I didn't waste any breath on Drake and Josiah before the fight with Snowcone. I was there to win, and if Annie was the only real one on Team Sacrilege, then what the hell was the point of sticking around? There wasn't a single good reason out there. My time would be better spent in the gym to prepare for a possible return to NASCAR.

Megha Ratti and Amazon demolished their opponent in less than a minute. She was an absolute force, and all I needed was another shot at Amazon. I told Drake that I wouldn't leave until I beat that well-oiled killing machine of a team, and if all the stars aligned, maybe I could fulfill that promise right before I made my getaway.

And if I didn't, it wouldn't bother me that much. Apparently, I wasn't good enough for him anyway.

Soon after, it was our turn in the arena, and the other team set up their robot as well. I wasn't even sure what the hell their weapon was, especially since it looked like their only asset was a ton of glitter and white powder on the top of the bot, but the odds were that I hadn't seen whatever the hell they were trying to pull on me ever before. There wasn't much that I had seen in the combat robotics world in general.

With the controls in my hands, I gave Snowcone another look. There was a plow-like structure on the front of it, which didn't seem like much of a weapon.

That was their plan. They were hoping I'd beat myself with too much kinetic energy and too little self-control. If they could survive what Sacrilege threw at them, they could break her down.

I smiled to myself. Maybe it was the fact that I knew how to have a good time and had practically no experience, but I was a hell of a lot smarter than they thought.

The lights dimmed down except one on the bulletproof glass-enclosed arena. Nothing else mattered anymore.

A loud beep signaled the beginning of the fight, and I flipped the weapon switch and waited a second for it to get going. Once that horizontal bar got up to speed, it could destroy practically anything, as the garage door had witnessed firsthand.

The wedge on the front of Snowcone would deflect a lot of the damage upward or back at Sacrilege, but they didn't have any armor on the back of the robot. If they could protect their weak spots, they could very well win against a high-powered weapon.

But this world hadn't seen anything like Katie Moore yet.

Snowcone came after me right away and tried to ram into the spinner, but I snuck to the side enough that it wouldn't hit and damage Sacrilege. With that quick start, I assumed they were hoping to catch me off-guard, but all it did was give me a clear path to the win.

One shot to the armorless back side, and it was all over. The spinner crushed the back of Snowcone, and glitter and some powder that resembled cocaine snowed down through the air to the ground.

I looked over at Drake, but he didn't say anything. He gave a quick nod, and he headed inside the arena to collect Sacrilege.

If that wasn't good enough for him, I didn't know what else he could possibly want from me.

***

"This is actually one of the greatest ideas humankind has ever produced. Robots fighting other robots. That's just so fucking awesome. And you're amazing at it," Griffin said.

I laughed and checked out my reflection in the hotel mirror. I still hadn't taken off the fire suit, and it did wonders for my confidence and my figure. Drake really blew his chance, because I wasn't ever going to take it off. Ever.

"Could you imagine how much racing fans would love it? Half of them are into the cars, and the other half is really into watching us almost kill ourselves," Griffin continued.

I looked away from the cutie in the mirror for a second. Maybe Josiah was right. I was a damn good ambassador for bringing in a whole new set of people into the chaotically nerdy world of combat robotics, and the higher-ups would have had to be stupid not to realize that.

"You're not talking much," Griffin said.

I shrugged. "I don't know, I guess I just don't have much to say right now."

"What's up?"

Before I could decide whether I actually wanted to have that discussion with him, someone knocked at the door.

For someone who thought I was an egotistical bitch, he couldn't just leave me alone for two seconds, could he?

Even though I didn't want to talk to him, I opened up the door, and surprisingly, it was Josiah, not Drake.

"Thank you for not taking any damage during that fight. It would have been humiliating if we lost to a fucking snowcone," he said and brushed past me to come inside.

"It's humiliating that we were ranked lower than a snowcone," I said.

Josiah nodded. "You're not wrong. But anyway, I came to tell you that the next fight is the day after tomorrow against another flipper, not a worthless wedge bot like today."

"Oh, like the Spongebob robot?"

"Exactly, but this one is a little better than your last hookup."

I bit my lip. "You know, I don't even count that as one. It was the most miserable twenty seconds of my life."

Griffin laughed. "Are you struggling to get some with the nerds?"

"Shut up. It's not my fault they're not up to my standards."

"Except for Drake, but that option's not looking too good right now," Josiah said.

I threw my head back. "Oh my god, Josiah. Will you let it go?"

Josiah cracked a rare smile but didn't reply. I assumed that meant he would not let it go.

"What do you say we go get dinner, Kate? Isn't Michael Symon from Cleveland? He's gotta have a restaurant around here somewhere," Griffin said.

I mentally thanked him for changing the subject. "Yeah, it's called Lola. They've got good food and a shit ton of wine."

"Sounds great. Why don't you get yourself all dolled up, and I'll handle the reservation?"

"But the fire—"

"If you want me to buy you a shit ton of wine, you're gonna have to take the fire suit off."

I thought for a moment. He was really testing my loyalties here. "Fine. But only because I want to take it off, not because you're threatening me."

Both Griffin and Josiah left for me to get changed, and I hoped Josiah didn't pick up on the completely obvious way to convince me to do something other than I wanted. Free wine was pretty much the best thing ever.

Since it was a Wednesday evening, the restaurant hopefully wouldn't be too busy, but Michael Symon was kind of a big deal. But at least Griffin was the one who had to deal with that. He was always more inclined to throw our names around until someone figured out that we were kind of famous.

I hung the fire suit in the closet to keep it safe and wrinkle-free, and I hopped into the shower. As soon as I got out, someone knocked at the door once again.

