"What the hell are you doing here?" I gaped, when the man himself showed his face to me.

"It's called the grocery store for a reason." He said nodding his head at me in acknowledgement and placed the cauliflower back in its spot. "But I never thought I would see you here though."

I rolled my eyes at him. It was my typical response to everything he had to say these days. Robert Hastings stood there as if I was the one who was interrupting his dear business of buying his flowers.

I had seen him stalk me for the last twenty minutes until I decided to confront him. He was wearing a black shirt with a cap. He had covered his head with a hoodie to keep others from recognizing him.

"Why were you staring at me?" I asked, not wasting any time. "You were too shy to come up and talk to me? When did the world turn upside down?" I wondered out loud.

He chuckled and turned towards me. "I didn't want to disturb your shopping." He said vaguely. "What are you buying anyways? Noodles and waffles?"

"Hey, it's called food by people." I defended, "You are buying them too."

He put his hands up in surrender and I walked forward with my cart to get it billed. It was not that cold today and I wondered why Rob was wearing a cap with extra jacket on him. It was creepy and the words that Nick said about calling him if anything went wrong popped up in my head waving a red flag.

"I saw your Dad." He said from behind me and I stopped short. "He looks good."

If it was someone else telling me this, they would have definitely made fun of it. The king of the race is now selling flowers in a small shop downtown? It was not an everyday scene. It had only been a day since he started and I didn't know if words traveled faster.

Robert smiled at me, with no hidden spite behind. There was surprise for sure, but there was something else too. A bit of approval that he was doing something for himself and not relying on anyone else. This was new for me and I was happy that Rob, out of all people, didn't judge.

"He is." I said, not wanting to tell him about the stupid drunken Dad story. "He wanted to do something with all the time he has." I explained, even when Rob was not asking for any. "Wants to put his mind elsewhere, you know."

"It's a good thing, right?" He asked, as we came to the counter to get the bill. "Makes him independent in a way."

I nodded, not saying anything in return. I stopped my cart in front of the employee who already looked bored for the afternoon. She chewed her gum, waving her hand, motioning for me to put the items for bill.

I put the items one by one on the table in front of us. "You are not taking that cauliflower?" I teased. "I thought of buying it for you."

"Ha-ha." He said in a disinterested tone. "Very funny."

I chuckled, giving her the money that I owed for the items while she put them all in a cover for me. I made my way out with Rob trailing behind me.

He kept his pace parallel to mine and it seemed as if we were going together somewhere. His cap was bigger than head and it covered most of his curly hairs, wanting me to take it out just to see those curls. His rugged jeans appeared to be a bit loose and he was pulling it up every five minutes.

"Someone can't seem to keep their pants on." I commented, looking straight ahead of me. My lips curved into a small smile, unable to keep a square face.

"And, someone seems to like it." I looked at him dumbly. He wriggled his eyebrows suggestively and hit his stomach with my elbow. "Sorry, sorry. I couldn't help myself."

"Why are you following me again?" I asked, turning to face him. He had been acting weird all day. He had been glancing at me creepily in the store and when I caught him, he seemed to act so cool about it. And now he was following me like a lost puppy. "What's your deal today?"

He looked at me and smiled, as if I was not getting this whole scenario at all. He tilted his head towards his right and waited for me to understand. I crossed my arms across my chest and stood dumbly waiting for him to explain what was happening.

Rob dropped his act and took his cap from his head with a defeated sigh. He scratched his head, looking clearly uncomfortable about what to say next. I started tapping my right foot, pausing for him to tell something. This boy was really testing my patience.

"Are you free this Tuesday night?" He asked finally, looking at me for my answer.

I gave a slow smirk at his choice of words. "If you are going to ask me out on a date, won't you make sure that it's a weekend?"

It was not rare for me to be asked by the racer boys and as always, I had said no. Racers and I, were not a good match at all. Back then, I hardly knew anything about cars or the tracks while they knew nothing more than the confines of the trails. But now, I was now one of them and if not nothing, I knew something about the paths they rode on.

Rob on the other hand was a player. I had seen it too. Even though he was asking me out, he was not actually meaning it and we both knew it. But it was fun to see him skimmer under my tone for once.

"So you want me to ask you out on a weekend?" He pouted in a cute fashion, making me smile at him. "Honey, I've got other girls in line waiting for their turn."

I chuckled at his response. "Can't you make an exception for your favorite girl?"

I walked further with my bags with him trailing behind me, exchanging the silly banter which would lead us nowhere. But it was still fun and it alone made me forget all my worries for the current time.

Rob walked forward with his eyes meeting mine as the path ahead of us faced his back. "Since you are my favorite girl, am I your favorite boy?" he winked.

"Are you sure your hangover from yesterday is long gone?" I asked with a snort. I knew he always supplied goods during the weekends. "Because, I'm pretty sure you are still stoned."

I shook my head at him as he still walked further with his face towards me. He was acting peculiarly cute and I found it adoring. Robert stopped short at my sentence, making me bump into his hard chest. Though he looked skinny, he was strong and I felt like I was dashing a wall. "Hey!"

"I don't drink." He said, who now started walking properly. He also helped me with some of the bags that I carried, not looking at me. "Just because I supply goods to parties does not mean I get wasted."

"Okay," I said, nodding. "That means you are not dazed. Then, what makes you ask me out." I wondered out loud, gaining a laugh from Rob.

