Wild Bastard by Ella Savitskaya (best feel good books txt) 📖

"No," I shrug, taking my sweatshirt from under the counter and slipping into street sneakers, "they can barely stand. Do you think they can do anything other than talk?

I arch an eyebrow skeptically, and then shout "Good bye" to Maria, the dishwasher. Check if the cash register is closed, shut the door behind me and take Lana under my elbow.

"I don't know. I could never do that."

I know she couldn't. Lana's like a cute little pet hamster. Fluffy, can even bite, but it doesn't hurt.

We go out into the dark street, and she calls a cab, as usual.

"And where will you find the money?" I return to the unsolved problem, reminding Lana about the incident, which makes tears gather in her eyes again.

"I don't know," she whispers dolefully. "Dan offered me to work the sum off if I couldn't find it."

"What does that mean?"

"To replace one of the grid girls on the track for free."

"Does he know who your brother is?"

"Yeah. That's why he offered. The guys are on the outs, and he knows if I get up on the track in that slutty outfit, Matthew's gonna be blown away. And my crazy brother will kill them and me. To hell with Dan."

"Hhhmm. How long does it take to work?"

"Three months," She sighs. Thin fingers are nervously rubbing the waistband of the small leather bag slung over her shoulder.

"How often?"

"Once or twice a week. They sometimes have unplanned races."

I look at her with a pity and try to figure out how to help. Well, if she had the money she's given me for the apartment, she could easily pay for the repairs and there would be no problem. Sooo... there is only one thing to do.

"I'll work it off for you!"

The brown eyes surprised rise up at me.

"Marina, are you serious right now? Because if you're joking, you're a terrible person."

I hum and rub her head like a baby.

"Of course I'm serious. What could possibly be scary about waving a fkashkight in front of a race once a week?"

"God, thank you! You're my lifesaver!" Lana jumps on me with hugs and kisses. "I'm your owner for the rest of my life!"

I laugh and pull her off me. All this calf tenderness puts me in a stupor.

It turns out it's not that simple when we arrive at Dan's. They've decided to change some of the rules. Now when a grid girl goes out on the track, she mustn't use flashlight or a flag anymore. She has to unbutton her top. And most important – she has to be without a bra. Why? It's clear even to the donkey that this way they attract horny jerks who bet, just to be able to gaze unimpeded at the breasts of the girls.

Without thinking too much, I agree, but decide to do it my way. Fuck them, they won't get my breasts. Dan wouldn't just let Lana go anyway. And judging by the way his eyes lit up when I told him I'd be doing the work for her, he liked the idea.

I had nothing to be embarrassed about. Another good thing is that after the race there's a party on the track where you can have a good time. And I just need that.

Today it is the third time I'm the track. Half of the male dogs I've met in the past few evenings are flying toward me drooling, but I'm not interested in them. I look for the one Lana was talking about. 

Her brother is back, supposedly from rehab, when in fact his father had sent his son to a closed clinic, where he was treated and given every other worldly good except alcohol and drugs. It must be nice to be treated that way.

I feel him earlier than see. My skin starts to burn like someone's set it fire. I turn around and meet sharp look of blue eyes. His gaze is mocking, haughty, and... frighteningly wild. It only took me a split second to realize what Lana meant. Even the expression on his face tells you that you should not get involved with such a person.

Often only one look can say a lot about a person. I learned to read people a few years ago when I was on the street. Sometimes you look at a person and you could already feel what is under his skin.

This one has chaos inside, which he carries into society and infects anyone who happens to be nearby.

But even he can be put in his place. I work in a bar, and I had to deal with all kinds of crazy people who were capable of a lot of things when they were intoxicated. So he is an interesting specimen, but not as bad as Lana had frightened me. Although for her, maybe that's exactly what he is. The girl's afraid of the spider in the corner, let alone her ex-junkie brother.

"Rinnah, hi," Sergio, one of the racers, comes up to me and Lera and kisses us on the cheeks.

"Hi, are you racing today?"

"No, I'm in the next race. We want to offer you to stay for the after-party. We want to have some drinks, music, dance. Right here, how do you feel about that?"

I nod my head affirmatively, not agreeing the answer with Lera. The girl is not my friend. We don't know each other very well, so I think it's up to each of us to decide what we want to do the rest of the night.

"I'm in."

"I'm in." She agrees too.

"All right, then. I'll pull some more people in."

"Okay."

I nod and look at the guys going up the stairs to call Alex and Matt. I think that's what Lana said his name was.

While Alex nods, the other one turns his eyes to me and seems to be interested in something, because they all suddenly look in my direction. Sergio answers, and Lana's brother's face blurs into a satisfied smile. And then I read his lips:

"I'm in."