Girls Like Boys

Erick reached for the last slice of pizza, but Shay reached out and smacked his arm, nodding towards me. “You sure you don’t want any, Cody?” he asked, causing Erick to look my way too.

I shook my head. “No, go ahead, Erick. Thanks, though, Shay.” Shay sat back and Erick swiped the piece before falling back into his spot on the couch.

Travis grinned at the group and sent me a look that made it obvious he had a comment. “Code’s friend Tristan made her dinner,” he said, smirking.

I rolled my eyes as the boys sat to attention, each calling out comments. “He’s Jack’s roommate,” I said over them, shaking my head at their remarks. “He cooked for everyone.”

Benji narrowed his eyes and scanned the group. “Why don’t any of you ever cook?” he asked his friends, eyeing the guys who also lived in the building.

Shay nodded along. “Yeah, we need to get us a ‘Tristan’.” He shot Travis a look.

Travis frowned. “How’s it my fault that none of you can cook?” he asked, toeing the empty pizza box with his boot. “I bought dinner - that’s how I feed all you ungrateful jerks.”

Ryan stood up and gathered up the napkins and empty boxes. He nodded to the clock on the mantle beneath the TV screen. “It’s almost time to get going,” he said, directing his words toward Erick, who took part in organizing the whole night.

Travis peered across the room. The guys were spread out on all the couches and chairs and in no hurry to climb up. This was one of the first times I’d seen everybody in the living room together and out of the pit.

“Cody, you should pull your truck into the garage,” Travis said as he pushed himself up from the leather couch. “Or I can have one of the guys to do it, if you want.”

I nodded slowly, a little confused. “I pulled it out of the way,” I said. “You guys should be able to get out without me moving the truck.”

Trav rested his hand on my head as he moved past, stepping over my legs and around his friends. “That’s not why you should move it,” he said.

I pulled my legs in and then followed him up off the couch. I caught Ramsy’s eye from her spot across the room as I grabbed Trav’s arm to slow him down. I knew his point was to have anything tying me to him out of sight, just in case they somehow got busted tonight.

Travis pulled his forearm out of my grasp and slipped his fingers between mine instead. He led me up the staircase. I tugged him back and he looked over his shoulder at me. “I need to change,” he explained, continuing down the balcony to the bedroom.

He didn’t let go of my hand, so I trailed after him. Before we slipped into the bedroom, I saw the guys disperse from the living room and back out to the pit. Benji raced directly to the car he was racing tonight and I figured Erick did the same. There was a whole new batch of cars inside tonight and I couldn’t help but wonder how’d they’d swapped them out and where the other cars went.

I shut Travis’s bedroom door as he detached himself from me and headed over to the dresser that ran along the far wall. He unlaced his boots and kicked off his joggers before kneeling down to grab a pair of jeans from the bottom drawer.

“Who’s racing tonight?” I asked, scooting onto Trav’s bed.

He yanked his jeans on. “Me, Erick, Benji, Flynn, I think, and a bunch of guys you don’t know.” He flashed a smile at me and buttoned his pants before turning back to the dresser to rifle through another drawer.

“Shay isn’t racing?”

Travis shook his head. “No, he’s a great mechanic, but he not interested in driving.” He stared me down for a minute, then asked, “Did you bring a jacket?”

“No,” I said. “What about Ryan? He used to race, right? How come he doesn’t anymore?” I moved to sit up on my knees and Travis threw one of his hoodies at me.

“Did Ramsy bring a jacket?” he asked, tossing another sweatshirt my way for good measure. “And Ry doesn’t race because he has football to think about. He doesn’t want to get caught and lose his scholarship.”

I frowned. “But he still goes to the races.”

“There’s a less chance of the university punishing people for watching other people do illegal stuff,” he said, moving to the other side of the bed and the wardrobe that was pushed against the wall next to the bookshelf. He threw it open and bent down to find a pair of shoes. “You really shouldn’t worry,” he said.

“I’m not worried,” I replied, watching as he sat down on the floor to slip into a pair of trainers. “I’m just curious. Is everyone you hangout with into racing?”

Trav tilted his head, arms resting on his knees. “You’re not.”

