Page 257 of Sincerely, Butterfly

“Excuse me?” Nola growls, and fuck, it’s adorable how stabby she can get.

“Watch what you say, Landry. You don’t want to start a war you know you can’t win.”

He flips me off before pulling ahead.

Picking Nola up, I put her in the passenger's side and strap her in.

“You sure we can’t pin all the murders onthatasshole?” Nola asks as I turn the car around, bringing it to the starting line.

“As much as I’d love to, that motherfucker is too stupid to be able to have pulled off being the Butterfly Killer. No one would ever believe it.”

“Can I just kill him then? If his dad is going to be behind bars, he’s free game, right?”

“Unfortunately, no. His uncles would default as head of their family, and trust me, no one wants those crazy motherfuckers in charge of anything.”

“You could just kill them, too. Problem solved,” she says it so simply.

I can't help but chuckle. “I love how eager you are to solve all our problems with murder. But believe me when I say, as much as I’d love to do the same, we can’t.”

“Fine,” she huffs, crossing her arms, looking all cute and grumpy.

“You know what we can do,though?”

“What's that?” she asks.

“We can crush his pride and leave him in our dust.”

“Let’s do it.” She grins.

I rev my engine, the thrill I always get when I race starting to set in. Nola starts to vibrate with anticipation, a big grin on her face as the flag girl gets into position.

“Ready?” I ask Nola, not taking my eyes off the road in front of me.

“So ready.”

Rolling my windows down, I ignore Axel’s smack talk and focus.

The second the flag goes, I floor it.

Nola lets out a shrill scream of excitement before it breaks into hysterical laughter.

My lips twitch with a smile as I shift gears.

Axel is hot on my tail, and it doesn’t take long before we’re side by side.

Three laps, that's all it takes to win.

We’re pretty even by the time we’re heading toward the second round. That’s when this asshole thinks he can cheat.

This crazy fucker starts to swerve into my fucking car.

“Fuck!” I shout as I’m forced to correct myself before we fucking crash.

“Is he allowed to do that?” Nola asks.

“No,” I snarl. “He’s just butthurt he’s going to fucking lose.”

“So he’s cheating?” Nola sounds pissed for me. “That asshole. Well, fuck him.”