Griffin knew damn well that I needed more than fifteen minutes to get ready. He could wait another forty-five outside the door.

I put on the second nicest outfit I brought with me, which was just a basic black dress that worked for almost everything. Usually, when I got all dolled up, as Griffin put it, it was for some fancy fundraising banquet for charity, an awards ceremony, or a talk show appearance. The fire suit was definitely a thousand times more comfortable for me.

Griffin knocked again. "Katie, please. We need to talk badly," he said in Drake's voice.

Dammit.

"What is it? You wanna tell me that I'm a fucking nightmare to my face this time? I'd really respect you more if you said it instead of just insisting that we're different," I said.

"But that's not what I think. I don't want toxic personalities on my team, and I tell you all the time that I want you here." He knocked just once more. "Katie, come on."

I bit my lip. We had to settle this eventually, and it was kind of nice that he was the one approaching me about it.

Before I could talk myself out of it, I opened up the door. "We'll talk while I'm doing my makeup. I'm going to dinner with Griffin soon."

Drake turned his head and glanced at me through the side of his eyes. "That's," he hesitated, "fine."

"Well, it better be fine, because I do whatever the fuck I want."

Drake didn't find that comment very funny. He just took a seat on the bed.

I took my spot in front of the mirror with a bag of makeup beside me. "So what do you want to talk about? How your dick says yes, but everything else says no fucking way?" I smiled.

"You know that's not true. You're just trying to keep yourself from getting hurt," Drake said.

I picked up a bottle of foundation. "Is that what I'm doing? I'm putting myself out there so I don't get hurt? Are you fucking stupid?"

"Would you just shut up and listen to me?"

I turned to face him. "If you want me to listen, say something that's not complete bullshit."

"Fine. I like you a lot, but I don't want to get hurt either."

I hesitated. Well, that didn't seem like bullshit to me.

"I think I've gotten to know you over these last couple of months, and you know what you want and take it. You're not gonna stick around forever, and I'm not stupid enough to convince myself otherwise. I just don't want you to disappear without a word like you did before the All-Star Race," Drake continued.

"I did that for this team, Drake. We needed money, and I fucking won it for us. Why do you hold that against me?"

"I don't. It's just that I've noticed that you convince yourself that what you want is always right, and one day, I know it's gonna bite me in the ass."

I went back to my makeup. "So you're afraid of what I might do in the future. You're afraid that I might stab you right in the back, even though I've never done that to anyone."

That was literally more insulting than his whole I'm attracted to you, but you're a complete bitch speech. Or maybe it was the same thing. What the hell did I know?

He sat there and claimed that I could never be wrong when he was making judgments about me that weren't even based in reality.

"You won't even sign a contract with Team Sacrilege when you know we have your back," Drake said.

I let out an annoyed laugh. "Let me let you in on a little secret. I signed a contract with Roger Truscott because I thought he had my back. When the wins didn't come, he threw me right under the bus and ruined my career. Can you even blame me?"

"But I wouldn't do that to you."

"It really must piss you off that I think you would, doesn't it?" I shook my head. "I think it's best if we just forget this ever happened. This is exactly why I don't get involved with this shit anymore."

"I don't—"

"I never meant for this to turn into anything anyway. I just," I hesitated for a second, "I don't know. I don't know what the fuck I was thinking."

That was my magic trick. I just never thought. Ever.

"Katie, don't be too hard on yourself right now. You deserve something that's gonna last. Is that me? Maybe if you're willing to give it a real shot, we can see where it goes, but—"

Drake was interrupted by another knock at the door and Griffin's voice. "You ready?"

"I should go," I said. I stuffed my bag into the special puke bucket Annie backed for me. It was brand new and everything. What a saint.

"Is that a definitive I should go?" Drake asked.

I shook my head as I headed for the door. "Nope. I just need a second, and I'm sure you do too."

"At least we're ending on a slightly better note than last time," he said.

Yeah, no shit.

I met Griffin at the door, and he greeted me with his sweet smile. He always felt safe to me, even though we lived a dangerous lifestyle.

"So I got us a table in half an hour, but maybe you should finish your face before we go anywhere," Griffin said.

I shook my head and dragged his hand along with me to the stairs. "I'll finish it in the car. I just need to clear my head, and I can't do that in the room."

"Clear what out of your head? Astrophysics? The complete works of Shakespeare?"

I laughed. He was such a shit. "You're doing an awful lot of shit-talking for someone who doesn't have the mental capacity to win an All-Star Race."

"God, I missed you. Elizabeth just isn't the same."

Damn right. There wasn't anyone else out there like me. I forced a smile. "Don't say her name. I don't want to hear it."

"Sorry, I forgot about your girl fight." He chuckled. "You'd totally kick her ass. You just gotta let me know when. I wanna watch."

"Of course you do. And when we kiss and make up, I'm sure you'll want to be there for that too."

Griffin laughed. "I'll clear my schedule as soon as you give me a date and time."

"You're so disgusting." I shook my head and laughed.

We stepped into the elevator, and he looked down at my puke bucket.

"Got some big aspirations for tonight?" he asked.

"Oh yeah. And I'm hilarious when I'm wine drunk, so you're just gonna keep the glasses coming, right?"

He laughed. "Pay for them yourself, you millionaire and feminist."

"Nope. I took off the fire suit, so you gotta keep your end of the deal."

There was nothing or no one more refreshing and relaxing than him besides maybe the shit ton of wine he was gonna buy me.

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Hello! I hope you've had a good week! Thank you so much for reading!

So what do you think? Does Drake have a valid point? Does Katie?