Being with Michael: Part 1 (Book Two)

Chapter Fifty Four

Paige clicks her tongue against the inside of her cheek and Michael understands the hint. He steps out of the car and she rolls down her window. Jonas walks up and Paige yells out to him, "Make sure you take good care of him," nodding her head towards Michael.

Jonas leans against the car and looks in the through the open window. "You got it, boss," he says. Then he asks Paige quietly, "Does this mean it's going back to normal now?"

Paige looks him in the eye and says, "There's never been a normal, Jonas. Atleast not for me. Tonight is for Michael, so give him the special treatment."

Jonas nods and backs away, letting Michael have a chance at talking to her. Michael looks through the window and sees Paige reach over the passenger seat and pull the cushion up, revealing two tanks of Nitrous. Commonly known as NOS, when injected, it applies more horsepower to the engine, allowing the car to increase its speed that otherwise would be limited by the build of the engine. Paige turns the nobs on the tanks, letting the nitrous flow into the direct-port injections in the engine so the gas will be ready to go at the push of a button. She looks back at Michael and his mouth is dropped open. She chuckles at him, "What?"

Michael blinks and looks at her, "I thought you already had enough horsepower in this car, that's what you said."

She nods, "Yeah, but you can always have a little more fun. Plus, Matt over there is guaranteed to have some in his car."

"Okay," Michael trusts her judgment, especially because she obviously knows a lot more about this than him. "You ready to race? How does this work?" He asks her.

"Yeah I'm ready," she responds. "And Jonas is going to take you to the roof of the clubhouse so you'll have a clear view of the entire race out on the track."

"Okay, sounds good," he says. "I'm guessing this is the part where I go away so the race can start?"

"Pretty much," Paige smiles at him.

Michael takes his weight off the car and tells her at the last second, "Good luck. Be careful!"

Paige just looks at him and says, "You know how hard that is for me."

"That's why I'm worried," Michael replies while turning around to face Jonas. Jonas turns around and makes his way through the crowd with Michael following right behind him. Michael is a little skeptical of Jonas because he's armed with a gun that he aimed at his wife, but then again his wife is also apparently armed with a gun she aimed at Jonas, so he can't really say much.

They climb a set of iron stairs on the side of the clubhouse leading to the roof. A group of other people is already up there, but Jonas leads Michael to the edge in front of a railing. Michael looks out and he can see the entire track, slightly lit by street lights installed throughout the area. It begins in a straight line, but then turns into a bunch of turns and circles at the end. He looks down at Paige's car next to Matt's parked in front of the closed entrance to the track.

Inside the car, Paige reaches behind her to take the gun out and set it on the passenger seat, knowing that she would hit her back against it if she didn't do otherwise.

At that same instant, music suddenly starts blaring and Michael looks around trying to find its source. Jonas taps him on the arm and points to Paige's car. "It's coming from the stereos in her car. She used to turn it on during every race," he explains.

Right now the music is just an unrecognizable beat not belonging to any certain song. The gate opens up and the people on the roof start clapping and hooting. Paige and Matt both roll up to the white line serving as the start line. Michael can feel his body heat up and his stomach knot up in nervousness. A lady in tight shorts and a crop top walks out holding a flag. She stops and stands in the middle of track holding the flag up in the air with Paige sitting on the left side of her and Matt sitting on the right. The blaring music abruptly changes from the beat to the beginning of a familiar song, "Speed Demon." Michael quickly looks at Jonas and Jonas nods in response, "Just watch."