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She also wanted to be with Gray This was a big race He hadn’t done all that well in the Michigan or Bristol races and he’d dropped in the standings Now in second, Atlanta was important She needed to be here with hi here wouldn’t make him race any better She needed to listen to her own advice She’d told Stacie that Donny didn’t need her to be here holding his hand The same held true for Evelyn

Still, she wanted to be here, supporting hiernail and stared at the latest polls co up on her laptop

"You really shouldn’t be here"

She whirled to find Gray staring at her from the steps, horrified that she’d so lost track of time

"Tell me I didn’t ear into a chair "It was practice, Evelyn Not a race"

Dammit "I’m so sorry I just popped in here to check some stats and answer a few eot involved reading sos and a fes capsules Then I made a few phone calls--"

He jerked her into his arms and kissed her, which always seeht out in her When he pulled away, she was languid and turned on But still felt guilty

"I’m still sorry I missed practice"

"And I don’t expect you to park your ass out there and watch me every second

You have a job and it’s crunch time You should be at the convention center You should pack up and go"

She shook her head "I need to be here with you You’re ht now"

He tucked her hair behind her ear "I’ve already agreed to come to the convention

Your job here is done Go work for my dad I think I can race without you"

"You can But I’ to let you There will be plenty of time for me at the convention after you race this weekend"

He slid his arms around her "You’re a stubborn woman, Evelyn"

"I prefer determined"

QUALIFYING HAD BEEN TOUGH, HOT AS HELL, AND JUST as frustrating as a race And it hadn’t yielded the results Gray had been looking for

A sixth-place spot wasn’t going to put hireat Obviously not great enough Even worse, Donny had crashed during qualifying, so he’d have to start the race in the back

After he answered what see team’s backslide over the past feeeks, which to Gray hadn’t seemed like a backslide at all, he was hot and tired and in need of Evelyn’s sweet face He looked around the pits for her, shocked as hell to see his father there

What the hell was Mitchell Preston doing here? As far as Gray knew, his father had never once attended one of his races How utterly ti, a week before the convention Of course he was all sine what his father was talking about

Hi the American people how i Gray into his can

All bullshit

It was the last insult to an alreadyday He headed over to where his father was surrounded by ca hi his forward progress

"Are you surprised?"

He dragged his gaze away froed his head fro about? Did you arrange this?"

Noas her turn to look confused "Me? Of course not I had no idea he was going to show up He shocked the hell out of et hi out here watching everyone qualify, Gray"

Sure He had the whole time to work the crowd "I’ to reporters right now"

"Of course he is That’s what he does That’s why he’s here"

It was just like school again, his father only showing up to stu reasons Not for Gray

Not ever for Gray

He waded into the crowd of photographers and reporters and pulled his father close

"Gray," his father said, his smile wide "You did so well today I had no idea you were so talented I’m so proud of you"

Of course he had no idea, because he’d never shown up But he wouldn’t do this here Not in front of all these reporters

He smiled for the cameras, but turned so only his father could hear

"I won’t let you manipulate me, old man Get the fuck out ofto look back to see the expression on his father’s face

Because he didn’t care how Mitchell Preston felt

He should never have agreed to this media circus He knew fro his father at horaphers set Gray off This should have been about racing, not politics, and he knew then he’d been right all along

He should have said no No matter what kind of emotional blackmail his mother had tried to use on hiht years old again, with that gut-punch feeling of hurt because his dad had just let hi was never going to go away

TWENTY-FIVE

EVELYN LEFT THE SENATOR IN THE HANDS OF HIS AIDES, instructing theet the senator out of there, that there’d be no joint intervieith Gray and Mitchell Preston today She made up the excuse that Gray had other commitments today, and they’d try for another day

She knehere to find him--in his trailer, the only place he could be assured of privacy