We left about twenty minutes later, the seven of us splitting into different cars. Ramsy and I went with Travis while Benji and Erick each drove separately. Shay and Ryan rode together, bringing up the rear of our caravan as we peeled out of the driveway.

“Where’s the race at?” Ram asked from the backseat.

I turned around to look at her and caught sight of the three cars on Travis’s tail. As we pulled into the main street outside of the neighborhood, Erick switched into the other lane and swerved around Travis. I flinched as the silver car cut close in front of us.

“Erick’s said it’s out past Highway Eleven,” Travis explained, focused as he glanced in the rearview. Benji was quickly catching up, making a point to show Travis that he already had the upper hand.

Travis cut quickly into the right lane as we headed out of the city. I could practically hear Benji’s retort as we cut him off and followed Erick onto the interstate on-ramp. Behind him, I could barely make out Shay and Ryan’s in Travis’s BMW.

“Does Ryan have a car?” I asked, turning back in my seat and looking at the dark haired boy. He sped up above seventy and then settled into a consistent speed.

“Yeah,” he said, peering in the side mirror before switching lanes again. “It’s just easier for him to take a car registered in my name.”

Ram frowned at us. “It probably would’ve been better to take a more inconspicuous looking get-away car,” she said. “The BMW is nice, but it doesn’t really blend into a crowd.”

“We’re not trying to blend in,” Travis answered, shifting gears.

Ramsy and I both turned our attention out the window as Shay and Ryan blew past us, surprising me. Benji chased after them, swerving through traffic and flying past Erick.

“That much is obvious,” Ramsy said.

Travis grinned at the car his cousin drove. He shrugged and then followed. “They’re just having a bit of fun,” he defended, pulling up behind Benji and slowing to a consistent speed again. We stayed on the highway for about fifteen minutes before Travis got a call.

He pulled it from the dash and answered it. “Where’d you go?” he asked, since we’d lost sight of Erick and the guys in their mad dash. Travis responded and then quickly sped around a semi and switched into the right lane. I noticed Shay and Ryan a couple cars in front of us.

I pointed as they took exit 118A. Travis nodded, ended the call, and chased after the guys.

When we got off the interstate, the road was a lot emptier, making it much easier to keep the guys in our sights. Travis was behind them within seconds and from here we could see Erick signaling everybody off the highway.

We followed his path as he exited onto a narrower road. There weren’t any other cars around us so the four of our vehicles followed one after the other in the single lane. After a minute, I could see cars in the distance. There were about twenty or so cars pulled into the sides of the road, creating a tunnel of sorts.

Our group slowed as we pulled through it. Everybody was out of their car and huddled together in crowds. Despite the fact that there were only twenty cars, there were at least twice as many people. The previous races I’d heard about were inside the city, but this was something else.

The cars’ headlights were the only lights in the whole area. Unlike in the city, there weren’t any streetlamp or stoplights, leaving the road dark on either side of the headlights’ radius. Travis pulled onto the dusty shoulder and curved back into the road so that he could back in perpendicular to the street. He shut off the car, leaving the lights on like everybody else. Ryan and Shay pulled in beside us, and Erick and Benji pulled in beside each other across the street.

Travis grabbed his phone and slid his keys into the pocket of his jeans. Despite that fact that Ramsy and I were both wearing one of his hoodies, he wasn’t. He wore the same oversized black t’shirt from earlier.

“You guys ready?” he asked, hands in his lap as he looked to us.

I nodded and Ramsy shrugged.

Travis threw open the door and slid out effortlessly. Before Ram and I were even out of the car, he spoke to someone a couple cars down. Ramsy moved to my side as she shut the door behind her and turned to see who caught Travis’s attention already.

I couldn’t stop myself from rolling my eyes at the guy heading our way. Travis met him halfway and they did their handshake thing. The boy looked over Travis’s shoulder and saw me, then Ramsy.

“Cody,” he said. “Your sister, I’m guessing.”

I stopped myself from rolling my eyes again. “Wow, Camden, you’re a real genius,” I said, offering him my best sarcastic smile.

Cam frowned and he looked to Travis. “Try to control her attitude, yeah?” he asked. “We’re out here to have a good time. We don’t need the ice queen ruining the mood.”

