Page 28 of Losers, Part I

“Are you sure about that?” I slowly let out the clutch as I revved the engine, the handbrake keeping me in place as my back tires spun out. My skin was on fire, my heart was pounding a million miles a minute. That open stretch of road was calling me, the engine rumbling through every nerve. Veronica began the countdown. Five...four...three… “I’m willing to bet you give a fuck about this dick ending up in your mouth again.”

“Oh, shutup, Lucas, you —”

I didn’t get to find out what special name she’d come up with for me. Veronica waved her arms, and I slammed on the gas, the engine roaring as the El Camino’s power was finally unleashed.

11

Jessica

“Oh, shit!”

I grabbed for anything I could get a hold of as Lucas slammed on the gas. The El Camino pulled so hard I was pressed back into the seat as he rapidly shifted through the gears. The veins in his arms were swollen with tension, his eyes fixed straight ahead. The engine was so loud I could no longer hear the music; the vibrations shivering through my limbs.

It was like being on a rollercoaster, my body overwhelmed by the sheer power of the machine I sat in.

The Hellcat hovered right at the edge of my peripheral vision, almost perfectly even with the El Camino, as we flew down the road. Then suddenly, with a shocking metallic pop, it was gone.

Lucas burst out laughing, genuinely something I never thought I’d hear.

“Fucking money shift, asshole!” he yelled, glancing back in the rearview mirror.

Alex’s headlights swerved erratically in the side mirror, growing further and further behind as Lucas took the win. My adrenaline was pumping, my heart was pounding. Caught up in the rush, I let out a cheer before I even realized what I was doing.

The power in this car was shocking, but to see Lucas handle itthat well — fuck, that washot.

Lucas kept driving, the fields flying by on either side. When he finally began to slow his speed, I couldn’t even see the starting line behind us anymore.

He pulled off the road, the tires crackling on the dirt as he drove onto a narrow path that led back into a field of tall corn stalks. He pulled the hand brake, put the car in neutral, and let the song play out as we sat there in the field.

I tried to keep my eyes straight ahead, staring down the beams of the headlights. But the car felt so small and I couldn’t resist glancing over at the man beside me. His fingers were relaxed on the wheel and he was slouched in his seat, head leaned back.

Freshman year was the first time I’d met him. I could remember him picking fights with seniors, how rude he was every time he opened his mouth, how it seemed like he wastryingto drive everyone away. Even Kyle avoided him.

He’d been dangerous and everyone knew it, including me. Yet, that hadn’t kept me away. His tough guy act had only made me more determined to prove I wasn’t scared of him. Everyone else may have been intimidated, but me? Lucas didn’t scare me.

When I turned to face him, he turned to me too. I had to ask. It was going to drive me mad if I didn’t.

“Did you fuck her?” I said, my voice as crisp and disinterested as I could manage.

He reached for a packet of cigarettes on the dash, the joy I’d so briefly glimpsed on his face now stone cold again. He lit up and took a long drag before he hung the cigarette out his open window and said, “Does it matter?”

I folded my arms, turning to face straight ahead again and going rigid in my seat. Of course it didn’tmatter. I didn’t care. The leather seat creaked as Lucas shifted his weight, leaning toward me as he took another drag. His face was unreadable, cast in shadow.

“Well? Does it matter, Jess?”

I shook my head. He chuckled softly as I faced him again, shrinking the space between us even further.

“I don’t care,” I said. “But you have terrible taste.”

“Mm, do I?” He rested one arm on the back of the seat, the smoke from his cigarette drifting out the window in a thin stream. He smelled like tobacco and cinnamon gum, dangerous and unbearably sexy. “I guess that’s fair. I’ll fuck almost anyone as long as I can make them scream.”

It was way too hot in here. How the hell did we get so close? My stomach turned with anger, but my thighs squeezed together as I watched his lips close around the cigarette again.

“That’s a gross habit,” I said, and he lifted an eyebrow at me. He opened his mouth, keeping his dark eyes on me all the while, and stubbed out the cigarette on his tongue. He didn’t flinch, his expression didn’t even change.

“I think you have terrible taste too,” he said, and I don’t know what the hell I was thinking, but we were so close I could see the veins in the whites of his eyes and the pulse beating in his throat.

I grabbed his shirt, knotting it in my hands as I tugged him toward me, but he was already lunging forward, pinning me against the door as he kissed me.