-TWENTY SIX-

I stared at the mirror and examined myself. My forehead and neck were lined with a thin layer of sweat and my breaths were coming out in short and rapid puffs. My heartbeat was increasing, matching the beats of the music playing in the background.

My thoughts went back to the last hour and I could feel the irritation lined with anger swarm me once again.

I hadn't thought that Montana would actually use dirty tactics to keep me from sitting there with Kade. She had resorted to such childish antics- what were we, five? Now I knew that she was one of those people who wasn't used to rejection a lot.

Especially from someone she was interested in.

From the looks she had been giving Kade, I knew that there were chances of their relationship being a romantic one and the thought itself made me uncomfortable. She clearly hadn't gotten over him and that gave me a pretty clear idea that she was going to try and do everything she could to either get with him herself or try to keep me away since I had established myself on her radar.

I didn't even know why I was so worked up.

There was definitely something that pulled me towards Kade. I didn't know if it was his mysterious aura or just how he was but what I did know was that it was the first time I'd felt this pull towards someone.

It wasn't even like this with Reed. I was used to the butterflies in my stomach and excitement in my gut but this was a whole new ball game.

It was as if my entire body reacted to him and I didn't even know how to stop it.

Pushing these thoughts out of my mind, I tried to focus on the music playing behind me.

After I had officially missed the pre-race drive, some random guy had gotten me out of there after he came into the office to get something. I didn't even have to courage to go see if Montana had taken my place or if Kade had won the race. I'd just gone back and grabbed my stuff before shooting a text to both Lance and Kade and leaving from there.

It troubled me to imagine Montana in my place.

So I'd ended up in the only place I knew I could clear my head. The dance studio. Thankfully, Emily who owned the studio had become good friends with me so she let me book in a last minute slot too.

I shook my head and resumed my routine. This was one of the newer routines I was working on and it required a lot of body movement all together. It was a combination of sensual moves on faster beats. The most important part of the moves was fluidity. I wanted to make the transformation in moves flawless so that no one could realise when one ended and other began.

I let my eyes close as I followed the steps I memorised and planned for the routine. This was the only moment where I felt safe. I knew no one could ruin this for me, even Montana.

Dance made me feel confident. She could try all she wanted here but this was a place that I considered my haven and no one could change that.

By the time I finished, I knew I had a tiny smile on my face. I opened my eyes to look at myself. I was a huffing mess but even that couldn't remove the small smile from my face. My eyes shifted to something in the back and that is when my eyes locked with deep blue ones.

My heart skipped a beat when I whirled around to find Kade leaning on the door with his arms crossed. I could feel my body burn under his dark gaze. What was worse was that he wasn't wearing his glasses so the intensity in his blue eyes increased tenfold.

What was he doing here? Wasn't he supposed to be at his race? Had it finished? Where was Montana?

Questions bombarded my mind as I looked at him, half questing if I was imagining it. He looked absolutely hot casually leaning there. My breathing was irregular but I wasn't so sure if it was because of the dance or something else entirely. I let my eyes take him in, to make sure that I wasn't imagining things. He hadn't even bothered to change into his regular clothes. He was wearing his Ace tee which made me wonder if he had rushed here.

I also realised that if he'd watched me dance, it was his first time.

Something in the air shifted. I involuntarily bit my lip and that tiny action didn't go unnoticed by him. His eyes darkened even more of that was possible. I stood glued to my place as I watched him get off the frame of the door and take slow and calculated steps towards me.

The music seemed to have changed to compliment the mood of the room. Thankfully it was loud enough to drown out the noise of my rapidly beating heart.

I tried to open my mouth to say something but words failed me. My heartbeat picked up as he neared me, my senses getting engulfed in his intoxicating scent. The air was thick with an emotion that I had a hard time identifying. All I knew was that it was making it hard for me to breathe normally.

I stood there frozen to my spot as he came close. He didn't leave much of a distance between us which made me super aware of everything around me. I mutely swallowed, tilting my head up to look at him. As my eyes locked with his, something unreadable flashed in his eyes. I almost wanted his glasses back so that they could shield me from some of the raw intensity that was reflecting in them.

The only thing I could do was try to get my breathing back to normal because my vocal cords had totally abandoned me.

Kade slowly lifted his hand, pausing in the air a little hesitantly before tucking a piece of loose strand of hair behind me ear. His fingers grazed my temple ever so slightly but that was enough for my stomach to go all Zumba in my body. 

I didn't realise that I was biting my lip again until Kade's gaze shifted to my lips. My heart flipped. He slowly brought his hand near my mouth, letting the pad of his thumb graze my lips and slowly release my lower lip from my teeth. He let his thumb linger there for a moment longer.

That action itself was super confusing yet hot at the same time.

What was happening?

