Me too

Being around Victor's family is both fun and bittersweet, I didn't have a whole lot of friends growing up. I was always the girl without parents. Zara, Drew, and the bar crew are my family. I've lost touch with any friends I did have from high school, them moving off for bigger and better things. I've witnessed the Russo dynamic multiple times but it's still something to get used to. Their jabs and jokes are in good fun but their family love is apparent and they've embraced me with open arms. It's slightly overwhelming. I try not to dwell on what I haven't had or missed out on, I'm so incredibly grateful for my uncle, sometimes the emotions just sneak up on you.

"You alright?" Victor asks from the driver's side.

I snap out of my funk and give him a reassuring smile, "Yeah. Your family is one of a kind."

"They definitely are, sometimes I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing." he laughs lightly.

"It must've been fun growing up."

"It was never quiet or boring, and Chase was always over so it was like having another brother around. Five boys wreaking havoc."

"Poor V."

"Oh yeah, she had it pretty bad. Vance and Chase really messed with her. She held her own though and never did rat any of us out." He smiles fondly at what I assume are memories resurfacing, "I'll never forget the day she knocked out Vance with a bat."

I shift in the seat to face him, "What?"

"It was an accident but it was so damn hilarious." He chuckles. "A bunch of us were playing baseball, V was probably twelve or so. She had this bad habit of flinging the bat backwards when she made a hit, we all learned pretty quickly not to stand behind her when she was up." He shakes his head and laughs, "Vance was running his mouth as always, so it was pretty fitting that he got whacked. He fell like a sack of potatoes."

I laugh at the vision of him getting whacked in the head with a bat and falling over. Vic filled the drive with stories of their upbringing and I enjoyed every minute of it. Before I knew it, the car slowed to a stop, a trail of cars with their blinkers on ahead of us, all leading to the entrance of what I assume is the track. My attention turns to take in the surroundings. There's so many of them, all kinds of cars, heck if I know what they are. Some look older, some newer, there's some motorcycles too.

"Wow." I express my amazement at how full the place is.

"It feels so long since I've been here, hasn't changed much." His eyes scan the area.

"Are you excited?" I glance back at Vic, he looks happy, alive. This in return makes me happy, a smile spreading upon my lips. His attention moves to me, his eyes scanning my face, a slow smile forms; lighting up his whole face. Ugh. He's so incredibly handsome.

"Yeah, I'm excited to be here and I'm excited you're here with me."

I cannot help my smile from widening until it hurts, "Me too."

A small honk behind us alerts us that the car in front of has moved. "Oh shit it looks like they opened the other side of the booth." Vic shifts into gear and guides us forward. They have in fact created another entrance. I glance behind us and notice the long trail of cars backing up every day traffic.

With the new entrance line things move faster and smoothly, I watch everything with interest. I've never been here or experienced this side of the car world, it's so fascinating and exciting! There's cars parked in what looks like little groups, people standing all over the place. It's like something out of a movie. I wiggle dance in my seat- out of excitement, Vic's deep laugh pulls my attention back to him. "This is so fun!" I gush excitedly.

Vic smiles at my enthusiasm and maneuvers the car slowly through the lot. It's a large parking lot and it's already pretty filled with what looks like cliques or crews. I don't know if they have an official term to describe them. I take in the surroundings while we move through and Vic parks his Mustang just down from the bleachers. A chain link fence sits about ten feet away and beyond that is the track. Vance's car is on our left, V pulls up on the right. V is the epitome of bad ass. When Vic's car shuts off, we both excite and move towards the front. The group seems to gather together, I watch as Wes lifts his hood. Huh? Why did he do that?

"It's so his opponents can check out his set up." I glance at V who's leaning towards me.

"Oh. But what about everyone else?" I ask, noticing that no one else is doing it.

"Wes does some serious racing, it's frowned upon to make bets but it's a big hush-hush underground thing. Everyone else just gets bragging rights."

"Ohh, is it illegal?"

"I guess to an extent, they're not street racing so they can't get into real legal trouble. I've never really asked though."

"Street racing? That's a thing?"

"Oh yeah." V nods. "It's pretty big. I hear it's invite only and you have to be a trusted person of that ring. Messages are sent out an hour prior and it's always changing."

"It's so fast and furious."

V laughs loud, "Yeah, I guess it is."

"Have you ever gone to one?"

"Oh no, my brothers won't let me go anywhere near that."

"But do they?"

"Not that I know of, they have big mouths, I wouldn't trust them with that information."