“The mood couldn’t get any shittier with you here,” I shot.

Travis grinned. “Come on, guys,” he said, stepping back from his friend. “We’re here to race, not fight.”

“Cody doesn’t race,” Cam pointed out. “She doesn’t even know the difference between a Potts Race and a Cannonball run.”

“And you don’t know the difference between a woman and your hand,” I retorted. “Which one of us is really losing out?”

Travis stifled his smile and turned his stoic expression to Cam. “Where’s Flynn?” he asked, distracting the man from me. “He still owes me for the Mercedes.”

“Benji is still pretty pissed about that,” Cam said, turning and pointing further down the street. “Flynn said that he was practically threatened within an inch of his life when he bought the car out from under him.”

Travis scoffed. “Benji was never even close to getting the Mercedes off me,” he answered. “He had his shot and he blew it. He can win it off Flynn like a big boy.”

Cam shook his head. “Flynn’s not racing it tonight,” he said. “He brought out one of the Mustangs.”

Travis frowned. “Which one? The ’01 or the ’14 he took off Carson in June?”

Cam shrugged. “I haven’t signed him in yet,” he said. “I didn’t look that close.” That prompted Cam to hand over the papers that Travis had to sign to assure that he wouldn’t run off with the car he entered if he lost. Travis filled out the sheet and signed the Mitsubishi away without a second thought.

“Is Shay entering that BMW?” Cam asked as he took the paperwork back from Travis. Most everybody knew that the BMW was Trav’s everyday car.

Trav shook his head. “Nah, he’s just hanging out.” He nodded back toward me and Ramsy.

Cam shook his head. “Your girlfriend shouldn’t need a babysitter,” he commented, unimpressed as he headed away.

Travis shook his head at his friend’s comment and backtracked to Ram and I. “Ignore him,” he said, seeing the annoyed look on my face.

“He’s such a tool,” I replied, glaring at the stocky boy’s back. “He thinks that since he sets all this up he’s such a big deal.”

Travis put his hand on my shoulder and pivoted me away from Camden. “He’s a good guy,” he said. “He just likes to have the upper hand.”

“He always gives you crap,” I said.

Travis grinned. “That’s because I’m a bigger deal than he is.”

I glanced across the street as Shay called our names and motioned us over. Cam moved that way to sign Erick and Benji in. Travis threw his arm over my shoulder as we went over, merging into the crowd that was forming.

Erick took a good amount of papers from Cam and ran off to help sign in the new-comers.

“How many of you guys are racing?” Ramsy asked, stopping at Ryan’s side and offering a polite smile as a hello.

Benji answered as he flipped out his slip. “It depends on the night,” he said. “It’s not just one big race. Everybody races at different times and in different brackets.”

“Do you have to pay to get in?” she asked.

Shay answered this time. “If they’re racing for cash, it’s typical to give a cut of whatever you win to Cam or whoever’s running the race. For slip races, there’s usually a buy in, depending on who’s organizing.”

“So you get money whether you race or not,” Ram said, eyeing Camden.

Cam glanced from Ram to me where I was still tucked against Travis’s side. “I do all the work,” he said. “These idiots just put their money and cars on the line.”

The boys jumped in to argue, but Cam waved them off and walked away. He headed down the street to Erick, shouting something about freezing someone from the race tonight. The person who they were talking about immediately started to complain.

Our group closed the circle. The wind was harsher out here and it cut through my sweatshirt. Travis, who still just donned a t’shirt, acted like it didn’t affect him in the least.

Travis nodded down the road. “Somebody go drag Flynn’s ass down here,” he said, eyeing the blonde at the end of the street. “I know he saw me pull in.”

Benji frowned. “He looks a little preoccupied, Trav,” he said, causing the rest of us to follow their gazes. Ramsy did too, even though she had no idea which one of them was Flynn.

The blonde stood near his car with a group of girls. It was obvious that he was actively trying to maintain their attention, because he kept talking and motioning back to the Mustang. He flashed the girls his best smiled and grinned as they laughed at something he said.

Travis rolled his eyes.

“Don’t act so unimpressed,” Shay shot at the boy, grinning slightly. “You do your fair share of showboating too, Travis.”

“No,” Travis answered, “I do not.”

