The Bad boy, the baby and Me

11. Fun and furious

"Are they shooting fast and furious here?" I asked in amazement, gazing at the tracks beyond the clearing where Blake had parked the car.

We were in an isolated area, while the area around the tracks was brimming with crowds of all sorts of people, their chatter and the sounds coming from the exotic cars which were everywhere around the tracks, filled the silence of night.

I glanced at Stella who was in my arms. Her mouth was hanging open too. Hmm...smart baby.

"Unfortunately, no. these are illegal racing tracks." Alex stated.

"Wow, are you serious?" I asked him excitedly. I had only heard about such things or seen them in movies.

"That's nothing to be excited about. You shouldn't even be here. Neither should Stella." Blake grumbled.

I had never seen him so serious. Maybe, Alex's broodiness was rubbing off on him.

I narrowed my eyes at him, "You guys shouldn't be here as well. Where is Ashton? Is he here?"

Alex clenched his jaw. "Why don't you wait inside the car? We will find him and bring him here."

"And miss all the fun? No, thank you." I replied and Stella nodded her head in agreement.

"Millie, this is not a joke. Bad people hang out here. Mobsters, gangsters, criminal types." Blake reasoned.

"Then, what are you guys? Why are you here?" I asked, "Wait...don't tell me you are in a gang!" I exclaimed, partly horrified, partly excited and partly confused about where my enthusiasm was coming from.

Alex shook his head, "We are not in a gang. We just have some connections here..." he trailed off.

I detected his reluctance. They were still not telling me the full truth. I could do a better job by myself.

"Okay. I will wait in the car. You guys go ahead." I said.

They were shocked at first, then, recovered and gave me unsure looks.

I rolled my eyes. "I will not try anything funny. Go." I lied, waving my arms at them.

"I don't trust you." Alex grumbled, "First of all, you blackmailed us into bringing you here. On top of that, you brought Stella with you and now, you want us to leave you alone. If anything goes amiss, Ashton is going to have our heads. We were not supposed to show this to you."

I shrugged, "You have no choice. Trust me or take me with you."

"I will stay with her. You go ahead." Blake offered.

Damn Blake!

***

Fifteen minutes had passed and Blake hadn't even budged from his position in the driver's seat. He was happily shoving potato chips in his mouth while I was cursing my luck and Stella was chewing the end of my hoodie.

Suddenly, my eyes landed on the phone kept on the dashboard. Alex's phone. I glanced at Blake; he wasn't really looking at me. I quickly snitched away the phone and turned away from Blake.

I swiped at the screen, mentally praying that there was no password. The phone unlocked and I exhaled in disbelief at my luck. But, now was not the time to celebrate my victory. I quickly typed a message and sent it to Blake.

His phone pinged and he fished it out from his pocket. His eyebrows furrowed when he read the message.

"Something the matter?" I asked, casually enough.

"Alex wants me at the tracks. He says it's an emergency." He replied.

I couldn't help but chuckle internally. It was second time in a day that I had pulled the emergency card.

"Go, then. What are you waiting for?" I pressed.

He gave me a suspicious look.

"Do you really think I would even think about risking Stella's safety?" I challenged him.

It did the trick. After a few more lectures and warnings, he left.

I high-fived Stella. Sure, I would never jeopardize her safety, because, I was more than capable of protecting her.

I glanced at the pile of potato chip bags, stocked by Blake in the back seat and stole one, just in case of emergency. I placed Alex's phone back at its place and opened the car door, sliding out with Stella in my arms.

Idiots could have just locked me in but, well, I am glad they didn't otherwise I would really have missed all the fun.

***

Stella and I took in our surroundings with wide eyes. I had strapped Stella on my front with the help of a baby sling (which was also a courtesy of Julia) and zipped up my hoodie over her so that, only her head was peeking out. It felt wonderful to be hands free and still carry a baby, even though I looked more of a potato than I already was.

