Chapter 41 - He's lost his edge
Letty stopped beside Leon and Jesse and started to introduce Rome around. Rome had still yet to notice Brian. Brian walked over to his friend who was standing beside Letty.
"Rome! How you been Dude?" Brian and his friend hit their closed fists together.
"Brian, lord, how you been." Rome smiled at his friend.
"Oh great. I been great Man. You?"
"Miami got boring with out you Bro." Rome answered. "Suki, Taj and Jimmy said to say hi if I saw you. Oh, and Taj wanted you to know your skyline is all fixed up and if you want it back just let him know, if not just tell him to sell it for you."
"How do you two know each other?" Letty asked. She was kind of miffed off that Rome knew Brian because she thought she would be the only one the new man knew.
"We grew up together." Brian answered. "Let me introduce you around." Brian told Rome. "This is Leon, our resident Skyline owner, I better let Taj sell the skyline or Leon might kill me. It's a 99 GT-R." Brian answered Leon's unspoken question. "That's Jesse, the Mad Scientist, the guy I told you that's a better mechanic then Jimmy, this is Vince," Brian didn't have anything else to add about Vince, what could he say, we try not to kill each other to this day. "This is Mia, the girl I told you I loved so much I had to not take you up on your offer of starting our own garage, you seem to know Letty, This is Dom, 'the guy', the team leader, and last but not least is his girl Torrie, the one I told you about."
"That sounds ominous." Torrie laughed from her position against Dom. "All good I hope?"
"Of course." Brian smiled.
"Nice to meet you Rome." Dom held out a hand for the man to shake.
"Same Bro." Rome shook Dom's hand. "So, what's a brotha gotta do to get hooked up 'round here?" Rome asked Brian.
"You wanna race tonight dude?" Brian asked him.
"Hell Yeah. I'm here to have a good time. Jimmy's been beefing up the Spyder for me. I think it can run with the big boys now."
"Well, if you think you can handle it, you can run me." Dom said with a smile. "I'm testing out my new car tonight. It'll cost ya 5 g's. I assume that they'll be two others in on it." Dom couldn't resist the chance to race some new blood.
"Rome, can I talk to you for a second." Brian took Rome off before he could answer Dom's challenge. Dom frowned. He knew Brian was warning his friend off of the race. By the look on Rome's face he wasn't going to take that advice.
"Rome, he's crazy fast. That RX-8 he's runnin has the best of everything. He probably has like 30 grand under the hood alone on that car. You'll likely lose."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence Bro. I'm glad to know you've got faith in me."
"It's not that Rome, I've got faith in you. You could likely take anyone else here. But not Dom. Dom's the king of LA. He didn't get that title by losing races."
"I'm sure he didn't but every king has his downfall, or passes on his crown." Rome smiled. "How do you know it's not time for Dom to pass his on?"
"I don't, but if he wants to beat you, unless he has car trouble, he's gonna beat you."
"Well, you think so Brian, I got 5 grand that says I have a great shot against 'im."
"It's your money. You can waste it if you wanna." Brian frowned. "Don't say I didn't warn ya, and don't blow up at me or him if you lose."
"No sweat Bro." They walked back over to the team. Edwin was now standing beside Dom and Torrie. "I'm in." Rome gave 5 grand to Dom who handed it to Hector.
"Ok, Edwin, who else did ya get?" Dom asked.
"Well, I got Hector's cousin and, well, Ricky Tran wants in." Edwin said, ready to run. "But I didn't take his money, cause, well,...I wanted to run it by you first." Edwin waited for Dom to blow up.
"Cause he cheats like a sonofabitch?" Dom asked with a snarl. Torrie felt his body go tense. "Oh I want his money real bad. He's in. Make sure he's on the other side of the line from me or he's a dead man though." Dom's big body was quivering against Torrie's back. She could feel the rage pouring off him in waves. Vince also had a murderous look on his face.
"No way Dominic Torreto. You are certainly not racing that mad man again. We just got your car fixed and you were seconds away from dead after last time." Torrie had turned to face Dom and she was saying her piece in a voice low enough only the team heard her but in a tone cast in steel.