Kade finally lifted his eyes to mine and opened his mouth to say something when the door to the room opened with a loud bang and I jumped back, startled. It was like someone poured a bucket of ice water on me.

My eyes snapped to a smiling Emily who looked at me before her eyes landed on Kade. She looked between the two of us curiously. I immediately distanced myself from Kade, trying to get my muddled thoughts back to normal. My mind was still a bit hazy. I rushed towards Emily with a forced smile on my face.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Your slot ended a couple of minutes ago so I thought I'd come and check. I have the next one booked so..." she trailed off, looking a little sheepishly at me.

"Oh shit, sorry. I didn't mean to delay it. Give me five minutes and I'll be out," I apologised, mentally chastising myself for being so lost. This was so embarrassing. I hope she didn't see anything- not that there was much to see.

Thankfully Emily waved it off and just gave me a wink before heading out. 

I kept myself from glancing at Kade as I picked up my stuff. I wasn't sure what to expect. Whatever moment we had was definitely something and the more time I spent thinking about it, I was starting to question if what I felt with Kade was purely attraction or something more.

And the thought itself terrified me.

***

I glanced at the boy walking beside me.

Kade's face gave no emotion as he walked with me in silence. His expressions had gone back to normal immediately after we got out of the dance studio, almost as if nothing happened. I was about to run home but his words "I need to talk to you" didn't let me.

Though he hadn't spoken a word after, the silence wasn't uncomfortable. I was just curious about what he wanted to talk to me about. I had a feeling it was about today but I could be wrong. All that emotion that I'd experienced back in the studio had dissipated and thankfully there were no jumbo sized butterflies in my stomach- just tiny ones.

Even though he had come in his car, he chose to walk me home, giving us more time to talk. There was a soft breeze blowing today, which was slightly comforting. The sun had almost set, colouring the sky with different colours. I hiked my bag higher, adjusting it so that it didn't weigh me down much since we were walking. My body was alert as I walked beside Kade, even though I had put it through a lot in the past hour and a half.

"I'm sorry about today," Kade finally spoke.

My head snapped to him but he was already looking at me. The sincerity in his eyes was what caught me. It was as if he genuinely believed it was his fault somewhere when it wasn't.

"It was not your fault," I replied, voicing my thoughts. 

If Montana couldn't stop acting like a kindergartener, it was not his fault at all.

He shook his head slightly before continuing with a sigh. "I should have known she would try something like this. She has never been unable to get her way with everything so sometimes she crosses lines she shouldn't even touch."

I bit the inside of my cheek as my thoughts ran wild. Even though Kade probably didn't intend to, his words gave me a little bit of unease. If I was an obstacle in Montana's way for anything I had a feeling that I would be facing a lot of her antics and I wasn't sure if I could handle all of them.

"Kade?" I hesitated as I called out his name.

"Hmm?"

"Would it... Would it be okay if I asked you about your history with Montana? Like not just yours but who exactly is she? I just want to know where I stand with her," I asked, really coming up lost about what to expect from her. A little knowledge would really help. "I mean, you can totally choose not to tell if you don't want to<" I quickly added.

Kade sighed. "It's okay. You're a part of our group now and it's not right to keep things from you."

I looked at him, waiting for him to speak further. His face was thoughtful and seemed like he was trying to find a place to start so I gave him time to get his thoughts in order.

It made me feel nice that Kade was not opposed to opening up to me and he did genuinely consider me a part of his life now. Not that it wasn't evident before, but he had managed to erase the little seeds of doubts that people like Lillian and other ones at school kept planting in me.

"Before I explain though, the people at school don't really know what exactly transpired other than the fact that there was a fight. Some of them think that it was because we were upset because she was going to study in Paris," he ended with a snort as if the very thought of it was ridiculous. 

I nodded, getting what he meant. No one knew the truth and it had to be kept that way considering there was a reason why they didn't know it until now.

"The group became close to Montana when her family first entered the same social group as our parents'. Unlike the rest of us who've grown together since childhood, Montana entered the group a bit late, around middle school. She became a part of the group pretty easily," Kade started and I hung onto his every word. I didn't dare open my mouth to interrupt.

Our steps were getting smaller and smaller as we strolled towards my destination. I didn't want the conversation to be interrupted so I deliberately took slower steps and Kade seemed to be matching mine without question.

"Montana was the closest to Maddie but she and I weren't as close until she started having feelings for me back in freshman year. It took me about a year to reciprocate them but we started dating immediately," he spoke and my stomach dropped at having confirmed the suspicions of them being involved romantically.

One look at Montana and anyone could tell that she still harboured those feelings for him. 

I gave Kade a side-glance and noticed that his posture had gotten a little stiff and his jaw was locked, giving me an idea that what he was going to say was not going to be pretty. 

"Everything was going fine until Allison found her in bed with the guy Madison was dating back then," Kade jaw tightened as he glared at the pavement.

