Full Speed Ahead (AQMA Sequel)

11 - I Hate You, I Love You

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"You look familiar. Do I know you?" He asked as he held on to my hand.

'Shit.'

'He knows!'

'Just give it up Avery!'

"No." I responded quickly before retrieving my hand away from our handshake. My heart was beating at a thousand miles because I wasn't ready to tell him. I didn't want to tell him here. Even though Noah knew where I was, I still wanted to keep this a secret. I didn't want people treating me differently because I raced. I wanted to be comfortable in my surrounds when I told this secret to Drew.

Thankfully, my response seemed to have satisfied his curious mind because he didn't question it further. I wanted to let out a relieved sigh but I didn't want to attract anymore unwanted attention. He looked into my eyes for a few more seconds before redirecting and standing in front of Lucas, starting a conversation with him. I tried so hard to not eavesdrop but, could you blame me? They were openly talking right next to me. I continued to focus on the guys getting ready for the race, acting like I couldn't care less about their conversation.

"How's your sister, dude?"

"Stay away from her, Lucas." Drew playfully said before they both chuckled.

"Relax. We all know she's spoken for mate."

"Yeah, let's not go there. Lucas, any word on Jax's dad?"

"Didn't he tell you?"

"We don't really talk about that. We always talk about his other dilemma."

"Ahh. Enough said. Yeah man, they got a lead."

"No shit!? What's the lead?"

"Some prick named Noah."

My head immediately turned to the two next to me, my eyes widened in shock at this new revelation. They were both so focused on their conversation, they didn't even notice me practically gaping at them.

'Noah?'

'Surely they don't mean the same Noah?'

'Can't be.'

'Can it?'

My heart skipped a beat as I turned my head back to focus on Isaac and Jaxon who were chatting amongst each other at the starting line. I could feel my breath beginning to quicken, the panic attack slowly settling in. I tried to convince myself that I heard wrong, I wish I could rewind the conversation and pay closer attention to make sure I heard right. I closed my eyes as I tried to control my breathing and refocus on their conversation. I wasn't planning on having a panic attack right in front of these guys.

"How did they find him?"

"They scored his fingerprints from another crime he attempted to commit."

"What other crime?" Drew asked as his voice began to sound unsettled.

"Wouldn't have a clue mate." Lucas responded.