"I'ma race this asshole Torrie, and I'ma win." Dom said with even more steel in his voice then she'd had in hers. "He took my Rex away from me and he almost took my life. My Dad bought me that car for my 17th birthday and I don't have it any more because of this guy. He tried to kill me and I can't pound the shit outa him or I go back to jail. I can take his 5 grand and I'ma do it."
Torrie knew there'd be no talking to him when he got that look on his face. "Well, I'd really rather you didn't. But if you think you should..." Torrie walked away from him. She needed to calm down and it wasn't happening if she had to look at Dom and know he was going to race Tran, again. She was walking away toward some girls she knew from school who happened to be there that night. She needed to calm down.
"Hey guys." Torrie said to the girls.
"Oh hey Torrie." Caitlin said. They'd been friends in school but they'd lost touch since everything had changed for Torrie after school was over. "What have you been up to since school?"
"Not much. I moved'n shit so I haven't been around." Torrie told the other girls.
"Yeah, we noticed. Whatoya doin' for a livin' these days? Or are you in school?" Torrie knew the other girl was being catty but it was still better then being around Dom while he risked his life. Plus she knew these girls hadn't been around racing much since they use to sneek down as a group in high school.
"Well I'm runnin' my dad's store and working for Dom in his garage. Naw, I gave up on school. Dom keeps me pretty busy. Workin' in the garage and keepin' his ass outa trouble." She grinned. "He's gonna run his new car we just built together here tonight."
The girls looked very pissed but recovered quickly. Caitlin continued. "You work for Dom now do you? So you did end up a grease monkey. We all figured you would. You and your dad were always workin' on some car."
"I work for Dom, live with Dom.I'm wit Dom if you get my drift." Torrie knew they'd gotten it before but she wanted to run their noses in it. "It's kinda funny how you always thought if any of us was gonna end up wit him it'd be you Cait, but nope, it's me he comes home to at night." Torrie smiled like the Cheshire cat.
Caitlin was about to get nasty when a big guy with lots of tattoos walked up behind Torrie. Caitlin was momentarily stunned by how sexy this guy was.
"Torrie, girl, can we talk?"
"Sure V, what's up?"
So this was Dom's friend Vince. They'd all heard of him too and it seemed that he and Torrie were also tight. They always figured that Torrie's dad would find out she was playing around races and get in trouble and that would be the end of her street racing career. Of course she'd never gotten to race and they'd never gotten close enough to Dom for him to notice them. But Caitlin had always figured Torrie would get caught, her dad would lay down the law and one of the other girls would end up with Dom. Plus it was well known that Dom liked a woman with a full figure. And in their group the one that fit the bill was Caitlin. Torrie didn't fit the bill. But if she was this tight with Vince she may not be lying about her involvement with Torreto.
"Well, I'd like ta talk to you about it in private."
"Sure V. Well Ladies, nice to catch up wit you, I'm sure I'll see ya around, we never miss a race night so I'm always around. Come say hi sometime and I'll introduce you to my boy." She smiled again and walked away with Vince.
"What's up V?"
"You gotta go talk to Dom girl. He needs you right now. He's scareda racin' Tran. He needs your support right now. You know he'll never admit it. You don't really want him goin' into this race thinkin' you're mad at 'im."
"I can't support him doin' somethin' I don't think he should be doin' V."
"Yeah, you can. Dom races Torr. You knew that from the get go. Racin's dangerous. Dom needs you by his side right now. You should be able to see that."
"Aight Vince. I'll go pretend that I'm not scared outa my mind."
"You'll just be doin' what we're all doin' right now girl. Dom, all of us, always thought we were immortal, now it's been brought home just how mortal we got the chance to be."
"Deep V. Real deep."
"I can be smart sometimes ya know. I'm not as dumb as people think I am." Vince said with a frown.
Torrie grabbed Vince around the waist. "You're not dumb at all V and I never though you were. Anyone calls you that around me's getting an attitude adjustment." Torrie knew Vince was far from dumb. "You're my boy and I don't roll wit' dumb people. That's why the bitch patrol an I aren't friends any more."
"Aw, thanks Torrie. That means a lot to me. Now let's go back before everyone sees us and thinks I'm goin' soft on 'em."
