaking, trying not to cry on your shoulder. I was the biggest loser ever and you had no interest in me other then taken' my car."
"Nope, I was gonna take your car. I knew I'd beat you. I'll admit that. But I had idea's how I was gonna let you keep your car even then." Dom gave her a wicked grin and a wink to let her know exactly what he meant. "From the moment you stood up out of that car I knew I had to have you. Then I got a good look in your eyes and I knew that you weren't the kind of girl that I could convince to 'work' off your dept the way I had in mind and I didn't want to when I looked into those big green eyes. I knew then I had a different plan in mind for ya. I didn't know I was gonna fall for you as hard as I did." Now Dom was really embarrassed to have admitted all that, and in front of Mia, Vince, Leon, and Brian at that.
Vince cheered. "He finally admitted it."
Leon looked smug. He'd known it was coming. Torrie saw the smug look on both their faces. "Yeah, well the two of you are next."
Vince gave Mia a look that was obviously supposed to be suble but was far from. Torrie shook her head. She had to find that boy a woman. Leon looked downright terrified. "Look at Leon." Torrie laughed. "He looks like he wants to find a rock to hide under. What're you Leon, a confirmed bachelor? Scared of commitment?"
"No dawg, I'm just too young to settle down girl!" That broke the tension and they all laughed. Edwin walked up to them.
"Yo Dom, how we doin' this brotha? Don't tell me you brought this car down here an' you got no intention o'letting us get a shot at it."
"Well, If I'm gonna run that car here tonight I gotta get 5 g's for the buy in Man. If you can set that up then I'm in. Oh, and try to find me some competition for a switch Bro." Dom unwrapped his arms from around Torrie and threw them out to the sides in the classic Dom, I'm the king of this world move.
"Dom, 5 g's is pretty rich man." Brian didn't know why Dom wanted to put down that kind of money on an untried car.
"I know Brian, I'm trying to bring people out to race me. It should look like after building this car we really need the money. Plus I'm getting sick of beating the same people time after time. I'd like a chance at beating someone new, someone who might be able to say up wit' me at the head of the race for more then 5 seconds." Dom said low enough for only his team to hear him.
"Good thinkin' Dawg." Leon said. "Real cleaver."
Dom smiled. "You all knew there was a reason why I was the leader of this team right?" Torrie smiled at the group in such a way that it was clear that she was hinting she was the real brains.
"Hey, we made it along fine without you girl." Dom said, laughing.
"Hey, where's Letty?" Vince asked.
"Good question." Dom looked around.
"Hey, who's that guy she's talking to?" Torrie asked. Letty was talking to a tall, built black guy beside a Purple eclipse Spyder.
"Oh shit, that's my friend Rome." Brian answered. "I caught back up with him a while back. 'Member that month I had to go on assignment and was gone away? I was doing a job with Rome. We parted ways when I came back here to be with you guys but he musta got bored in Miami." Letty was clearly interested in the new man, but she started to lead him over to the group.
AN:dundundun. Well what do you think of that development. Dom getting sick of street racing and Rome coming to visit. Is he the man for Letty. Don't you hate me for leaving you hanging there. What will Dom say about his bombshell later on? Stay tuned.