I was strolling aimlessly around the tracks, ignoring the peculiar looks people gave me (I must have been a sight!), when a muscular chest entered my line of vision.

"How much ya betting?"

I looked up to see a huge giant of a man, chewing gum, holding a writing pad, looking down at me. He reminded me of the incredible hulk, only everything about him gave me the heebie-jeebies.

"Uh...sorry?" I uttered.

The man raised his eyebrow, then, his eyes trailed down the length of my body.

Don't squirm. You are a strong, independent girl. I mentally chanted.

"Never seen ya here before. Are you alone?"

Dude, don't you see the baby? But, instead of saying that, I let out a nervous chuckle and frantically searched around for an escape route, backing away from him.

He took a step towards me and Stella started crying. Either he was blind and deaf or he purposefully ignored Stella, still approaching me.

"If you don't have money on you, you can bet with something else." The creepy dude leered, giving me a suggestive look.

Eww...gross. How dare he even let that thought cross his mind?

I was about to give the creep a piece of my mind, when suddenly, a hand snaked around my waist and I was yanked into a hard chest. Stella instantly stopped crying. I looked up and gulped.

Ashton's familiar blue-green eyes were staring down at me, giving me a murderous look. He turned his face away from me, not loosening his hold around my waist and took a deep breath to calm himself. He then turned to the creepy dude.

"She's with me." Ashton said, his voice dangerously calm.

Creepy dude immediately backed away, holding up his hands, "Relax, man. I didn't know she was your girl. I wasn't hitting on her, I swear."

I narrowed my eyes at him, but, didn't say anything because Ashton looked like he was in a mood to murder. (Creepy dude could thank me later!) Although, I did open my mouth to say that I was nobody's girl. But, Ashton beat me to it.

"Now, you know. Leave."

Creepy dude ran with his metaphorical tail between his legs. As soon as he was out of sight, I realized I was with Ashton. Alone. In this...compromising position. My breath hitched.

Damn! Furious Ashton is such a turn on!

Wait, what? I shook my head. This was not good, definitely not good.

I tried to wiggle out of his hold but his grip on my waist only tightened. My heart beat skyrocketed. Stella's eyes were flickering between us curiously.

Eyes. Avoid his eyes. Don't look up. No. no.

But, I couldn't control when I felt his burning gaze on me and made the mistake of looking up. And, boy, was it a sight to behold. His eyes never failed to fascinate me.

He sucked in a sharp breath. "Why, crazy?" he asked calmly, but, why did it feel like it was the calm before the storm?

Ashton turned me around, so that I was now, completely facing him but his hands didn't leave my waist. Stella snuggled closer to me, sucking her thumb. She did that when she was sleepy. Hmm...leaving me to face Ashton's wrath alone.

Wait...what was I afraid of? If anything, I should be the one asking him questions. Trust Ashton to make me the culprit everywhere.

I squared my shoulders and met his gaze confidently, "I can ask you the same thing. What are you doing in this shady place? What are you hiding?"

Ashton closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. "Don't fricking test my patience now, crazy. Who brought you here?" he growled.

I flinched slightly but stood my ground. Though, I must say, seeing him this tensed was a first. He was always in a playful mood, otherwise.

I contemplated whether I should tell him about Alex and Blake. I knew, Alex and Blake brought me here willingly, sure, my lame blackmail was an excuse, but, somewhere deep down, they wanted me to know. I didn't want to betray them now that they were starting to trust me.

"We brought her." Alex's voice broke my flow of thoughts.

I turned around to see Alex, Blake and Cameron standing there with grim expressions on their faces. Blake gave me an accusing look.

"Guys, chill! Nothing happened. So, there's no need to make a big deal out of it." I said, trying to lighten the mood.

"Of course, it's a big deal, sister."

I frowned at the new source of voice and turned around to see Julia glaring daggers at me.

What the hell? What was she doing here? And, most importantly, was Ashton here with her?