"Oh Vince," She laughed. "Only you would be more concerned about people thinking you were soft then dumb." Vince laughed and they started back toward the team.
Dom watched Vince lead Torrie back to the assembled group with his arm around her waist. She was leaning into Vince's side and Dom had to school himself not to be jealous of his friend. Despite what he told Torrie earlier about not caring what he heard go around it did bother him to hear people say she was seeing Vince. God Damn it she was seeing him. He was the one people came to racing to see and no one should think his girl was here with another man. But if he said anything about it then Torrie would just end up pissed at him for not trusting her or for thinking she was in fact seeing Vince. And they'd been down that road, he had no desire to revisit it. He knew she wasn't but it was hard on the pride for others to think she was.
It had gotten better since wars when she'd fought off Tony to try to rescue him from the car. People had started to realize that she must really care about him if she'd gone through that for him. Then people saw her with her arm around Vince and Vince returning the favour and they assumed that there was something there. But Dom had no idea what he could do about it. It was partially his fault they got so close, Vince was always kind to Torrie, even while Dom was acting like an ass. It made sense she'd turn to the friendly face. But now that was in the past. Dom didn't know how to get to the place where she'd look at him the way she looked at Vince. Dom instinctively knew if she had a personal issue it'd be Vince she went to first, not him. She'd gotten more understanding from Vince then she'd gotten from him and he'd almost taught her that he couldn't be trusted not to explode at her.
He was doing his best to turn that around, but it was gonna take time. He'd give anything to oblige her and not race Tran but that fucker had it coming and Dom couldn't back down from his challenge. He'd die before he let Tran think he was some kind of coward, and scared to race him. Torrie had to see that. Besides Tran was the most competition he'd seen in a while. The kid had stuck with him at race wars. The only person Dom had raced that day that had been able to stick to him at the front had been Tran. Dom didn't know about Brian's friend Rome, but he knew Tran would give him some excitement. Dom saw Torrie and Vince talking in animated tones on their way back over to the group. He was glad that Torrie got along with his friends but he wished that she'd put her total trust in him.
Vince and Torrie arrived at the gathering of the team. Torrie knew what Vince wanted her to do, she didn't just didn't know how to do it. How was she supposed to pretend she thought this was a good idea? She didn't feel that way at all. And Dom knew when she lied. It was like he had some sort of window into her soul. It scared the hell out of her. She could hide stuff from him but she couldn't outright lie to him. He caught her every time. Well, she guessed she didn't really have to tell him she wanted him to do this in order to support him. She walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. He wrapped his arms loosely around her waist instinctively.
"I don't agree wit you doin' this. But I understand why you feel you need to and I'll be at the finish cheering your win just like I always am." Torrie stated with a serious look up into Dom's face.
"Have I told you I love you lately?" Dom asked, brushing a strand of hair off her face and behind her ear.
"Nope, wanted to jump me and drag me off to a private place, yes. Care about me, Yes. Love me, not lately." She smiled.
"Well I do. I don't say it enough to keep girls happy I know, it's hard for me to find the words, but I do love you Torrie."
"I know." She answered simply. "And I love you too which is why I would rather you didn't feel the need to do this. However, I see that your pride says that you need to beat the asshole that tried to kill you. I just think that you need to be really really careful here. Tran has already proven he can't be trusted. And what would happen if he did something stupid and ended up causing an accident down here? at least race wars is legal, this is illegal and if the cops have to be called and they can prove that anything that happens happened while you were racing then everyone they catch could end up in jail. You know that right?"
"I know but by the time that little punk is off the line I'll be so far out ahead of him he'll never see anything but my tail lights."
"Hope so baby." She turned her head to the side and with her arms still around his neck rested the side of her face over his heartbeat.
"I'll be fine." Dom kissed the crown of her head. The team looked on with smiles. Seeing Dom playing the devoted boyfriend was strange. With Letty it had always been fire and ice. Either they were passionately kissing or passionately fighting or they were being so frosty to each other it was painful to watch. With Torrie there could be the fiery passion or there could be a slow burn of caring that came out in how they could just be together without being all over each other.
Rome leaned over to Brian. "That's your fierce racer? The one kissing the top of the girls head?" Rome laughed. "Peicea cake."
