How the tables had turned.

I loved Annie to death, and it sure as hell didn't take an expert to figure out that the poor girl was miserable. I was an expert at that, though, and if there was anyone in the world qualified to offer help, it was me.

Step one was to get her to admit it to herself. That was still a work in progress, but with the way she was acting, it wouldn't be too hard to get her to figure it out. Step two was to get her out of the house and on her way to living her dreams. Overall, it was a simple plan, and as long as she cooperated with me, we could have her on the second step by the end of the day.

She slept in the next morning since she was probably hungover as fuck. Josiah always claimed that Annie never drank until I came around, and even though it was definitely a little bit of an exaggeration, at the heart of the issue, there was some truth to it.

Somebody like Josiah—hell, even someone like me—could never be good enough for her. She was everything anyone could ever want for humanity: caring, kind, and a genuine soul. And if I could convince her of that, for once, I'd accomplish something important.

There was still nothing to do, and I needed Annie to get up before every last drop of sanity seeped out my mind. In the living room, all of the clocks ticked in their typical coordinated fashion, and as I sat on the couch, the off-white walls inched closer to me with every second that passed.

Just as my phone started to ring, a pair of footsteps creaked closer to the living room. With Drake and Josiah in the garage, there was only one person they could have belonged to. I ignored the call without even looking to see who it was. They could wait.

"Good morning," I said as she walked by.

"No." Annie picked one of the clocks from the perimeter of the display off the wall and looked at her reflection in the face of it. Then she let it fall to the ground.

She was pissed. I smiled. She was pissed, and I fucking loved it.

"Staying behind when the rest of you went to Cleveland was the most liberating thing in the entire world. I just did what I wanted, and no one yelled at me." She kept her eyes on the clock at her feet. It didn't look broken, but that wasn't the point. "And when are you guys leaving next? Who knows. We put all of our eggs into this stupid robot basket, and it's not going to go anywhere. There's nothing."

"Trust me, the nothingness is killing me too," I said. "Unless someone gives me something to drive, I'm just going to drive myself insane."

"Well, I'm glad that they're taking you into consideration too." Every word that came from her mouth dripped with a brutal bitterness that I didn't even know she had in her.

I hadn't even thought about that, either. They knew damn well I needed something to destroy unless I wanted to do it to myself. The whole reason I ever fell into their hands was that I already did it once.

What the hell was worse, getting constantly shit on by RTR or by Sacrilege?

Roger Truscott was probably worse, but—

Annie's tone softened. "Maybe it's just this goddamn headache, but I don't know how much more I can take. I honestly don't."

"You don't have to keep it up. You're smart and talented, and you deserve to be somewhere where people recognize it and make you feel useful," I said.

Even if I explained it to her, she'd probably never get that I had been there. Of course, Drake always made me feel talented and useful, but—

Just as he crossed my mind, Drake called my name, but I pretended I didn't hear. Annie wanted to talk, and with all the time I spent around deafening engines, it was believable.

"Drake wants you," Annie said.

"He can wait a second." I gestured for Annie to join me on the couch, but she didn't. Instead, she stood in the same spot with the fallen clock at her feet and her arms crossed.

"He's out of time to prove that he wants to be with me. I've been more than patient. Six years, Katie. Six years. If he wants to keep me around, all he has to do is say it, but I know damn well he won't."

"You should build something for yourself then."

She hesitated. "That sounds great, but where would I even start?"

"What's your degree in?" I asked.

"I never finished it. I gave it up so Josiah could—" She trailed off and laughed with a tangible annoyance. "You got me there, Katie. You fucking got me."

"That's okay. There's your starting point. It's a fresh start," I said.

"It's August, so I don't know what you want me to do about that now."

"There are plenty of schools that probably still have spots available. All I'm asking is that you look into it. And if you can't find anything, I have a place in Lousiana if anything gets worse," I said.

I obviously never went to college (or even finished high school), but I assumed that was how it worked.

"That's very kind of you, but I couldn't take advantage of you like that." Before I could insist that I didn't let people take advantage of me, she continued. "You should probably go see what Drake wants."

I nodded. "Just think about it. You have options, and I'll help you find more if you want them."

With that, I headed out to the garage to figure out just what the hell they wanted from me. They weren't going to let me use the weapon, of course, so what was the point of anything?

"We need your opinion on this. If we're going to make it to the big leagues, we're gonna have to make sure every little detail on the robot is working perfectly to your liking," Josiah said.

"I like it the way it is," I said.

"No, you don't. There's always room for improvement," he continued as Drake handed me the controller.

What the fuck was I supposed to compare it to? The previous versions of Sacrilege that I never even drove?

"Tell me, how does it feel? Is it good?" Drake asked.

If I ignored the sexual undertones that I was hoping were there, everything was exactly the same as always. "It's fine, Drake."

"That's not what he asked. Yes or no. Good or not. It's not that hard," Josiah said.

"Is it supposed to be different? I might be missing something, but—"

"Oh my god," Josiah muttered to himself. "I honestly can't deal with this stupid shit right now." He left the garage and left Drake and me alone.

"Well, it's supposed to be more sensitive to the controls, but it doesn't seem like it is." Drake chuckled.

"Oh, well maybe it is. I just didn't notice," I said.