Benji nodded sarcastically. “Oh that’s right, I forgot,” he said. “You’re so hot that the girls just fawn all over you on their own.”

“It’s the cars,” Ryan joked.

“Erick and I ran into Emma Caloy the other day,” Shay said, piquing the boys’ attention as Travis continued to look casually disinterested. “She was trying to get some info out of Erick about the race and whether you were in it tonight, Trav. I bet she’s here tonight.”

“Travis isn’t interested in girls,” Benji said obnoxiously. “Nooo, he’s all about the purity of the race and investing for his future. He’d never stoop so low as to enjoy a night with a race groupie.”

Ram cringed. “You guys actually call girls that?” she asked, shooting Benji a disgusted look.

The brunette shrugged. “They call themselves worse things than that,” he defended, shaking off Ramsy’s look.

“We do not call them that,” Travis retorted, disgusted. “And I don’t know why Emma’s so interested in where I’m at. Last I heard she was sleeping with Corey Lewis.”

“You beat Corey in every race this summer,” Shay said. “Her loyalties were bound to shift eventually.”

I frowned. “Are there any female racers or are they all just here to throw themselves at you guys?”

Travis shifted so that he had both arms around me and was leaning with his chin on my head and his weight against my back. “Brooke Kath isn’t a bad driver,” he said, opening the debate to the group.

“I haven’t seen her since May,” Ryan said.

Shay answered, “She graduated. I heard she got a job down in Florida somewhere.”

“What about Selina whats-her-name,” Benji spoke up. “She’s actually pretty good. She just doesn’t have the car to keep up.”

Travis nodded as he straightened up. “I invited her to the house once last year, but she didn’t take me up on it,” he said. “She’s in a few of my classes and she’s a good mechanic. I thought it might be nice to have her around.”

Shay frowned. “Trying to replace me, Laughlin?”

Travis pulled away from me and grinned. “After you completely trashed that Boxster last year, I wanted to,” he said, pulling his smokes out of his pocket. “Too bad Selina wasn’t interested.”

“Inviting girls round to the house doesn’t really imply that you value them for their mechanic skills, Trav,” Benji said, grinning across to his friend. “In fact, that’s rarely what it means.”

I caught the little smile Travis tried to hide. He lit the smoke and shook his head, turning away as he took a drag. “You are all a bunch of degenerates,” he said, unable to stop from smiling. He waved everybody off. “Get out of my face.”

The crowds started to back up as a couple of cars came down the lane, practically side by side. Trav peered down along the edge of the crowd and then motioned everyone back. Ramsy stepped around the boys and came to my side. Travis dropped the cigarette to the ground and stepped on it to put it out.

“Did Erick tell any of you when we’re racing?” he asked, crossing his arms as he watched the cars dig in.

The guys all shook their heads. Travis sighed and stepped out of line, peering down through the crowd to locate his friend. “Erick!” he shouted, obviously finding the blonde among the groups. “Erick!”

Travis backed up to us as Erick darted around the crowd to us. “What’s up, man?” he asked, turning around so that he was at Trav’s side and facing the race gearing up.

“What’s the lineup?” Travis asked, catching everyone’s attention. The guys all turned to hear the answer.

“Dex, Carter, and Neil are running first,” he said, nodding to the road where another car was slipping in beside the first two. “Then there’s a couple cash runs that Cam let on, then Benji, Flynn, Corey, and Lukas are going to run for money, right?” he glanced to Benji for confirmation.

“I don’t care what we’re running,” Benji said. “But what’s the distance?” he asked. “I need to know how far we’re going and when we’re supposed to come back. Cam fucked up, man. He didn’t tell us anything.”

Erick nodded, exasperated. “I’m trying to fix that,” he said. “There’s a turn in the highway about a half mile up, before it divides off and heads back into the city. Take the turn hard and come back from there. You’ll know it when you see it.”

Travis nodded, cutting in. “Who am I running against?” he asked, scanning the crowds. “Is AJ back in town?”

Erick shook his head. “He won’t be back until next semester,” he said. “Cam lined you with Alex and Milo tonight.”

“Alex Regent or Alex Davidson?” Travis asked seriously.