"Don't count on it Rome. Just cause he loves Torrie doesn't mean he can't race." Brian laughed. "You're in for a rude awakening."
"Maybe but I think once a guy settles down to one girl he loses his edge. What's he racin' fo'? Not for the admiration of the ladies anymore, not to have his pick of the girls. He can't even flirt with 'em anymore." Rome smiled. "If he's ready to settle down then he's lost his edge. He's gettin' old."
"He's no older then us dude. And he races because he's got NOS for blood. Dom can't not race. His dad was a racer on the pro stock car circuit and it's all Dom's ever known. He races to be the King of LA. And he is. And he'll retire that way someday. He's not gonna lose to you tonight Rome. And you're just jealous that he has a girl like Torrie cheering him on at the finish." Brian laughed.
"No way. Besides that girl Letty is more my style."
"She's Dom's Ex." Brian grinned at the look on Rome's face.
"He lets his ex hang around his new girl?"
"Well, he's known her since she was 10, what's he gonna do, send her away? Besides Torrie and Letty are friends now. Just don't fuck with Letty. If she doesn't mess you up herself Dom will."
Rome nodded, filing away that info on Letty.
"Let's do this." Edwin said. He had his 4 racers now. Torrie looked up at Dom.
"I'll be fine baby girl. I swear to you I'ma win, and I'ma come back in one piece."
"You better. I'm not helping you build another car. And you're not getting any sort of discount no matter how hard you sweat for it ever again." She smiled at her own Joke and Dom kissed her on the lips.
"You're too good to me."
"I know. Saddle up cowboy, it's time to ride." She released his neck and he got in his car. He rolled down the window. Normally she'd catch a ride to the line with Vince or Leon at this point.
"Get in, you can ride to the line with me."
"aight." She got in the car and they squealed off. True to his word Edwin had Tran on the far left of the road and Dominic on the far right. That's where Dom liked to break off the line from. Next to Dom was Rome, then Hector's cousin Roul. Roul was no competition. Dom had no idea about Brian's boy, but he knew Tran had inherited the same speed his older brother had had.
Letty stopped beside Leon and Jesse and started to introduce Rome around. Rome had still yet to notice Brian. Brian walked over to his friend who was standing beside Letty.
"Rome! How you been Dude?" Brian and his friend hit their closed fists together.
"Brian, lord, how you been." Rome smiled at his friend.
"Oh great. I been great Man. You?"
"Miami got boring with out you Bro." Rome answered. "Suki, Taj and Jimmy said to say hi if I saw you. Oh, and Taj wanted you to know your skyline is all fixed up and if you want it back just let him know, if not just tell him to sell it for you."
"How do you two know each other?" Letty asked. She was kind of miffed off that Rome knew Brian because she thought she would be the only one the new man knew.
"We grew up together." Brian answered. "Let me introduce you around." Brian told Rome. "This is Leon, our resident Skyline owner, I better let Taj sell the skyline or Leon might kill me. It's a 99 GT-R." Brian answered Leon's unspoken question. "That's Jesse, the Mad Scientist, the guy I told you that's a better mechanic then Jimmy, this is Vince," Brian didn't have anything else to add about Vince, what could he say, we try not to kill each other to this day. "This is Mia, the girl I told you I loved so much I had to not take you up on your offer of starting our own garage, you seem to know Letty, This is Dom, 'the guy', the team leader, and last but not least is his girl Torrie, the one I told you about."
"That sounds ominous." Torrie laughed from her position against Dom. "All good I hope?"
"Of course." Brian smiled.
"Nice to meet you Rome." Dom held out a hand for the man to shake.
"Same Bro." Rome shook Dom's hand. "So, what's a brotha gotta do to get hooked up 'round here?" Rome asked Brian.
"You wanna race tonight dude?" Brian asked him.
"Hell Yeah. I'm here to have a good time. Jimmy's been beefing up the Spyder for me. I think it can run with the big boys now."
"Well, if you think you can handle it, you can run me." Dom said with a smile. "I'm testing out my new car tonight. It'll cost ya 5 g's. I assume that they'll be two others in on it." Dom couldn't resist the chance to race some new blood.
