"Y'all know the rules of the race! Make it to Galway Park on the other side of town and back. You get caught by the police, you're out. You give up halfway, you're out. You physically try to hurt or cause harm to your opponents, you are out of the club indefinitely!" the blonde yelled through the megaphone in front of all the racers. There were about fifteen other racers besides themselves, and their engines began to rev to life loudly. Blake was parked right next to Thomas, who was currently giving him dirty looks.
The girl put her hands on her hips. "Winner gets all the bets placed on them from the members and patrons of the club, sooooo... are you ready to race!!?" she yelled, making the crowd around them go crazy. The atmosphere was electric.
Emma held on tightly around Blake's waist, digging her nails into his shirt, slightly terrified and regretting all her life choices. She looked to her side, seeing Chris jumping up and down, cheering, while Kandy clapped beside him, giving her a nervous smile from the sidelines. The blonde in front of them held a red ribbon high up in the air, a grin on her red lips.
Kandy suddenly noticed Emma was wearing high heels, her feet shaking slightly on the footpegs, unable to get a steady grip. She ran over, bending down to take them off Emma's feet. "You'll thank me later." Kandy moved back, holding her heels. Emma settled her feet much more comfortably on the hard metal pegs just as the blonde dropped the ribbon and the motorcycle shot forward.
The bikes raced around the blonde girl. Emma let out a soft yelp at the newfound speed. She couldn't tell how fast they were racing down the road, but it was incredibly fast. Lights and sounds raced past as Blake whisked around traffic, other racers, and parked cars, some honking loudly at him. The scent of his cologne had completely enveloped her. Emma sat on this bike underneath her, rumbling, vibrating, and moving like it was part of her.
It was like the most powerful sense she had ever had of being in control of her own life. At that thought, she couldn't help but smile. Yes, this was completely dangerous, and yes, maybe Blake was dangerous too, but the adventure was so new and wild, she loved it. After all, who in their right mind could pass up a bad boy on a motorcycle?
They got to a heavily trafficked area of cars. Blake easily swerved left and right between them along with the other racers. Her senses were on hyper-alert; it was like a very heightened state of consciousness. Everything was so loud around her. Suddenly, Thomas flashed past them on his bike. Blake's ring-covered fingers tightened around the handlebars, pushing the machine to go faster.
"Hold on tight and lean when I lean!" he yelled back to her, making her pull herself as close as physically possible. He did a sharp turn to the right, zooming past a red light, making cars slam on their brakes. She did as he asked, leaning to the right with him.
Apparently, he had a plan because the street they went down let out farther down the road. They merged back onto the main road. Emma turned her head, looking back, seeing that Thomas was now behind them, looking angry. Behind him, she could see blue and red flashing lights.
"We may have trouble!" she faced back forward just in time to see them do a quick U-turn around the Galway Park sign. Blake sped back towards The Underground. He sped past Thomas and the three police cars that were following him. In an unexpected twist, instead of going to Galway Park, Thomas turned and began following Blake, along with the cops. When the cops were right on Thomas's tail, he did a quick turn down a tight alleyway that the police cars couldn't fit into. Emma's eyes widened as two of the three police cars, unable to follow Thomas, began following them. She let out a gasp in disbelief. This must have been Thomas's plan: since he couldn't win the race, he was ratting them out.
Blake tried to lose them, turning down an alleyway. The third police car was already blocking their exit, and the other two police cars came from behind. They were officially trapped. Blake stopped his bike as the police officers climbed out of their cars, approaching them. The chief of police, a fat, older-looking white man with a nametag reading "Mr. Gates," stood in front of Blake with his arms crossed.
"Off the bike, boy," he commanded.
Blake kicked the kickstand out, still sitting on the bike. Emma happily got off the bike, even though the chief hadn't asked her to. "I'm not a boy, I'm a man."
Emma let out an awkward laugh before glaring at him. The chief chuckled, rubbing his jaw before pulling out his handcuffs. "Well, men go to jail for illegal street racing." The other cops laughed softly. Emma looked at Blake, silently begging him to just get down.
"That will not be necessary. He'll get off the bike," she said, trying to save him, but he was being hard-headed.
Blake rolled his eyes but climbed off the bike. She let out a breath she hadn't even realized she was holding "I wasn't talking to you, girl. Know your place," the chief said, pointing a fat finger in her direction. She glared at him, feeling like his statement was racially motivated, but decided not to speak up. It wasn't worth it.
Blake stepped up to the chief, looking him up and down. Emma put her hand on his wrist to hold him back. "Watch how you talk to her." the chief shook his head before holding up the cuffs. "You got a smart mouth, boy. I'm taking you in. Are you going to make a smart decision?" He raised a brow, swinging the cuffs in a circle around his fat finger. Emma held her breath for Blake's response. He reached into his pocket to pull out his phone.
"Let's get this over with. Call Chris; he'll get you, my bike, and bail me out." One of the officers forced both Blake's hands to the front, cuffing him before he could hand her his phone. Blake looked at him confused while the chief tapped his chin as if thinking.
"Did I say I was just taking you in? I meant I'm taking you both in. Cuff her, boys." The other cop pulled out his cuffs, walking towards her. She took a step back. Blake glared at the chief as one of the cops forced him to move closer to the backseat of his police car. "Wait, she didn't do anything wrong! I was the one driving... she can't even drive!"
The chief shrugged, walking to his car as the officer cuffed Emma, tears rolling down her cheeks.
The chief opened his car door, watching as his buddy opened his backseat, pushing Blake inside. "She's your accomplice, and she was being mouthy towards me, so she's going into custody alongside you." He grinned as the officer slid Emma inside the backseat of his car; she wouldn't be riding with Blake to jail.
Blake glared daggers at the chief. "That's bullshit," he said, grinding his teeth.
The chief laughed smugly. "Life's bullshit." The chief climbed into his car, closing the door, and the backseat door was slammed shut in Blake's face before he could say more.
All she could do was sit in the backseat of the police car, cuffs digging into her wrists, and watch as the police car carrying Blake drove ahead of them. So many thoughts raced through her head, but the biggest was, "My parents are going to kill me." She laid her head against the cold window.
YOU ARE READING
It Started With Hello
Romance***** Emma Pear knew she wasn't the most popular girl in high school. Her nose was usually buried in a textbook, and her grades were as spotless as her reputation for always following the rules. "Nerd" was a label she'd long since embraced. Her pare...