“Davidson,” Erick said quickly, cringing at Travis’s immediate response. Erick started to defend himself before Trav even stopped talking.

“I don’t want to race against that asshole,” Travis said, shaking his head. “He’s a complete idiot. Camden knows better than to put me and him on the same run. Last time he raced, he practically destroyed Ty’s Mazda. I’m not racing next to him, Erick. Tell Cam to fix this.”

“Travis,” Erick sighed. “Nobody here wants to race against you. This was last minute and it’s all the same people as usual. They know what you’re like and they’re not willing to risk their cars just to see you driving them around town next week.”

Travis scoffed. “Would you like me to lose?” he asked, “because that doesn’t really interest me. Now you go tell Cam that I’m driving the Mitsubishi tonight and I still won’t put it anywhere near Alex Davidson.”

Erick glowered at his friends. “You’re the most difficult person I’ve ever worked with, Travis,” he said. He turned away and darted into the street to Cam where he stood with the drivers. After a minute, Cam’s attention turned to Travis and he looked noticeably annoyed.

“What’s the problem, Travis?” he asked as he walked over. A lot of the people from the crowd followed him with their eyes. If they hadn’t noticed Travis before, they did now. I saw the crowd shift as they recognized conflict.

“Erick already told you,” Travis retorted, obviously irritated. “If you want me to keep coming back and racing for you, then you won’t run me with morons like Alex Davidson.”

Cam quieted his expression. “Honestly, Travis, I don’t care whether you race here or not. You aren’t doing me any favors.”

Travis laughed in disbelief. “Are you kidding, Cartwright? You practically begged me to race in your bracket a couple years ago. The best you were pulling in were shitty drivers who couldn’t handle anything more than a sprint every six months. When I came, so did the talented drivers and the ones open to racing for slips.”

Camden rolled his eyes. “You’re ridiculous, Travis. You show up here with cars like that - “ He nodded back to the M5 - “and expect everyone to be on the same level as you. Not all these guys run chop-shops out of their houses. Either you take the race as is, or you find somewhere else.”

“Come on, man,” Benji said, stepping up. “You know everything Trav does is legal. Don’t put that on him like that. He makes a living doing what he’s good at.”

Cam nodded sarcastically. “Yeah, okay, Benji, stay out of it. We know that Travis bankrolls your little racing hobby, okay? No need to defend your mealticket.”

Leo frowned and stepped up to join his friends and the other guys started to crowd up too. “Knock it off, Cam,” he said, peering seriously at the other boy. “You’re not god when it comes to this place. Travis has done a lot for you here, and you know it.”

Cam sighed loudly before giving in. “There’s nothing I can do tonight, Travis,” he said with a shrug. “I’m not going to pull Alex from the race. Feel free to back out if you want though.”

“Just swap Benji and Alex,” Travis told him. “Benji’s a better racer anyway. I don’t know why you split everybody the way you did. I’ll run against all of them; Flynn, Lukas, Corey, Benji. It doesn’t matter.”

“They’re racing for money,” Cam said, nodding to Benji and referring to the lot of them. “They’re not risking their cars tonight.”

Travis shrugged, exasperated. “I have cash,” he said, reaching for his wallet. “How much?”

Cam frowned at Travis’s willingness to be dropped into a different race. “You know Alex and Milo are going to talk,” he said. “They’ll start shit about why you wouldn’t race them.”

Travis shrugged. “I don’t really care what they do,” he said. “I’m not getting anywhere near Alex. I wouldn’t even let him back my car out of the garage.”

Cam nodded finally and told Travis to come find him after the first race. Travis, obviously pleased, settled back beside me as everyone moved further away from the road.

Ramsy and I watched intently as the three drivers turned serious now that Cam was back. Another guy climbed into one of the cars along the road and within seconds, the racers shifted gears and took off, each trying to edge in front of the others. Ramsy and I shuffled forward as everyone else did, stepping into the road to watch after the cars.

After a few moments, Ram turned and frowned at Travis. “So,” she started, “we just wait here until they come back?”

Our group of boys laughed.

Travis shrugged easily and grinned as he nodded in response. “Just wait until we get out there,” he said. “It’s more exciting when you have something staked in the race.”

I grinned and nodded. “Like the guys’ well-being.”