"You know you love it."

He answers her simply with a wild eyed smirk.

"It is a very quick way to earn a hundred bucks."

Trying to hide a smile, Ele gave Tyler a side-eye glance and lifted her chin a little,

"How do some of the guys view lady drivers around here?"

She asked, unable to hide her smile now. Turning back to Tyler, Ele leaned into him again and got comfortable.

"Especially out-of-town, city-slicker, single red heads?"

"For them, money is money. Maybe I could put you in the van and I could grab my mud truck but swap out the mud tires for my drag radials."

He chuckles and licks his lips.

"I would take my camaro but there is no way I could hook any suckers."

He laughs.

"That thing sounds every bit of its 3,000 horsepower."

"You're going to have to teach me how to race."

She said, feeling excited and slightly reckless. This seemed like it would be a lot of fun.

"Of course. Let's head to my place, we will setup the truck then go to the spot."

He stands up and smiles.

"This van is so easy to control, you will have no trouble."

He starts walking to the door looking back at Ele.

Hurriedly, Ele gathered up her things and brought everything inside and set the things on the counter. Looking down at her dress, Ele bit her lip and held up a finger to Tyler, realizing that she would not be appropriately dressed to be around cars.

"Hold that thought,"

She said, hurrying to her bedroom. Quickly she changed into a pair of jeans and a black tank top and hurried back out of the bedroom. Smiling at Tyler, Ele gathered her hair into a ponytail and slipped her feet into a pair of tennis shoes.

"Okay, that's better. Let's go!"

Skipping past Tyler, Ele hurried to the van,

"Hurry up slow poke! It's dark out and the night is young!"

He laughs and walks out to the van.

"It is gonna take around an hour to get to the spot, hope you are ready."

He climbs in the van and fires it up. He takes off, booking it to his house. He pulls his regular truck further into the yard to get the trailer out of the driveway. He walks over to his garage and looks at his mud truck, he quickly jacks up the rear end and removes the mud tires and replaces them with drag radials, doing the same with the front end. He sticks a bottle of nitrous behind the seat and gets it installed. He walks out to find Ele.

"Hey hun, I am just about ready. I am gonna go get a helmet for both of us."

He runs into the house and grabs a couple helmets. He runs back out and hands the smaller helmet to Ele.

"You don't have to wear it while driving to the spot but you should wear it when you race. I will coach you when we get there, just follow me. That van will not feel any different to you while driving it than a bone stock vehicle."

He walks over to his mud truck and fires it up. The truck looking odd with the high lift and smaller tires on it. He takes off for the spot driving normally with the truck.

It felt like butterflies were having a rave in her stomach as Ele went around to the driver side of the van. Yes she had driven the Camaro before, but that was only for a couple minutes and she hadn't gone over thirty. Even this minivan was more powerful than the SUV she was driving. Accepting the helmet from Tyler, Ele swallowed hard and nodded, trying to calm her excited nerves.

Driving the van to the spot was a breeze, and Ele had found the time passed quickly when she called Kate to talk on her way there. Arriving at the spot, Ele pulled the van up beside Tyler truck and parked. Leaving the helmet in the van, Ele hopped out and went to join Tyler.

He hops out and looks over at her.

"You only have 1 thing to learn to race this van."

He smirks and licks his lips.

"It is called spooling up or building boost. Turbochargers actually work with the exhaust. The turbo mounts to the exhaust on one side, the exhaust flows through the turbo, spinning one side and the one side drives the other side. The air from the the side that creates the power dumps into the engine. But in order to create enough air you gotta spool up the turbos so what you do is hold down the brake and give it gas. The turbos will sound like a jet, you hit the button on the end of the shifter and it will bump you forward 2 inches. Bump in until the flagger okay's you and then after that hold the brake and give it full throttle then release the brake, it will go from there."

Listening closely, Ele nodded as she took in Tyler's instructions. It sounded simple enough,

"Brake and gas together, bump until okayed, hold the brake and give it full throttle then release the brake."

Taking a deep breath, Ele reached for Tyler's hand,

"How do I know when to go? What if I lose?"

"They will step back and flash a light, when you see the light come on you go but don't worry about that for now, it is still early and most the races will be saved for later in the night."

He smiles at her and squeezes her hand.

"That van is in the top 10% in the state. It is fast enough to be very competitive but not fast enough to get a reputation. Not yet anyways. All the racers running tonight will be mostly kids with more passion then skill and more bravado than power."

He smirks, looking down at her again.

"The honda kids are usually 1 of 2 ways. Either little power or monster builders, if you see a honda civic here with a solid grill that has a single hole in it, don't challenge them. That will be almost a guaranteed loss. 500hp in a 1,500 pound car."

"Okay."

Ele said with a nod, feeling nervous. Standing close to Tyler, Ele knew she would be holding on to him as much as she could throughout the night.

"Fair warning, I'm your personal barnacle for the night. I'm attached and you can't get rid of me."

"I wouldn't expect any less."

He smiles at her. As they are standing there a guy walks up and starts looking over his truck.

"Hey man, you looking to run this?"

The guy asks looking over at him, Tyler smiles and nods, looking the guy over quickly.

"Yeah, I am down for 500."

The guy chuckles.

"I only have 200."

Tyler thinks for a minute.

"Alright, I will go 100, but later in the night, I am just relaxing for now."

"That's fine."

"Which car is yours?"

"Oh the hellcat over there with the big blower."

"Alright, sounds good."

The guy walks back over to his car, Tyler looks over at Ele and smirks.

"He has no idea what he just got himself into."

The night began and Ele did what Tyler had said, relaxed and watched. A few of the younger guys did their own races and Ele got a chance to see how they were done. But true to her word, Ele held on to Tyler's hand, sometimes pulling his arm around her.

Later on, a guy walked over to Ele and looked her up and down,

"You gonna race, gorgeous?"

He asked, and Ele nodded but looked at Tyler. It was his car she was driving, she'd leave the decision up to him.

He looks at her and nods.

"Have fun."

He mouths.

"$100."

When the guy isn't looking.

Ele nodded and turned back to the guy. Lifting her chin, Ele imagined that she was going for,to toe with an executive in the boardroom.

"$100. That's my ride,"

Ele pointed to the van, sounding confident. The guy looked at where she pointed and grinned,

"That's mine."

He said, pointing to a Toyota. Ele looked at Tyler again for confirmation.

He smirks quickly and nods. Knowing the car isn't turbocharged having listened to it roll in.

"Have fun hun."

He leans in and whispers.

"That is just a basic 6 cylinder ride, doesn't have a turbo on it."

"I don't know what that means,"

Ele gave Tyler a somewhat confident smile. She had an idea of what Tyler meant, so she was learning. Giving Tyler a quick kiss on the cheek, Ele turned back to the guy and nodded.

Going over to the van, Ele felt slightly nauseous as she slid into the driver's seat and started the engine. Rolling it slowly through the crowd, Ele followed the Toyota to where the race would begin.

"I don't know what that means,"

Ele gave Tyler a somewhat confident smile. She had an idea of what Tyler meant, so she was learning. Giving Tyler a quick kiss on the cheek, Ele turned back to the guy and nodded.

Going over to the van, Ele felt slightly nauseous as she slid into the driver's seat and started the engine. Rolling it slowly through the crowd, Ele followed the Toyota to where the race would begin.

He makes his way up to the staging area and walks to her window.

"You should heat your tires up a bit, this is all wheel drive so stay back a little, spool up the turbo's and when it starts to whistle release the brake and let it roll about 20 or 30 feet. Should get better traction that way."

He smiles and kisses her cheek before stepping back. Letting her get ready.