Read Online Unhinged by Timberlyn Scott - Free Book Online Page B

would take me, or my father would. I
chose option B, which at the time seemed like the lesser of two evils. I still
questioned my decision sometimes.
    Conrad hadn’t been
happy with the threat, but he eventually saw the light. That didn’t mean that
he didn’t hate me. I was pretty sure he did.
    I didn’t fucking care.
    “Awesome. You get to
put on the penguin suit.” Toby’s roaring laughter yanked me away from my
negative thoughts.
    I darted my eyes toward
the door, but my father was gone.
    “Fuck off. Shut your
face or I’ll make you come with me.”
    “Bullshit.” Toby recoiled
as though I’d hit him with a cattle prod. “You ain’t gonna get me anywhere near
those people. What if that shit’s contagious?”
    “What shit?” Leif
asked, sipping his beer and peering over at Toby.
    “That hoity-toity shit.
Man, I don’t wanna walk around like I’ve got somethin’ stuck up my ass, thank
you very much.”
    “Too late for that,”
Leif offered, amused.
    I laughed. I couldn’t
help myself.
    Toby was a country boy
to the core. He didn’t have an issue speaking his mind. He was polite as hell
around most people, but when it was just the three of us, he didn’t hold back.
    “Will his assistant be
there?”
    I snapped my head over
to look at Leif. “What are you talking about?”
    “I saw her on
television, man. She’s pretty fucking hot if you ask me,” Leif replied.
    “No one asked you,” I
snarled, remembering that my father had mentioned a spur of the moment press
conference he’d held earlier that afternoon. That had to be what Leif was
referring to.
    “Defensive much?” Toby
asked with a bellowing laugh.
    “Fuck off.”
    “Man, you need to get
laid. You keep making offers, but ain’t no one here taking you up on them.”
    I flipped Leif off as I
headed to the refrigerator and grabbed a beer. Dropping onto the couch in the
corner, I crossed my legs at the ankle and reclined against the armrest.
    As I closed my eyes, my
mind drifted back to Payton, thanks to Leif’s comment. I wondered whether she
would be at the party. That snotty bitch Jasmine had always been invited to the
parties my father threw. Didn’t mean Payton would be there, but hell, it gave
me something to look forward to.
    “Why’s your old man
releasing the car now?” Leif asked, his voice coming closer to where I was
sitting. I forced my eyes open, watching as he made his way to the sofa across
from me. Toby wasn’t far behind.
    “Shit if I know,” I
answered. “He’s been harping on me for a while now. I think he’s hoping for
seven figures on this one.”
    “Holy fuck,” Toby
exhaled sharply. “Seriously, man?”
    “Yep. The last one went
for just shy of a mil.” Personally, I thought it could have gone for more, but
my father caved at the last minute, accepting the highest of three offers.
    I had to admit, the guy
was pretty damn smart when it came to business, but his bargaining abilities
needed some work.
    “Did he let you take
the car out?” Leif questioned, resting his big, beefy arm along the top of the
other couch after planting his ass down on the leather.
    “Nope.” I had been
willing to show them just what that car could do, but Conrad had refused, just
as he always did.
    No one knew that I took
the car out anyway. Topped that motherfucker off at two-oh-nine on the track.
Too bad no one had been there to see it. Not even Toby or Leif. As much as I
wanted to brag about it, I never did. That was my thing, and if someone found
out that I raced every car I worked on, I was pretty damn sure Conrad would put
a tracking device on me just to keep tabs.
    So I kept my mouth
shut.
    “Speakin’ of racin’,”
Toby said in his good ol’ boy drawl, leaning forward and resting his elbows on
his knees as he pinned me with bright blue eyes.
    “No one said anything
about racing,” I mumbled, smirking around my beer bottle.
    “We’re always talkin’
about racin’, man. Get with the program,” Toby