We pulled across the finish line at the top of the buff while Layla held her hand defiantly out the window. We were a good 10 seconds ahead of the closest car behind us, The Lotus, who crossed the line shortly after us. The crowd cheered, wailed and I could see Caleb shake his fist, and his little crush Amanda jumping up and down.

It had been a pretty good race, aside from the near crash that we had with the car on the main road. Everyone drove cleanly, and there weren’t any incidents, but the most exciting part of the whole thing was watching Layla open up a little. She was a bit of a shy girl, but underneath her wall was a girl with a bubbling personality and a lot of spirit. I really liked seeing that part of her.

We jumped out of the car and a swarm of people surrounded us throwing out congratulations. Caleb held his hand out in the air, and I grabbed it then bumped shoulders.

“Wasn’t even close,” Caleb said.

“How was it?” I heard Amanda asking Layla beside me.

“Oh my god. It was unreal!” she said.

Samantha navigated through the crowd and approached me from the side. “Looks like you still got it,” She said as she grinned and arched her hip.

I tilted my head in acknowledgement and brushed her off, turning my attention towards Layla.

“What did you think?”

“It was amazing! Thank you so much for letting me ride.”

“My pleasure.”

“Hey,” Samantha said, irritation apparent in her voice. “Don’t you want to talk?”

I sighed. I really didn’t feel like going into emotional overload when I was celebrating with Caleb and his friends. “Let’s talk later.” I pulled out my phone, handing it to her. “Give me your number and we can take it from there.”

Samantha looked a little surprised and confused, but she typed her details in and handed me my phone back. She stared at me for a moment, then jumped forward, throwing her hands around my shoulders. “Call me,” she whispered sweetly in my ear. Then she backed off and turned to walk away.

We hung around for a several more minutes and relaxed on the benches chatting and laughing as I answered questions and fended off the many people who wanted a chance to chat with me after the race. Benny also came around after parking his car and thanked me for netting him a decent amount of cash by winning the competition.

The sprint was generally the last race of the night, so people started clearing out as the night wound down.

“It’s 3am,” Layla said to her friend. “We’ve got to be at school in uhhh… like five hours.”

“So what?” Amanda said. “Let’s just pull an all-nighter!”

“I really can’t. My dad wakes up for work at 5am every morning, and if he finds me out of my room, my ass is grass.”

Caleb moaned. “Alright then. We better get going then. It’ll take me a while get to Amanda’s house and then back over to 5^th and Stanley.”

Layla looked at her watch. “Can you stop at my house first? Sorry. I’m really worried about my dad.”

“5^th and Stanley?” I asked. “That’s not far from where I live. If you want, I can drop you off.”

Layla looked at Amanda, and Amanda just shrugged. “That would be great,” Layla said. “I really appreciate it.”

I pulled myself off the bench and gave a quick goodbye to everyone who was still hanging around then headed off towards The Beast with Layla.

* * *

Layla’s home was about a 15-minute drive from the Bluff.

“That’s my house over there, but stop in front of the bush,” she said.

“The bush?” I asked.

“Yeah. Your car is loud. I don’t want it to wake my dad up.”

I chuckled. I had been living on my own for so long that the idea of having to answer to someone for being home at a certain time seemed comical. Not to mention Layla was 18, so it was strange that she had such strict guidelines.

I pulled up in front of the bush and put my car in park.

“Thank you so much for the ride,” Layla said, her green eyes lighting up as she spoke. “And thanks again for letting me race with you. It was awesome.”

“Don’t mention it,” I said. “It was actually a lot of fun having you in the passenger side. You can ride with me anytime you’d like.”

“Really?” she asked.

“Yeah. Why don’t you come out to the Bluff again next week?”

Layla’s eyes darted back and forth, and it look like her mind was going a million miles per hour. She shook her head like she was saying ‘no’, but her movement didn’t match her words. “I would love to. Tonight was amazing.”

“Alright. I’ll talk to Caleb and… maybe I can pick you up next time?”

“Ughhh… yeah.” Layla smiled and pushed a piece of hair behind her ear. “Okay. I guess I’ll see you then.”

“I’ll look forward to it.”

Layla swallowed hard and didn’t move for a second, then jolted her body around and fumbled with the door handle.

“You’ve got to unlock it,” I said, pointing to the metal tab at the top of the door. “Pull it up.”

Layla turned to me, smiled shyly, pulled the lock up and then quickly hurried out the door.

“See ya,” I said.

“See ya,” she said and waved before she ran towards her home.

I sat parked behind the bush a moment and rattled my head from side to side, trying to shake away the unusual feelings that I was having about the strange night. Samantha had shown up out of nowhere and sent me into a daze, and while I should have still been upset or happy or felt something about the situation with her, somehow I wasn’t even all that affected anymore.

It was because of Layla.

And that was even more preposterous than Samantha showing up out of nowhere. I mean, Layla was just 18 years old. She was going to High School with my little brother.

But she was gorgeous, sweet, innocent and she was able to make me laugh. Hell, the time I spent with her that night was one of the best nights I had in a long time.

Fuck! I whispered to myself. I figured it was the lack of the sleep that was getting to my head.

I put The Beast in gear and pulled off, and as I drove past Layla’s house, I could see her climbing up and over a bush and into her bedroom window. I chuckled and let out a deep breath.

18? 22? It’s only 4 years right? She might have been a High Schooler, but when I put it in perspective, it didn’t sound that bad.