"Rome, can I talk to you for a second." Brian took Rome off before he could answer Dom's challenge. Dom frowned. He knew Brian was warning his friend off of the race. By the look on Rome's face he wasn't going to take that advice.
"Rome, he's crazy fast. That RX-8 he's runnin has the best of everything. He probably has like 30 grand under the hood alone on that car. You'll likely lose."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence Bro. I'm glad to know you've got faith in me."
"It's not that Rome, I've got faith in you. You could likely take anyone else here. But not Dom. Dom's the king of LA. He didn't get that title by losing races."
"I'm sure he didn't but every king has his downfall, or passes on his crown." Rome smiled. "How do you know it's not time for Dom to pass his on?"
"I don't, but if he wants to beat you, unless he has car trouble, he's gonna beat you."
"Well, you think so Brian, I got 5 grand that says I have a great shot against 'im."
"It's your money. You can waste it if you wanna." Brian frowned. "Don't say I didn't warn ya, and don't blow up at me or him if you lose."
"No sweat Bro." They walked back over to the team. Edwin was now standing beside Dom and Torrie. "I'm in." Rome gave 5 grand to Dom who handed it to Hector.
"Ok, Edwin, who else did ya get?" Dom asked.
"Well, I got Hector's cousin and, well, Ricky Tran wants in." Edwin said, ready to run. "But I didn't take his money, cause, well,...I wanted to run it by you first." Edwin waited for Dom to blow up.
"Cause he cheats like a sonofabitch?" Dom asked with a snarl. Torrie felt his body go tense. "Oh I want his money real bad. He's in. Make sure he's on the other side of the line from me or he's a dead man though." Dom's big body was quivering against Torrie's back. She could feel the rage pouring off him in waves. Vince also had a murderous look on his face.
"No way Dominic Torreto. You are certainly not racing that mad man again. We just got your car fixed and you were seconds away from dead after last time." Torrie had turned to face Dom and she was saying her piece in a voice low enough only the team heard her but in a tone cast in steel.
"I'ma race this asshole Torrie, and I'ma win." Dom said with even more steel in his voice then she'd had in hers. "He took my Rex away from me and he almost took my life. My Dad bought me that car for my 17th birthday and I don't have it any more because of this guy. He tried to kill me and I can't pound the shit outa him or I go back to jail. I can take his 5 grand and I'ma do it."
Torrie knew there'd be no talking to him when he got that look on his face. "Well, I'd really rather you didn't. But if you think you should..." Torrie walked away from him. She needed to calm down and it wasn't happening if she had to look at Dom and know he was going to race Tran, again. She was walking away toward some girls she knew from school who happened to be there that night. She needed to calm down.
"Hey guys." Torrie said to the girls.
"Oh hey Torrie." Caitlin said. They'd been friends in school but they'd lost touch since everything had changed for Torrie after school was over. "What have you been up to since school?"
"Not much. I moved'n shit so I haven't been around." Torrie told the other girls.
"Yeah, we noticed. Whatoya doin' for a livin' these days? Or are you in school?" Torrie knew the other girl was being catty but it was still better then being around Dom while he risked his life. Plus she knew these girls hadn't been around racing much since they use to sneek down as a group in high school.
"Well I'm runnin' my dad's store and working for Dom in his garage. Naw, I gave up on school. Dom keeps me pretty busy. Workin' in the garage and keepin' his ass outa trouble." She grinned. "He's gonna run his new car we just built together here tonight."
The girls looked very pissed but recovered quickly. Caitlin continued. "You work for Dom now do you? So you did end up a grease monkey. We all figured you would. You and your dad were always workin' on some car."
"I work for Dom, live with Dom.I'm wit Dom if you get my drift." Torrie knew they'd gotten it before but she wanted to run their noses in it. "It's kinda funny how you always thought if any of us was gonna end up wit him it'd be you Cait, but nope, it's me he comes home to at night." Torrie smiled like the Cheshire cat.
Caitlin was about to get nasty when a big guy with lots of tattoos walked up behind Torrie. Caitlin was momentarily stunned by how sexy this guy was.
"Torrie, girl, can we talk?"
"Sure V, what's up?"