"It's okay. I just want it to be perfect just in case we get the call," Drake said. "I know I'm probably getting my hopes up only to get disappointed yet again, but I just really want this to be our moment. I've worked so hard on this."

I nodded. "And how long do you think that's gonna take?"

If it was soon, maybe I could hold on without a damn thing to do, but otherwise, I had a billion other ways to waste my time.

"I don't know. The tournament's in a couple of months, so you'd think they'd begin the selection processes soon."

"A couple months?" I held my breath.

"Well, it's not like it gets any bigger than this."

Uh, yeah it did. I liked to call it my own fucking racing career.

"And there's nothing to do until then?" I asked.

He shook his head. "We can't risk anything happening to Sacrilege. We wouldn't have time for a rebuild, for sure."

"Okay, but what about me?"

"What about you?"

"What the hell am I supposed to do until then? Just drive the robot around in circles while it's covered in bubble wrap?"

"Can't even risk that. You might set it on fire accidentally."

I rolled my eyes. "I can't keep doing this, Drake. I know this is where you've built your life, but I don't work like that."

"What do you mean?"

"Look, when there's a tournament coming up, there's a goal in sight. I can practice and prepare for that. But what am I supposed to do now? Hell, with racing, there was a schedule, and if I deviated from it and enjoyed my personal life, I got in trouble for it."

"And now you can finally have that personal life you want. I really don't think we're on the same page here," Drake said.

"That's not what I want, though. At least, I don't want it here. Canada kind of sucks," I said.

"What are you talking about?"

"I can't even get a job here without jumping through a million hoops. It sucks."

"You don't have a high school diploma. You can't get a job in America, Katie."

Well, where else was I going to find a distraction from the fact that no one gave a shit about me?

What the hell did I even have in Ontario? A guy who cared more about a goddamn robot than any sort of attempt to get to know me? I couldn't end up like Annie.

But Drake was finally opening up a little—

"I know I'm supposed to be getting some sort of message from what you're saying, but if you would just tell me what you're thinking, we can figure this out," Drake said.

"Yeah, let's figure it out, because I have no fucking idea." I threw my hands in the air. And I didn't know a damn thing. All I knew was that I didn't like something.

"Is it, like," he hesitated, "female stuff? Like, you know?"

"You can't be serious right now." But maybe it was. It probably was. Was it? "Even if it is, just shut the fuck up about it."

"Sorry," he said. "I just don't know what you want from me right now."

He wasn't really sorry, but that didn't matter. "Show me that I'm not wasting my time here, okay?"

If I could leave Baton Rouge and Griffin behind because otherwise, everything in my rearview mirror would catch up to me, then I sure could do it to London and Drake.

Our date the night before ended with cleaning up after the typically level-headed Annie, which kind of killed any sort of vibe we had going for us. I didn't hold it against her, but it was pretty fucking irritating. Of course, when I was with Roger Truscott Racing, I pulled the same shit on Griffin, and he always dealt with me like a champ.

I bit my lip. Every single time that name floated into my mind,

"Come here." He held out his hand to me, and before I could even give him my own, a warmth crept into my chest. Physical contact? Was it fucking Christmas? Although my small, pale hand didn't even come close to filling his warm, gentle one, a part of me inside was fulfilled.

He pulled me closer to him, and although it wasn't air-conditioned in the garage, I didn't mind. He had barely even touched me, and yet, a blissful sense of peace inched down my body all the way to my toes.

A touch-starved bisexual disaster of a driver. That was all I was. Was I wasting my time? Absolutely. But my god, I could stand it if he kept my mind off of it like this.

"I don't know what you're used to, so I'm trying to let you set the pace," Drake said.

I smiled. "You know damn well that I don't mind fast. Look, I've only had two relationships that lasted more than two dates."

"That doesn't make me feel any better."

"Well, it should. I'm not just gonna hook up with someone who I genuinely enjoy and leave because famous hot chicks don't have to. I'm really trying, Drake. All I want is a little more reassurance."

"Like what?"

"I want to get to know more than the Sacrilege side of you," I said.

"Well, you know about the son and grandson sides of me too, so what else even is there?"

I shook my head. "I think you're just being an ass on purpose at this point. How about, you know, a romantic side? I think I've made it pretty clear that's what I want, and you don't have to worry about me. I'm kind of really enjoying this right now."

He didn't respond to that with words; instead, he pressed his lips against the closest part of me, the crown of my head.

Drake was always so afraid of pissing somebody off with an act of carelessness, and that included me apparently. But the only time he really pissed me off was when he handled any sort of interaction with me with gloves and bubble wrap.

Yeah, I fucked a lot of shit up, but for once, I just wanted someone. Was that really too much to ask?

We wouldn't end up like Annie and Josiah. We would be long over before six years passed by.

I looked up at him, and I ignored one of the fluorescent lights flickering on the ceiling. I liked his calm, careful demeanor. I liked him.

My phone buzzed in my back pocket, but when Drake leaned down for a better kiss, I let it ring on. No one was going to ruin the fact that I finally found someone who wanted to be more than a fling. I could see a nice year for us, one that was a hell of a lot kinder to me than the one with Tyler.

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Hello everyone! I hope you're doing well! I plan on having the next part of the chapter up for next week, since I do have a busy schedule ahead of me. (Yay.) Thank you so much for reading!

Anyway, it seems that Katie has high hopes for the future, so what do you think is going to happen with her and Drake? What about Annie?