"When did you start racing?" Shiloh asked.
"Officially or unofficially?" Rex asked from his place under the car. He was working on the race car Shiloh had seen in the driveway, while Shiloh sat on the toolbox and asked him questions.
"Both."
"Officially, I was sixteen. Unofficially, I was eight," he said, grunting slightly as he reached to tighten something.
"You were driving a car at eight years old?" Shiloh asked, skeptical. Rex pushed himself out from under the car.
"I may have been sitting on Pop's lap," he said, offering a sheepish grin. "Can you hand me that?" He asked. Shiloh handed him the indicated tool with her eyebrow raised. "Thanks," Rex said, before sliding back under the car.
"How many races and stuff have you won?" Shiloh asked, going back to the questions.
"Can't you look that up on the internet? I don't remember," Rex said, grunting in annoyance. Shiloh shot an annoyed look at his feet.
"Which one are you most proud of?"
"The first time I got first. Or the time I broke the record. I don't really know. I don't exactly care about winning, though it's a nice bonus point," Rex grunted as he struggled to reach something within the interworkings of the car.
Shiloh put her writing pad down and got up, crouching down beside the car and slipping under it next to Rex. "Hey, what are you-" Rex started.
"Where?" Shiloh asked, taking the wrench from his hands.
'"Uh, right there," he said, pointing to a small bolt in a small space above them. It was far up and the opening was narrow, which was proving problematic for Rex's large hands and forearms. Shiloh reached up and slipped the wrench around it."Why isn't the winning important?" she demanded as she tightened the bolt.
"I race to race. Sure, winning is nice, but for me, it's about racing. If you make it all about winning, then you lose the beauty of it," he said. Shiloh finished tightening the bolt and dropped back down, handing the wrench back to Rex before slipping out from under the car.
"Racing is beautiful? How? What's so beautiful about overly tricked out cars driving in circles for a ridiculous amount of time?" She asked. Rex pushed himself out from under the car and grabbed a grease rag, wiping his black hands on it.
"The beauty of racing comes from driving, being driven. If it's all about winning then you're not driving, you're just steering," he said. Shiloh contained a blush.
As much as she hated to admit it, Rex Racer was freakishly attractive. He was well built and muscular, with unruly dark hair and dark eyes that seemed to see right through her. Had he been standing in front of any other girl in her class in his jeans and grease-stained wife beater, they would've melted. Even Shiloh was having a little bit of an issue staying coherent. Only a little bit of an issue, mind.
"Why is racing beautiful to you?" She asked, getting back on track. Rex smiled and leaned back against the car, crossing his muscular arms.
"Because I'm driven," he said.
"What does that mean?" He looked off into the distance, staring at nothing in particular.
"I think it'd be easier to show you," he said finally, looking at her.
"How would that make a difference?" Shiloh asked, raising an eyebrow. Rex shrugged his shoulders.
"It may not. You want to go for a drive?" He moved to the door and jumped into the car, looking at Shiloh expectantly.
"There's no passenger seat," she pointed out.
"You can sit on my lap. Speed does it all the time and you don't look any bigger than he is," Rex said. Shiloh clenched her notebook closer to her chest in a protective manner. "What's the matter? You scared?" he taunted. Shiloh set her jaw.
"Fine," she finally said, walking over to the door. Rex smirked.
"How do you want me to get in?" she asked. Before she knew what was happening, Rex stood up in the car and grabbed her around the waist, taking her with him as he sat back down, before he fastened the seat restraint around them both. To her credit, she only let out a tiny little squeak.
"Here we go!" he said, pushing on the gas. Shiloh swallowed a yelp of surprise, trying to sit as still as possible to avoid messing Rex's driving up any. She was NOT going to think about how hard, and at the same time, ridiculously comfortable, his chest was or how she was close enough to smell him. It was an intoxicating mix of AXE and car grease. It shouldn't have worked, but it did.
"It works best if you put each of your legs over one of mine. That way I don't have too much weight on one leg and you can feel what I'm doing," Rex said. Shiloh adjusted slightly to do as he said.
"Where are we going?" She asked when she was feeling slightly more comfortable.
"The track," Rex replied.
"I thought you said we were just going for a drive!" Shiloh complained.
"True, but you're coming along to see what it means to be driven. You can't really see that unless I'm on a track," he said, flashing her a smile in the rearview mirror. Sneaky bastard! Shiloh thought. A few minutes later, they reached Thunderhead.
"Here we go," Rex said a few minutes later as they pulled onto the track. "Put this on." He handed her a helmet. "Is there actually a chance of me hitting my head?" Shiloh asked, strapping it on.
"Probably not," Rex said. Shiloh could practically feel his playful smirk. "You ready?" he asked. "Here we go!" he said, punching the gas before Shiloh could answer.
Shiloh looked for something to grab to brace herself but found nothing. She silently swore as the car barreled down the track at more than a hundred miles an hour.