So this was Dom's friend Vince. They'd all heard of him too and it seemed that he and Torrie were also tight. They always figured that Torrie's dad would find out she was playing around races and get in trouble and that would be the end of her street racing career. Of course she'd never gotten to race and they'd never gotten close enough to Dom for him to notice them. But Caitlin had always figured Torrie would get caught, her dad would lay down the law and one of the other girls would end up with Dom. Plus it was well known that Dom liked a woman with a full figure. And in their group the one that fit the bill was Caitlin. Torrie didn't fit the bill. But if she was this tight with Vince she may not be lying about her involvement with Torreto.
"Well, I'd like ta talk to you about it in private."
"Sure V. Well Ladies, nice to catch up wit you, I'm sure I'll see ya around, we never miss a race night so I'm always around. Come say hi sometime and I'll introduce you to my boy." She smiled again and walked away with Vince.
"What's up V?"
"You gotta go talk to Dom girl. He needs you right now. He's scareda racin' Tran. He needs your support right now. You know he'll never admit it. You don't really want him goin' into this race thinkin' you're mad at 'im."
"I can't support him doin' somethin' I don't think he should be doin' V."
"Yeah, you can. Dom races Torr. You knew that from the get go. Racin's dangerous. Dom needs you by his side right now. You should be able to see that."
"Aight Vince. I'll go pretend that I'm not scared outa my mind."
"You'll just be doin' what we're all doin' right now girl. Dom, all of us, always thought we were immortal, now it's been brought home just how mortal we got the chance to be."
"Deep V. Real deep."
"I can be smart sometimes ya know. I'm not as dumb as people think I am." Vince said with a frown.
Torrie grabbed Vince around the waist. "You're not dumb at all V and I never though you were. Anyone calls you that around me's getting an attitude adjustment." Torrie knew Vince was far from dumb. "You're my boy and I don't roll wit' dumb people. That's why the bitch patrol an I aren't friends any more."
"Aw, thanks Torrie. That means a lot to me. Now let's go back before everyone sees us and thinks I'm goin' soft on 'em."
"Oh Vince," She laughed. "Only you would be more concerned about people thinking you were soft then dumb." Vince laughed and they started back toward the team.
Dom watched Vince lead Torrie back to the assembled group with his arm around her waist. She was leaning into Vince's side and Dom had to school himself not to be jealous of his friend. Despite what he told Torrie earlier about not caring what he heard go around it did bother him to hear people say she was seeing Vince. God Damn it she was seeing him. He was the one people came to racing to see and no one should think his girl was here with another man. But if he said anything about it then Torrie would just end up pissed at him for not trusting her or for thinking she was in fact seeing Vince. And they'd been down that road, he had no desire to revisit it. He knew she wasn't but it was hard on the pride for others to think she was.
It had gotten better since wars when she'd fought off Tony to try to rescue him from the car. People had started to realize that she must really care about him if she'd gone through that for him. Then people saw her with her arm around Vince and Vince returning the favour and they assumed that there was something there. But Dom had no idea what he could do about it. It was partially his fault they got so close, Vince was always kind to Torrie, even while Dom was acting like an ass. It made sense she'd turn to the friendly face. But now that was in the past. Dom didn't know how to get to the place where she'd look at him the way she looked at Vince. Dom instinctively knew if she had a personal issue it'd be Vince she went to first, not him. She'd gotten more understanding from Vince then she'd gotten from him and he'd almost taught her that he couldn't be trusted not to explode at her.
He was doing his best to turn that around, but it was gonna take time. He'd give anything to oblige her and not race Tran but that fucker had it coming and Dom couldn't back down from his challenge. He'd die before he let Tran think he was some kind of coward, and scared to race him. Torrie had to see that. Besides Tran was the most competition he'd seen in a while. The kid had stuck with him at race wars. The only person Dom had raced that day that had been able to stick to him at the front had been Tran. Dom didn't know about Brian's friend Rome, but he knew Tran would give him some excitement. Dom saw Torrie and Vince talking in animated tones on their way back over to the group. He was glad that Torrie got along with his friends but he wished that she'd put her total trust in him.
