Chapter 11

Bright sunlight peeked through the half-open slats of the Venetian blinds in Unit 5 of the Pines Motel. "Oh God…" Speed moaned, his eyes fluttering open. "Where am I?" Attempting to sit up, he immediately fell back on the bed. "Feel sick…"

He crawled out of bed somehow managing to get to the bathroom. He hung his head over the toilet and vomited several times. "Crap…" he said, wiping the tears from his eyes. "Gotta get some more sleep."

Painfully, he staggered back to bed, his mind still foggy. "What time is it?" he wondered as he turned on the lamp. Blinking a bit he held his watch up to the light. "It's 5:45, too early to get up."

He was about to switch off the lamp when he noticed a folded piece of paper next to the phone. "What's this?" He opened the note and read Dallas' flowery handwriting:'

"Darling,

I didn't want to wake you when I left. You were sleeping so soundly. See you at the track.

Love and kisses,
Dallas"

"Dallas…I'm so out of it, I forgot about her." He closed his eyes trying to remember what had happened last night. "Everything's a blur." Out of the corner of his eye he spied an empty champagne bottle. He clutched his stomach. "Gonna be sick again," he groaned, making his way back to the bathroom. There was nothing left in his stomach, yet he kept retching. "Still feel so lousy. Don't think I'm gonna feel much better come race time."

He washed his face, the water reviving him some. He shook his head at the reflection staring back at him. His eyes were bloodshot, there were dark circles under them and his skin was pale. "Not, looking too good, Speedy.

---

A group of reporters crowded around the Girl Team, each vying for an interview with one of the racing beauties.

"Ms. Maverick," a man from ESPN shoved a microphone in Dallas' face, "who do you think will be the toughest competition for you in today's race?"

Dallas licked her lips before parting her mouth into a wide, sexy smile. "Well, Ah think all of the competition will be tough. But, Ah suppose the two that will be hardest to beat are Racer X," the camera panned over to the pit that housed the Shooting Star, the Masked Racer standing next to it, "and Speed Racer." Another camera moved to the Go Team's pit where the Speed and the Mach Five were yet to arrive.

"Do you think you can beat them?" ESPN man asked.

"Ah've been studying their racing styles and practicing for hours every day. Ah do think Ah have a chance."

---

Racer X watched the activity going on in Dallas' pit. While he thought a team of women racers a bit gimmicky, it was still a step in the right direction. He never could understand why so many male drivers had a problem with women racing.

He was pleased that Speed didn't seem to have any problem with female drivers, if anything the young man encouraged them. Of course, it might have more to do with his attraction to them than anything else. Especially in Dallas Maverick's case. The former Rex Racer couldn't help but notice the subtle interplay between Speed and the young woman. He also had a feeling that there might be a physical relationship going on with them. He prayed he was wrong, Dallas was way out of Speed's league. Getting involved with a woman like her was akin to playing with fire.

Turning his attention from the Girl Team's pit to that of his brother's, he noticed that Speed had just arrived. He was late. Racer X wondered how many seconds it would take for Pops to descend upon his son.

---

Pops bellowing could be heard above the roar of the Mach Five. "No warming up in the bullpen with him," Speed muttered as turned off the engine. He grabbed the pink stuff and took a quick swig of it. "I definitely don't need this."

"Where the hell have you been?" Speed's father demanded. "You had your mother worried sick!"

"Sorry, Pops. I uh…couldn't sleep last night, so I went out for a drive. Stopped at to get something to eat at that all night Chinese take-out place."

"And you couldn't call to let us know where you were?"

Speed ran his hand through his hair. "C'mon Pops, I'm almost twenty years old. I can't believe I have to check in with you like I'm Spritle's age!" He slammed his fist on the dashboard.

"You certainly act like you're the same age as your brother! And as long as you live under MY roof you will follow MY rules."

"Yeah, well maybe I should move out." he grumbled.

Pops laughed sarcastically, "Ha! That I'd like to see. You wouldn't survive a week on your own."

"That's what you think," Speed said as he stepped out of the car and slammed the door.

"Watch it!" Pops growled.

Speed didn't answer him as he stomped away. "I'm feeling lousy enough, I don't need this crap making me feel worse," he said, his hand on his stomach.

He was about to go inside the garage when he heard Dallas' unmistakable drawl. "Speedy, darlin' how are you?" she asked as she stood next to a pile of spare tires.

"What are you doing here?" He grabbed her arm and pulled her into the garage.

"Ah just came over to wish you luck, sugar." She leaned up and kissed him.

Speed returned the kiss and backed away. He took her in, his eyes moving down her body. She was wearing a new fire suit, it's zipper open enough to reveal some cleavage. Damn, he wanted to rip the thing off her. He moved his gaze back to her face. "What happened last night? I don't remember very much about it."

She smiled. "Ah'm not surprised, you did drink a lot of champagne."

"Too much. I'm paying for it this morning," he said, making a face.

"Aw, darlin', aren't you feeling well?"

He shrugged. "I'll survive."

"Ah'm sure you will. You're a man with a strong constitution."

"Dallas, I gotta ask you something. Um…last night…did we…uh…do it?"

She stared at him, a wicked thought entering her mind. "You really don't remember?"

"No, I'm sorry to say, I don't."

"That's too bad because you were spectacular." She moved closer to him, her body rubbing against his.

He gulped, moving away a bit. "I…I was? Wow. And here I thought we didn't do anything because I woke up with my jeans on," he said.

"Oh that. Well, after we made love, you wanted to go out for some air. You got as far as your jeans before you passed out."

"Hehe, I guess I drank a little too much. Can you forgive me for falling asleep on you?"

She placed both hands on his waist and kissed him a second time. "What do you think?"

"I think I'd like to kiss you again." He took a quick look around him to make sure nobody was watching and gave her a deep, long kiss. Slowly, he pulled back and whispered, "You don't know how much I want you right now."

"Later, sweet pea. Remember, we both have a race to run."

Speed nodded. "Yeah, you're right." He squeezed her hand, smiling "Good luck today."

"You too. Oh, and don't worry about not using any protection last night, Ah'm sure everything will be fine." She strode off, blowing a kiss behind her.

It took a few moments for her words to sink in. "No protection?" He whipped out his wallet and looked inside. "Oh no, they're still in there…" He broke into a cold sweat. "How could I be so careless?" He clutched his stomach, feeling sick again. "No, Dallas is right, everything will be alright."

Speed took some deep breaths as he went into the bathroom. He splashed water on his face, hoping it would make him feel better. "Can't get sick anymore," he said, swallowing down the bile that had risen in his throat. He spoke to his reflection, "It's gonna be fine. It was only one time, what are the odds that she could be pregnant?" Then, he remembered that it was more than once. That first night, out by the pool, they hadn't used anything then, either. "So, it was twice, still not a big deal, right?" he asked, trying to convince himself that all would be well.

---

Dallas Maverick slunk, cat-like, back to her pit. "Poor, poor Speedy, between his awful hangover and thoughts that maybe he's gonna be a daddy, ah doubt he'll be able to concentrate much on the race. Which means," she said, smiling, "that mah chances of winning are that much better."

She went over to her car and ran her hand along the fender. "You and Ah are going to blow away the competition, including the other drivers on this team." Out of the corner of her eye she could see Speed walking rather glumly out of the garage. "He doesn't look very happy, does he?" she asked herself. "Hmmm…Maybe Ah should let little Speedikins sweat this out a bit. He's so naive and trusting, Ah bet he'd believe anything Ah tell him."