Page 102 of Jackrabbit

Metal shot out of the wreckage and smacked into Colt’s passenger window. The plexiglass spiderwebbed, and Colt’s car tried to swerve from the pressure of the impact. He kept it straight with a will he hadn’t known he had, his foot buried in the floorboards.

He shot out of the smoke into clean air and an open track, nothing but a graveyard of twisted metal and yellow flags in his rearview.

“Clear.” Beau’s voice was wrecked, all gravel and that steely calm he got when he was about to lose his shit. “P1, Jackrabbit. Christ. Bring it home, boy.”

—

Beau fit his hand over his mouth and dragged it down, his legs like jelly, adrenaline shooting sharp and violent through his veins.

“Coach.”Colt’s breaths were tight and wet, and if the race weren’t about to end, Beau would have pulled him. Fuck.

“Yeah, boy, what is it?”

“I feel like I’m gonna hurl.”

A desperate, rasping laugh bubbled up out of Beau’s chest, and he rested his forehead against his hands while Colt and all the safe drivers came to a stop on the track. “Don’t you dare. You puke in your helmet, you’re cleaning it yourself. Unless you want a second puddle to clean.”

Colt laughed, pained. “Can’t handle a little upchuck?”

“Naw, boy.” Beau shook his head, eyes focused on the hood of that yellow car. “Toast puked on my rug a few weeks ago, and I threw the whole damn thing out.”

“Weak.”Colt sucked in air and groaned. “Red flags suck. It hurts, Be—Coach. How much longer?”

Beau glanced at the clean-up effort. “Ten minutes, maybe. Take your hands off the wheel and shake ‘em out. Breathe. You’re doin’ so good. Hold out a little longer for me, alright?”

“Only ‘cause you asked nicely.”

“Brat.”

“Sadist.”

Colt was breathing better by the time the pace car was out, but he had to be feeling the pain. He kept his car as steady as he could while it tried to crab-walk from the impact on the side during the wreck. The suit had given him space while he talked Colt through the cool-down, but she was back by the end of the first pace lap.

“He didn’t lift.” She leaned her forearms against the railing, headphones down around her neck. Not listening to them since the crash, Beau thought. “Most drivers would have lifted.”

“Not mine,” Beau mumbled as he watched the track. “Colt, you lost three to the wreck. The 54 is out, too. Was right behind you when it happened, anddidn’t make it through. But you watch the 22. She’s been close the whole race. P5 or P6 for most of it.”

“Yeah, I saw her.”A strained laugh. “Knew she’d be good. I’m glad she’s still on the track with me.”

Sure enough, when the green flag dropped and they restarted for the last four laps, #22 made an immediate move. She pulled up alongside Colt in Turn 1, forcing Colt to defend his position with a series of bitten-off curses. Beau ached for him, already planning how he’d try to fix it later, rules be damned. If he had to bring in a goddamn professional to his own house, he would. Colt was hurting something awful.

“Good, Colt.” The bar was cold under Beau’s hand as he rubbed the peeling paint off the metal. “Just like that. You keep going just like that.”

Beau hardly breathed through the next two laps, his heart in his throat, his toes digging into his boots. Colt was struggling as he defended his place from #22, who was hunting him hard. The car was off the line just enough to tell Beau Colt couldn’t fight through the pain without compensating anymore.

“Shit,” another coach said, three people down the line. “That TikTok kid isdamngood.”

Several others joined the conversation, but Beau didn’t have time to listen.

“White flag, Jackrabbit.” Beau peeled his fingers off the bar just to clench them back on. “Just one more.”

“Thank fuck,”Colt hissed, voice wrecked and shaky. “Can I have a drink? Please, God. Give me a drink when I’m done.”

Beau lowered his voice. “Boy, you win this race, and you can have anything you want.”

“Anything?”Colt rasped, the word strained by the G-forces of the backstretch, barely a whisper. “Don’t make promises you aren’t gonna keep.”

“I don’t,” Beau rumbled. His eye caught a blur of purple. “She’s coming at you on the inside. Watch her on the next turn.”