Vince and Torrie arrived at the gathering of the team. Torrie knew what Vince wanted her to do, she didn't just didn't know how to do it. How was she supposed to pretend she thought this was a good idea? She didn't feel that way at all. And Dom knew when she lied. It was like he had some sort of window into her soul. It scared the hell out of her. She could hide stuff from him but she couldn't outright lie to him. He caught her every time. Well, she guessed she didn't really have to tell him she wanted him to do this in order to support him. She walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. He wrapped his arms loosely around her waist instinctively.
"I don't agree wit you doin' this. But I understand why you feel you need to and I'll be at the finish cheering your win just like I always am." Torrie stated with a serious look up into Dom's face.
"Have I told you I love you lately?" Dom asked, brushing a strand of hair off her face and behind her ear.
"Nope, wanted to jump me and drag me off to a private place, yes. Care about me, Yes. Love me, not lately." She smiled.
"Well I do. I don't say it enough to keep girls happy I know, it's hard for me to find the words, but I do love you Torrie."
"I know." She answered simply. "And I love you too which is why I would rather you didn't feel the need to do this. However, I see that your pride says that you need to beat the asshole that tried to kill you. I just think that you need to be really really careful here. Tran has already proven he can't be trusted. And what would happen if he did something stupid and ended up causing an accident down here? at least race wars is legal, this is illegal and if the cops have to be called and they can prove that anything that happens happened while you were racing then everyone they catch could end up in jail. You know that right?"
"I know but by the time that little punk is off the line I'll be so far out ahead of him he'll never see anything but my tail lights."
"Hope so baby." She turned her head to the side and with her arms still around his neck rested the side of her face over his heartbeat.
"I'll be fine." Dom kissed the crown of her head. The team looked on with smiles. Seeing Dom playing the devoted boyfriend was strange. With Letty it had always been fire and ice. Either they were passionately kissing or passionately fighting or they were being so frosty to each other it was painful to watch. With Torrie there could be the fiery passion or there could be a slow burn of caring that came out in how they could just be together without being all over each other.
Rome leaned over to Brian. "That's your fierce racer? The one kissing the top of the girls head?" Rome laughed. "Peicea cake."
"Don't count on it Rome. Just cause he loves Torrie doesn't mean he can't race." Brian laughed. "You're in for a rude awakening."
"Maybe but I think once a guy settles down to one girl he loses his edge. What's he racin' fo'? Not for the admiration of the ladies anymore, not to have his pick of the girls. He can't even flirt with 'em anymore." Rome smiled. "If he's ready to settle down then he's lost his edge. He's gettin' old."
"He's no older then us dude. And he races because he's got NOS for blood. Dom can't not race. His dad was a racer on the pro stock car circuit and it's all Dom's ever known. He races to be the King of LA. And he is. And he'll retire that way someday. He's not gonna lose to you tonight Rome. And you're just jealous that he has a girl like Torrie cheering him on at the finish." Brian laughed.
"No way. Besides that girl Letty is more my style."
"She's Dom's Ex." Brian grinned at the look on Rome's face.
"He lets his ex hang around his new girl?"
"Well, he's known her since she was 10, what's he gonna do, send her away? Besides Torrie and Letty are friends now. Just don't fuck with Letty. If she doesn't mess you up herself Dom will."
Rome nodded, filing away that info on Letty.
"Let's do this." Edwin said. He had his 4 racers now. Torrie looked up at Dom.
"I'll be fine baby girl. I swear to you I'ma win, and I'ma come back in one piece."
"You better. I'm not helping you build another car. And you're not getting any sort of discount no matter how hard you sweat for it ever again." She smiled at her own Joke and Dom kissed her on the lips.
"You're too good to me."
"I know. Saddle up cowboy, it's time to ride." She released his neck and he got in his car. He rolled down the window. Normally she'd catch a ride to the line with Vince or Leon at this point.
"Get in, you can ride to the line with me."
"aight." She got in the car and they squealed off. True to his word Edwin had Tran on the far left of the road and Dominic on the far right. That's where Dom liked to break off the line from. Next to Dom was Rome, then Hector's cousin Roul. Roul was no competition. Dom had no idea about Brian's boy, but he knew Tran had inherited the same speed his older brother had had.