♛Cameron Dawson♛

It's a crazy idea. An absolutely, incredibly, undeniably, ridiculous idea.

But I agreed to it anyway.

I'll admit that she isn't the first person to ask me for something so crazy but she is the first person I've ever agreed to. I know I probably shouldn't have agreed but I can see that there is more than what meets the eye with Harley. And she is desperate for an escape. Who am I to deprive her of an opportunity to help her with that? I cope with life by racing and it would be selfish of me not to help someone else in the same way.

However, she is still frustrating. She's sassy and snarky when she wants to be. She's insane; showing up at an illegal racetrack and then asking the unbeaten champion to teach her what he knew. She doesn't belong in my world- she's too innocent. And my world is far from that.

But if she loves cars as much as it seems, as much as I can see, then maybe it'll be worth it to her.

I'll admit she isn't half bad. In fact, she's far from it. She seems to understand the basics of racing more or less. The issue is that she's always nervous; she isn't confident enough. If she hit the tracks in a legitimate race she would surely crash the car due to panicking. It's the same thing with people who drown- most of the time it only happens because they panic.  Not because they can't swim.

"Cameron!" A familiar voice calls out and I look up from the engine of my car to Emery. He's a short stocky man who is always clad in a suit with a shiny bald head.

I wipe my hands on my jeans and smile at the man who is the only fatherly figure left in my life.

"Are you racing tonight?" He asks and I nod.

"Yes."

Emery is the founder of the track; he controls everything. The prizes, the racers, the races themselves. This is his business and he pumps a lot of money from it. Not only him, but a lot of the other people, too. Because unfortunately there is more than just racing going on here at the tracks.

"Are you betting cash or car?" He asks as I close the hood of my car.

I shrug again. "Most probably car."

Betting car meant that if I won, I received my opponent's car. It's worse than betting cash which is why only the best of the best actually use it as a method. I, for one, enjoy it the most. It pushed me further in the race to my upmost ability because, come on, who doesn't want to win a car?

Emery makes sure that when the prizes are handed over, all legal documents are too. They aren't necessarily achieved legally but it would be easy for someone to give over their car to the winner and report it as theft the next day. That's why Emery takes his job seriously; because there are quite a lot of things on the line. This also means that Emery is strict as hell; he's all business when it came to the tracks. He takes no shit from anyone; not even his best racers. He's definitely a man to be reckoned with and I can tell that my father would've admired that about him.

"I take it that you'll be spending more time here now that your classes are over?"

I nod with a smile. "Of course, Emery."

Emery smiles, seemingly happy with my response. I know that Emery also requests my presence quite frequently due to the fact that I have a reputation. Due to me being the unbeaten champion, it puts Emery's track at an advantage over others because people love to come and challenge me to a race. This leads to different people pitching up and before you know it, your support is growing at a fast rate.

But then again, I also didn't really have anywhere else to go except for the track.

"Alright. I'll see you tonight Cameron." Emery bids me his goodbyes and I nod in acknowledgement.

"Cameron! My man!" An excited voice catches my attention just as Emery leaves and I look to my left to see Mason Whitley approaching me.

There are the regulars at the track. That means that we spent majority of our time here which makes sense as to why there are still so many people hanging around even when there are no races going on; because it's like a second home and to some of us, our only home. We have a bar in the building, below Emery's office, that's never quiet as well. Even in the dead of the night. The track is always alive; never asleep or dead either.

That was how I met Mason- he basically lives here. Despite my brotherly relationship with Caleb, I have made a few friends here at the track who at least come from a somewhat similar background to me. Of course not nearly as corrupt or shameful but still close enough.

"Mason." I greet, giving him a pat on the back when we're closer. "How are you man?" I ask.

He shrugs, his broad shoulders stretching longer than mine. "I'm at the track so I guess you could say I'm pretty great."

I chuckle at his words as I walk besides him into the air conditioned bar. "You racing tonight?" I ask and he nods, pulling out a seat at the mahogany bar table. The bar is simple; dark wooden furniture, dimly lit with red lights hanging behind the bar table and a pool table on one side. It reminds me of the ones back in Colombia. Perhaps that's why I like it.

"Why wouldn't I?"

I shake my head at his words. Mason is a good racer; never a sore loser like Ryan, another friend of mine. I never raced against Mason; there wasn't really a point. We were on the same side. Everyone who belonged to this track never raced each other- it'd be like racing family- so we race people from the outside.

"I'm assuming you're betting car tonight?" Mason asks me and I nod, the bartender giving me my usual order of a glass of whiskey.

"You know it's my favorite." I smirk at Mason and he chuckles.

"I can't really blame you."

I chuckle before downing my glass of the strong alcohol. "I'm heading out. I'll see you tonight though, man." I tell Mason, slapping a hand on his shoulder.

He nods. "Aight."

I bid my goodbyes to him and stroll back to my car before heading home to my own apartment. It isn't far from my college and it's a decent size with two bedrooms and a pretty large lounge, too. I can admit that most college students wouldn't be able to afford it considering I paid quite a lot but then again, I'm getting more than enough money from the track to sustain myself. In fact, I'm doing pretty great.

