Jealous Onlookers

Aaron opened his mouth to argue, but clamped it shut and just nodded numbly. "Okay... thank you." He turned and started to limp away, then paused and glanced over his shoulder to speak quietly. "I'll just be in my room... I can be ready any time." 

Finally leaving, he was halfway to his room and almost ran into Pete. "Oh. Sorry."

Pete stopped and blinked. An apology? "I wasn't watching where I was going." He squinted at Aaron. Something seemed... off. He looked like a whipped puppy. What on earth had happened? Pete fingered the filing folders he was holding. "You alright?"

"I'm fine." Aaron looked away and continued the slow route to his room.

Pete watched him leave, then shook his head and went to the security room to set the folders on the desk. "Hey Sam? Make sure Hal gets these, would you?" He thought for a moment. "Oh and... what's up with Aaron? He looks like he just lost his best friend." He stopped. "Not that he has one, but you know what I mean."


Zan's eyes twinkled and he left his hand gently on Destiny's face as he chuckled. His own heart was racing as his own cheeks flushed. Without even trying, she gave him just the kind of ego boost that made him feel worth her attention. His thumb caressed her cheek affectionately. "Yeah well... I think I'm gonna have to get me some more of your kisses," he responded, keeping his voice quiet.

Getting enough of his senses back, he straightened in the booth again and took another sip of his coke. His eye caught a nearby table with several people at it who looked away just as he spotted them. He bit his lip and threw Destiny a teasing glance. "I think we got some jealous onlookers..."

Their food arrived quickly, and he moved back to give the waitress room, but still refused to move to the other side of the table. It was too nice sitting right next to her. And... that way, he could hook her angle with his under the table just... to tell her he was still paying attention to her. Keeping her hand in his, he said a quick prayer, then kissed her hand before finally letting her go so they could eat. "I'm a little nervous about tonight," he admitted. "As much as I wanna get rid of Thunder, I haven't been able to best him yet, and I don't want this thing to blow up."


Dylan nodded at Ryan's question as he took a slice of pizza too, taking a thoughtful bite. "Yeah. Hunter's told me about the races, so it'll be nice to actually see it in person."

"I was telling him earlier all about our current situation," Hunter elaborated. 

Dylan nodded again. "I wanna see you guys race for real, but sounds like you've got a job to do tonight. I do want to come anyway though." 

Hunter leaned back and put one foot up on the coffee table. "Thunder is a jerk, but it's not like I haven't bested him before. I'm just mad he's got a personal thing against Zan, and he's taking advantage of the novice racers." He paused and gave Ryan a long look, and his tone softened just a little. "I think there's a lot of people who are gonna be excited to see you back. Talk about an entrance. Coming in and throwing out the trash before you race for real again."