"Babe, any guy would kill to ask you out." He said with a genuine smile. When my expression didn't alter, he paused. "Didn't that kid ask you out yet?"

With all the things that I was dealing with, I didn't know if I had time for the distractions that I desperately needed. I couldn't waste my time while my Dad's life hung in the line.

"He hasn't, has he?" Robert gawked, thinking the worst for me and I had to roll my eyes at him.

"Anyway, what makes you ask me out?" I asked, walking further. It was probably one of his tricks to fool me into something. "Did you suddenly see how hot I am?"

"I wish it were true, love." Robert grinned, teasing me and earning a hit from one of the bags that I was holding. "But seriously, are you free Tuesday night?" I was about to say that I was not until the weekend, but he held up his hand when I opened my mouth to retort. "If not, you make yourself free." He gave me his hundred watt smile.

"What?" I laughed, not able to understand where this was leading. Tuesday was two days away from today and he was demanding me to be free for him. I mean, what kind of date works out like that? "Other girls you know are not free that night?" I teased.

"Come on, Scarlet." He pleaded. "I promise, I'll behave."

I laughed again. He was acting ridiculous and it was definitely not because he was seeing something right in me and making a go for it. I was sure it was not a date. "What's up with you?" I asked, stopping to look at him. "For real."

"Fine!" He called out loud. "It's not a date that night. You just have a race. I thought pretending it to be a date would work well for you."

"Okay... what?" Now I was confused. How in the world did he do that—be that cool guy flirting and bringing a smile on my face and in the next moment give a jolt which was too hard to recover?

I had hardly come back to ground from the night's race and here he was telling me that I was racing again in another two days. I was still not good behind the wheel. Sure, I could go and reach safe and sound if given a vehicle, but I was not yet race trained.

I still needed practice and rehearsals.

"Yeah, you have no idea how difficult it was to get you into it." He explained. "I had to tell them that you were a professional and you will win just to spite them."

This was the time when I started to hyperventilate. This was not happening and I was not racing to spite someone I didn't know. There were goose-bumps, making my hairs on my neck stand straight dreading the night I had to look forward to.

How I wish it were a date with Robert than this race I was about to face.

"Hey, Scarlet." Robert came to hold me, steadying me on my own legs. "It's not that big of a deal, okay? It's just a race. No big things with fire and shit that you saw in mine. It's a normal one with just racers and cars."

I nodded, unsure of what to expect. There was still time and I could prepare a lot and make myself look good. Or I could quit telling that I was going to be sick on that day.

"How many racers will be there?" I asked in a small voice.

I knew the number of racers didn't matter and I should be able to drive against them, no matter the cars when I knew how to compete. But there was only one race in my history which would give me that experience. I knew it was not enough, not even close.

Robert put his hand behind my shoulders once he made sure that I was okay with the initial shock. He led me further when he never knew where we were headed to. I followed him all the same with no attention to what was happening when all I could think of was the dreadful race.

I was left in wonder how I was still scared when someone mentioned something about me driving competitively with others. A part of me told me that it was just the jitters and I would be doing fine once I got to sit behind the wheel, but the better part of me said otherwise.

I tried to believe the small part, though. After all I had experienced and the after effects it had was something that I could never get tired of. The adrenaline rush, the screams of your name, the cold airy night all gave me a boost to go ahead. The only question that remained was if I would feel the same every time I sat to contest.

"I don't want you to freak out, Scarlet," Robert said in all honesty and I nodded, crossing my fingers for good luck. "It's a high profile race and they won't reveal much until the last minute."

"You mean, before they say go?" I asked, half curiously and half sarcastically, leaving it all to him to choose the underlying humor.

He snorted. "Something like that." He pulled me closer to him and for a second our head collided. "See, you are already familiar with the rules. It's in your blood!"

That was the last thing I wanted to hear.

"What does the winner get?" I asked hesitantly. Since it was high profiled which didn't reveal anything about it before hand, I was sure it cost a lot too.

"Now you are talking!" Rob cheered, making me smile shyly along with him. "You get a BMW car if you win!"

"And the looser?" I asked too soon. It didn't matter what the winner was getting, because he always won something. What about the others who can't make it to the finish line? What were they losing to make that one person as the winner?

"A little amount of money for sure." Rob said tentatively looking for my reaction. I made sure that I was not giving out anything from my expressions. "But you don't have to worry about it, Calvin is going to take care of it all. Then again, I know you are winning, so no worries."

My head was dizzy with all the information and now I wished it was better to sit in that Starbucks sipping the hot coffee with some stupid studying to do rather than face this.

"This is what the surprise Calvin was talking about?" I asked.

"You are smart." Robert put his hand on top of my head and messed my hair. "I knew there was a reason why they kept you at school rather than throwing you out."

I glared at him. With all the information I had got, I knew it was huge and the race I had at the tracks was a test to see if I was capable. I was scared.

"Robert?" I asked, unsure of everything.

"Yes, babe."

"Will you be there?" I looked up at him expectantly.

Though he drove me nuts all the time, he was the only guy who was able to talk me into it. If I was to backpedal tomorrow, I wanted him to stay and push me forward. After all, he knew how to analyse and I could pretty much use an earpiece for myself.

"There's no place I would rather be, than be next to you, love." He winked.

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A/N: So, another race. Are you guys ready or do you still need time to recover from the last one? ;) Well, I would push it ahead for another chapter or two. What say?