Page 3 of Jackrabbit

Xavier and James moved to the tool bench to get out of Beau’s way, their phones out.

“Oh, fourth, probably.” Liam leaned his hip against the front of the car, and Beau stared until he held up both hands and moved away again.

Camila put her hand on the top of the raised hood. “Fifth. Janette just traded in her Prius for one and brought it by for us to look at this morning.”

“Mhmm.” Beau leaned in to inspect the work even though he knew as well as Liam did that he was just pandering to the customer. He didn’t hire workers without talent. “Pumped ‘em all out at once, made ‘em pretty, and now these bugs are worming their way to the surface.”

“Holy shit,” Xavier whispered. His voice echoed across the garage anyway. “Did you see that? James, look at this shit. I’m gonna go back and watch it again.”

There wasn’t much to look at on the car. It was as perfect as it was going to get. He tested the tension on a few parts and shrugged. “Looks great, Liam. Now, tell the customer—”

“Go, go, GO!!!” Xavier whooped. James joined in, and Camila turned to glare at them.

“I just know you boys aren’t wasting time in my shop,” Beau said evenly as he wiped his fingers with a shop rag and turned to look at them. Camila threw up her hands. “It’s alright, Mila, I know you’re the only responsible worker I’ve got.”

“Hey,” Liam protested as he slammed the hood shut. “I was working, too.”

“Boss, come look at this.” Xavier snatched his phone out of James’ hand. “You won’t believe this guy. I’ve never seen anything like this.”

“I don’t have time to—”

“No, really,” James said as he rubbed his buzzed hair and shook his head. “The way he handles that car. The cops couldn’t catch him for twenty minutes, boss. And he just—you gotta see.”

“Seriously.” Xavier bounded over and handed Beau the phone. “Just watch. It’s crazy.”

Beau worked his jaw and took the phone. Easiest way to get these two to stop was to indulge them. Unfortunately, he knew from experience.

“Merc, you really don’t need to.” Camila crossed her arms and chewed her lip, and Beau raised both eyebrows at her. She flushed. “It’s…you won’t like it.”

“Don’t ruin it,” James sighed.

Xavier pressed play, and the video started with a dash cam view of a car going way too fast down an interstate road on the north side of town. The car weaved between vehicles like they were traffic cones, every move clean and effortless. The kind of movements that spoke of skill and a helluva lot of practice.

“Oh, shit,” a breathless voice laughed over the video.“It’s the fuzz.”

The sirens wailed, red and blue reflecting off the dash. This kid was a moron.

That same moron whooped as a cop car came at him from the side and he evaded it, and he was still hollering when one of the officers used a P.I.T. maneuver on him.

The screen split, and one half was taken up by the cab of the Nissan GT-R and a man. A gorgeous young man in his late twenties with a head full of curls and deep dimples. All that gorgeous was negated immediately by the vicious, cocky smile he tossed the camera as he raised his middle finger. Laughing just like—

Sweat drizzled down Beau's neck from beneath his helmet as a car came up on his left. His headset crackled with a familiar, deep laugh, and he turned to see Sutton, grinning like a fucking moron with his middle finger raised.

‘Christ, Sutt,you think we're on a Sunday drive? Put both goddamn hands on the wheel.’

Sutton laughed again. ‘Don't be such an old man.’ He looked ahead again, his grin slipping into a smirk. ‘Later, Beau.’

Then he was gone, his engine growling as he caught his opening and left Beau in the dust, and—

“Hey.” A soft hand landed on his forearm, and he blinked the garage back into focus. Camila pushed pause on the video. “You okay?”

He looked back down at the phone, the picture frozen on that cocky shit-eating grin as the kid was shoved shirtless into the back of a cop car. His tattoos stood out starkly against his pale skin, everywhere else pink with adrenaline. One arm, half his chest, and one leg entirely covered in ink.

“What a legend,” Xavier sighed.

Scowling, Beau turned off the screen and handed the phone back to Xavier. “Gonna be a dead legend before he’s thirty-five.”

“Nah, he’s too good,” James insisted. He pulled out his own phone and started the video over.