"So tell me again the plans that you have for the next race."
Era exhaled a controlled breath, praying that Trez would be as easy to control as her breathing.
"I plan to be better."
She looked at Trez' face and saw the silent question on how she plans to be better.
She silently curses the inability of Trez to verbalize questions. She hated how he could force her to talk just by staring at her.
She lost her controlled breathing and exhaled a loud sigh full of frustration.She knew that her answer wasn't acceptable because Trez wanted her to give him detailed plans. Not just a 'I want to be better ' plan.
"I know that I wasn't ready when I did my first professional race," she said, rolling her eyes at Trez' unbelieving face.
"I just got lucky with my win!" She added , hastily.
"You know that! I'm not ready to face those kinds of opponents and now that they saw my driving style, we both know," she said, waving her hands in the air to make her point.
"We both know that I can't win against them again with my current skills!"
Her frustration has nothing to do with her lack of driving skills but how she could not have a read on Trez' face.
She had no idea if he was buying her bullshits.
She didn't want to race again in a professional race because she would devote a lot of time to practice. And it's not something she could afford right now.
Not with her side hustle. The money she was earning from escorting Ridge was double than the amount she's going to get from winning another race.
She had done the math. She could get a huge amount of money after the race—that is if she placed another second place.
But the months of rigorous training will be paid with just enough money to cover their monthly expenses in the house.
Not the hospital bills. And definitely not the loansharks that didn't seem to stop breathing at the back of her neck–and her family, making sure that they didn't forget to pay.
Trez had no idea about those things. He thought he was paying her generously. Which he truly does. With the kind of skills she has and her being a novice on the racetrack, she's being paid well.
However, she has other things to consider. More responsibility that could not be paid with just dreams.
She needs cold cash.
Her father's life and her whole family need cold cash and need it fast.
And being an escort to Ridge covered that. Hence, she was playing this 'I'm not good enough yet ' game with Trez.
She didn't want to spend a lot of her time on practice. She needs to escort Ridge so that money flows easily and quickly.
Because her due dates are waiting for her. And they don't care if she's ready or not. They don't care where she'll get the money or how she'll get it. All they wanted was to be paid. Be the loansharks of the hospital.
They both want one thing and one thing only—cash.
She snorted in retrospect.
On how she felt disgusted the first time she was offered the job of being an escort girl.
And how she is making excuses now to put racing on hold to be an escort girl.
It still baffled her how things flipped.
"That's why I was waiting for you here for days but you've been playing hide and seek without telling me."
She exhaled a deep breath full of guilt.
"I'm sorry. But I don't think I'm ready to race again soon…"
She bit the inside of her cheeks as she looked at Trez' impasse face.
She found herself praying for him to take her bullshit excuse and not make any more fuss about her. He had other drivers, more capable and willing to drive for the team.
She knew that most of them hate her because Trez was being biased with a novice like her.
The guilt she was feeling intensified. She swallowed the breath she was holding and looked at the pair of birds resting on the metal fence, wondering if she should just tell Trez the truth.
"Are you doing other stuff nowadays?"
"W-what?"
Her eyes widened as the back of her neck warmed up. She wondered if Trez knew her secret hustle.
"I'm just asking," he said, casually pulling a cigarette and lighter from his shirt pocket.
He looked at her before lighting a stick.
"I need to know because I remember you saying you'll dedicate your life to racing if I accept you in the team. What changed?" He took a deep hit before blowing the smoke into a series of round smoke in the air.
"I was young and naive back then," she said in a flat tone.
She knows that Trez is playing the guilt game. He could easily win if she didn't have those loansharks waiting at home.
"I didn't know how little I knew about racing until I experienced my first real race. Besides, I don't want to be second place again."
She felt sorry for Trez.
"We both know that guy Seven isn't an easy opponent. If I want to take first place from him I better improve."
She heaved a relieved breath when she saw a shadow of a smile on his vacant face. She knew she had a chance to get away.
"You can check my time for this week and you can see that I'm not just playing hide and seek with you. I just decided to come here late at night to avoid the other guys…you know that they don't like me that much even after winning for the team."
She celebrated inwardly how she turned the guilt game on him.
Her father's words echoed at the back of her mind. 'The best way to lie is to tell it with a hard fact.'
When Trez reached out his hand to ruffle her hair, she didn't step back. She let him because she knew she had already won and she's just giving him a consolation price for losing.