Oh shit.

No wonder the group was pissed at her. She didn't just cheat on Kade but betrayed her best friend at the same time. 

"The worst part is that it wasn't the first time she had done it either."

"That sucks," I blurted before my eyes widened and I looked at Kade. 

Of course it sucks, Kyra. Why would it not suck? You really couldn't find anything better to blurt?

Thankfully, instead of a negative reaction Kade's eyes lost some of their hardness and softened when he looked at me in amusement, a ghost of a smile tugging at his lips. "It really does."

We stared into each other's eyes, trying to communicate our emotions through them. I hope he understood that I was going to be there for him no matter what, just like I would for the group. 

I hadn't even realised that we had stopped until Kade's eyes flickered towards something behind me and I instinctively turned to see what it was. We had already reached the house and I immediately felt myself wishing that the walk was longer.

I could have walked back from the Tracks too if it meant getting to spend more time with Kade.

"Kyra?" My heart fluttered at the sound of my name on his lips. I looked at him, trying not to give away the fact that it did something to me.

I loved the way my name rolled off his tongue. I almost wanted him to call it out again but I resisted the urge to say something embarrassing.

His eyes softened as he spoke. "I need you to know that you'll be seeing a lot of Montana from now on. Since she's a part of the social circle that extends way beyond just school, she will be in our company more than we like. She'll try to take advantage of the fact that we can't officially kick her out of the group and try to get back with us," and him. He didn't say it out aloud but it was clear as day that it was also included. 

My stomach became a little queazy but I tried not to show that and quickly nodded. "Don't worry. I totally get it," I gave him a small smile, hoping that it didn't show the discomfort I felt inside.

He had confirmed a lot of my suspicions tonight and that wasn't a good thing. Even though I'd been expecting it, I was low-key hoping that all my suspicions weren't proved right. This meant that there were going to be a lot of new challenges along the way and I wasn't sure if I was ready for them.

"I guess I should go in now," I said, motioning towards the mansion behind me.

As much as I wanted to stand there with Kade, I didn't want my expressions to accidentally give away exactly what I was thinking. I had a lot to figure out and it was better if I let my thoughts take control once I was in the safety of my room.

Kade nodded with a small hesitant smile on his face. "I'll wait until you reach inside."

I gave him a smile of my own and nodded before turning around to leave.

I had made it halfway through the driveway when I heard footsteps behind me. "Kyra, wait!"

I turned around, surprised to see Kade jogging towards me. I looked at him questioningly as he slowed down in front of me. He gently grabbed my hand and placed something cool and metallic on it. 

"I forgot to give you this."

I looked at him in confusion before looking down at it. It was a round metal badge with a crown on top and #1 ACE written in the middle extending outside the circle and below it in smaller letters it said 'Official Seat Mate'. My eyes widened when I recognised what it was. 

Lance had explained that while Seat-Mates usually changed for most drivers, there was an exception given to the top three racers to have fixed official Seat Mates that didn't change without an official signing and only one driver in the history had a fixed Seat-Mate and that had been his wife.

"A-Are you sure about this?" I asked, still not believing that I was seeing right.

Kade just gave me a confident smile in response, his eyes sparkling under the streetlights.

"I missed my Seat Mate today and I would hate to go on another pre-race drive with an empty seat again," he said smiling mischievously at me.

Despite the fluttering in my stomach and his captivating smile directed at me, I couldn't help but let my thoughts focus on three words.

Empty Seat. Again.

Montana didn't sit with him today.

Safe to say, I couldn't remove my smile the entire way up to my room.

**************

Okay, who liked this chapter? :)

I hope it gave you at least some feels :D

Q: If you were to be any mythical creature, which one would you be?

A: I would either like to be a witch (a good one, of course) or a werewolf. I love the idea of having powers but I also love the idea of having soulmates. (The werewolf stories have clearly been spoiling me a little too much lol)

ALSO, BEFORE YOU STOP READING, I have a little something for all you lovely readers. Since you guys have been amazing (with all the love you shower through votes and comments), I have decided to a small contest of sorts (only if you're interested, of course).

I will be putting in the details in the next chapter so let me know if you're interested.

The prizes for the same would be:

Prize One: An imagine* and a dedication on their favourite chapter.

Prize Two: A dedication and the chance to name a significant character in this book.

Whoever wins first place gets to choose which Prize they want :)

Imagine*: For anyone who doesn't know what an imagine is, it is basically a really short story that has you and your preferred person (real or fiction) as the main leads. This means that it will be written either using your name or in second person which makes this story personal to you :)

Do let me know if you'd like to participate in this. I'll post the details accordingly on the next update!

Also check out a small interview I did with @fauxadf to get to know a little more about me and how I write!

THANK YOU FOR YOUR VOTES AND COMMENTS! <3