When I came here from Colombia, I was adamant not to get involved in illegal dealings; I wanted to leave that life behind. But I couldn't give up racing- not the one thing that I could actually identify with.

However, that's as far as my illegal dealings go; I race, get the money or car and come back home. No extra dealings or involvements in things I shouldn't be involved in.

I'm done with all of the shady business. It was all I ever knew my whole life and I sure as hell wasn't going to get involved, again, out of my own free will.

By the time I'm finished showering and cleaning myself up, it's already one in the afternoon and I text Harley, letting her know I'm on my way to pick her up from work. When I'm parked outside of the dainty coffee shop that she works at, I climb out of the car and head inside, the bell ringing above my head to let the workers know that a new customer has arrived.

I gaze around the coffee shop and take note of the airy feeling it gives off. The smell of coffee beans is strong and it reminds me of how my father's office smelt, especially when he was locked up in it for a whole night trying to do work while he downed cups and cups of coffee.

I walk towards a lady with feline features and brownish hair and when she looks up from the cash register, her eyes widen before she smiles politely. "How may I help ya'?" She asks through her Southern accent. I respond with a polite smile.

"Could I have a cup of camomile tea? To go, please." I ask, digging in my pockets to fish out a two dollar bill. "And could you let Harley know that I'm here?" I ask and the lady with the name tag reading 'Allison' frowns at me.

"Um, alrighty." She responds however, she has no need to call Harley when she walks out of the back door with a loud laugh and a tall man next to her.

"Ah, there she is." Allison says and I watch as Harley smiles to herself after the man makes a joke. As soon as she sees me though, her smile turns to one of confusion.

"I'll speak to you later Harley." The man says and she returns her attention back to him to nod with a smile.

"Alright. See you later Joe."

I take note of the fact that that's her boss. She then walks gingerly to the counter where Allison was before she moved to make me my tea. "Hey Cameron." She greets, her hazel eyes crinkling when she smiles.

I raise an eyebrow at her. "I texted you that I was coming to pick you up after work."

She purses her lips. "Sorry, I haven't checked my phone for a while."

I ignore her words, glancing at Allison who comes back with my tea and hands it to me. I give her the money and she returns my change. "C'mon. I'll be waiting in the car." I inform Harley and she nods.

"Let me just get my stuff." She mutters, walking to a rack on the wall and hanging her apron on it. I walk back to my car and climb inside before I take a sip of my steaming tea, it slowly making my shoulders relax. I watch Harley walk out of the shop, the slight breeze blowing her golden brown hair around. When she opens the door to my car and takes a seat, I put my tea in the cupholder.

"Are you ready to go?" I ask and she nods silently, making me switch the car on.

I glance at her subtly and chew on my cheek in thought. There's something about Harley that makes her get under my skin. Maybe it's the fact that she likes to ask personal questions which I'll never be able to answer despite knowing she's asking because she's actually genuinely interested, or maybe it's the fact that she's one person who could get a reaction out of me and still come up with a snarky response.

"Sorry I didn't answer my phone." She apologises softly and I lick my lips, glancing at her briefly. Her eyes are casted towards her lap and I frown to myself.

For someone who always has something to say, she sure felt bad for things that were stupid.

"It's fine." I say in response.

When we're back by the exact same spot we were yesterday, we swap seats and Harley shakily grabs the steering wheel before turning to me.

"We're going to do the exact same thing as yesterday."

"But I screwed up yesterday?" She asks incredulously.

"Which is exactly why you need to get it right." I counter back and she closes her eyes for a brief second before opening them again and starting the car up.

"Hit a hundred miles and remember what I told you when we get to the curve."

She nods and steps on the gas, moving the car forward at a blurring speed. I watch her as she stares right ahead, her concentration purely focused on the car. However, she chews on her lip as she drives and I take that as form of nervousness. She doesn't trust herself.

We start approaching the curve and she lifts her foot of the accelerator and turns the steering wheel so that we move along with the bend in the the road. She steps on the gas again, and I almost grin that she got it right, when she stalls the car and it comes to an abrupt halt.

"Damnit," she hisses to herself, holding her head in her hands.

I wait for her to finish her mental breakdown before she looks at me expectantly.

"Stop letting your fear control you." I respond. "You are in control. You can't control life Harley, but you can control this car so start doing that."

"I'm sorry." She mumbles and I shake me head at her.

"There's no need to be sorry, Harley. You just need to push yourself because you're not as bad as you think you are." I inform her and she stares at me with her eyebrows drawn together and her brown eyes swirling with unease.
They are the type of brown that remind me of the dark coffee I drink now and then; strong and intoxicating. They are the colour of the earth after it has rained, like the sun shining through a glass of whiskey. I have never really seen brown eyes much like hers ever before.

They're beautiful.

I avert my attention back to the road. "Lets do it again. And this time, believe you can."

•••

Drop a vote and comment please! :) I love reading what you have to say and it's super encouraging!
What did you guys think of the chapter? The first ever chapter from Cameron's POV? This book is written in both Cameron's and Harley's perspectives so it will alternate every few chapters.
You guys also got to meet Emery- an important character- and got a little bit of an idea of Cam's past... what do you think of that? Any theories?

I love you all x

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