The first turn was coming up fast and Shiloh resumed her frantic search for something to brace herself before she went flying around, still finding nothing. Crap! She thought, closing her eyes and preparing to slam into the door. Right before they hit the turn, Rex's arm went around her waist and held her in place gently as they went around the turn. Shiloh's eyes shot open in surprise.
"I do this with Speed all the time. You really think I'd let my little brother, or you for that matter, go flying into the door?" Rex asked, looking down at her briefly before turning his eyes back to the track.
"How would I know?!" she demanded. He smirked.
"Good. Hang tight 'cause here we go!" he said, laying on the gas. Shiloh grabbed the arm he was using to hold her for dear life.
They went hurtling around the track, sliding around each turn faster than should've been humanly possible. The second lap in, Shiloh slowly started to loosen her grip on Rex's arm. Sometime around the middle of the lap, she started smiling, the smile quickly turning to a laugh as the adrenaline coursed through her and the excitement made her heart beat. She looked in the rearview and saw Rex smiling.
"This is amazing!" she cried.
"Isn't it?" Rex replied.
"You get to do this all the time?" Shiloh asked.
"Yep."
"You're so lucky!" she said.
"Want me to go faster?" he asked.
"Punch it!" Shiloh replied, grinning. Rex smiled, before somehow finding a way to go even faster. Shiloh watched the rearview mirror as they drove the next lap even faster than the ones before.
The expression on Rex's face said it all. Peace and happiness, as well as determination, were etched on his features as he took turn after turn, each tighter and smoother than the last, not a single movement wasted. Somehow, he was doing things with the car that should've been impossible, and yet, at the same time, why wouldn't such things have been possible?
It's like he's at home on the track. Like he loves it and it loves him. He's… driven, Shiloh realized, coming to understand what he had said early.
"I get it now!" she said, over the roar of the engine.
"Do you?" he asked, not taking his eyes off the road, but smiling all the same.
"Yeah, I think I do," Shiloh said, smiling her own smile. "It's being at home on the track, not feeling alive unless you're behind the wheel. It's knowing what the car needs before it needs it, because it, and the track, they both speak to you. It's you, as much as you are it."
"Sounds to me like you not only get it, you feel it," Rex said, grinning.
"What?" Shiloh asked.
"The car, the track, it sounds like they're speaking to you Shiloh," he said.
"They can't be," Shiloh replied skeptically. Can they? She thought to herself.
"Oh no? Tell me when to punch it for the jump," Rex said.
"Are you crazy?!" Shiloh protested as the jump got closer.
"I'm not punching it until you tell me to. So you better shut up and listen to what the car says to you," Rex warned.
"Rex!" Shiloh cried frantically, seeing how close it was getting.
"Better start listening, otherwise we're going to crash," Rex said, sounding way too happy at the prospect of crashing. Shiloh looked to the right and to the left, desperately looking for some kind of marker.
"There isn't going to be a marker. You need to listen to what the car tells you. Just listen Shiloh," Rex said, his voice calm. Shiloh looked forward and almost freaked out at how close the jump was getting. Finally, desperate, she closed her eyes, listening to the sounds coming from the car.
She heard the hum of the tires on the pavement, the roar of the engine, and many other smaller sounds. Finally though, one stood out to her. "NOW!" she cried, jerking her eyes open.
Rex hit the jump jacks, launching the car into the air. They sailed through the air for a moment, breathlessly free, before the car once again hit the pavement and continued on. Shiloh laughed.
"We're alive!" she said. Rex smiled, slowing down as they reached the finish line. He opened the door and they both climbed out.
"Did you see that?! I did it!" Shiloh cried, jumping up and down. Rex laughed as he leaned against the car, his arms crossed.
"I did see it. In fact, that jump was the smoothest I've ever made. You heard the car better than I do," he said.
"Really?" Shiloh asked, stopping her happy dance and turning to face him.
"Really," Rex said, nodding his head in affirmation. "It looks to me like you're driven Shiloh. Maybe even more than I am. You could be a real racer."
"You think so?" she asked.
"I'm not usually liberal with my praise. But you should definitely consider it," Rex asserted, his expression serious. Shiloh smiled, clasping her hands behind her back and lifting her head with a smile.
"It is nice, and it was fun driving with you today. But I don't think I'm racer material," she said, turning and smiling at Rex.
"I think you are. Just consider it. Now, did that drive help you with your interview?" he asked.
"Definitely," Shiloh confirmed.
"Good. Any other questions?" Rex asked.
"Nope. I think I've got everything I need for my paper," Shiloh said.
"In that case, I'll take you home," he said, popping back in the car and motioning Shiloh over.
"Thank you. But drive the speed limit please," she said. He laughed.
"Yes, ma'am."
A/N: I reworked this some. Let me know what you guys think!