A loud revv pulls both our attention towards a big crowd not too far away. The crowd seems to have made a circle around a blacked out newer muscle car. Another guy sits upon a black bike, revving it. The group separates enough that I notice the guy leaning against the muscle car. No one's next to him, no female's hanging on him. He's seemingly alone-even in the middle of a crowd-and prefers it that way. He's striking and intimidating. He's the kind of guy that brings you trouble.

A hand on my shoulder brings me out of my musing. "Yeah?" I glance up at Vic.

"You good?"

"Yeah, just taking in the scene."

Vic glances around, "Yeah, it's definitely more crowded than it used to be."

"Victor?" a voice calls out pulling both of our attention to the guy approaching us, "Yo bro! It's been forever!"

"Justin, hey man."

"Dude, it's good to see you back! You gonna race tonight?"

"I don't know yet."

"I heard you got married! Congrats man, is this the missus? Lucky dude!" Justin is chatty.

Vic shifts uncomfortably next to me. I smile at Justin's compliment and step in, "Thank you, you're not so bad yourself." He smiles wide at the ego boost so I keep the attention on him, "What car do you drive?"

"Oh my girl's back there." He points his thumb over his shoulder.

"Are you gonna race?"

"Yeah, I'll run a few. Do you race?"

"Nope, this is my first time here!"

"No shit, well I'm sure after tonight, you'll want to come back all the time."

Justin's name is being called from behind him, assuming his friends. "Oh shit, I'm up! I'll check up with you guys later." He jogs off, leaving us just as quickly as he approached us.

"He seems...chatty." I glance at Vic.

"Yeah, he's a good guy just in his own world. Thanks for the save, hadn't really thought of having to explain that I'm divorcing."

"No problem and you don't have to explain it to anyone."

The announcer booms through the speakers, "Helllooo Racers and Spectators! Welcome! Looks like we have another full house, thanks for coming out." He seems to read off rules and safety procedures, and ends it with a, "Let's race!" The crowd cheers loudly and revving from the front is deafening. It sounds as if every car is responding.

The night is spent watching and learning, Vic explains things to me so I can understand what everything means, what's happening. I watch V and Chase race each other, then pick on each other when they return to the group. Which has grown, other females have joined and I haven't missed the glances Vic's been getting. He's oblivious to them or is just being nice since he came with me. I have no claim on him and part of me wants to remind him, let him mingle, but that other part of me wants to move into him and claim him.

I need some space.

I lean into Vic, "I'm gonna go to the bathroom."

He glances at me, "You want me to go with you?"

His question makes me smile, "No I'll survive." I pat his shoulder and turn to leave.

"V" Vic shouts, "Go with Jade please."

I look over my shoulder, "You think I'm gonna get into trouble or something?"

He eyes me up and down, "Definitely."

My heart zings in my chest. V loops her arm through mine and pulls me towards the porta-potties. The smell of burgers and fries lingering in the air, making my stomach grumble.

"Victor is so back in his element." V states as we approach the restrooms.

"Why did he stop coming?" Melissa was the obvious answer, but why. Couples can have separate hobbies and still have a great relationship.

"Melissa didn't enjoy it like we all do. She came in the beginning then stopped, slowly Victor stopped coming as well."

"I'm a little surprised by that to be honest."

V eyes me, "How so?"

"Vic never seemed like the type to give up his hobby like that."

V's shoulders shrug, "He loved her and it's easy to lose yourself when you're so wrapped up in someone else."

I fucking hated that woman. As much as I wanted to hurt her, I'll leave that up to karma. She'll get hers, hopefully sooner rather than later.

"You're good for him." V's comment pulls me out of my thoughts.

"I'm glad I could be there for him." I am, I truly am.

"It's a shame that you guys couldn't date first."

I don't say anything to her response and move into the porta potty. That's the second Russo to say that, in a roundabout way, my conscience can't help from agreeing. Me Too. But maybe we're right where we need to be now. Fate is a fickle bitch but I believe she knows what she's doing.

Among the lack of time and my mental state, this chapter was idle for a long time. I worked on it a little bit at a time, and when I say little, I mean exactly that. Thank you for your patience. I know it's not the most thrilling chapter but I hope you enjoyed it.

I will continue to say this until I'm blue but I truly am so thankful for you all. Thank you for the support, the continued praise and understanding. The last month has been rough. If you do not follow me on social, I've been working WAY too much. I sleep, eat, and work. Occasionally writing a sentence or two here and there. I was also involved in a hit and run, that was a whole mess in itself. I'm okay and things are all figured out, I got my car back on Friday. I spent the holiday weekend with my husband and kids, enjoying their company.

Please vote and comment! I love hearing your thoughts, it also helps me develop my draft into it's final product!