The combination of the stress of the past few weeks, nailing down funding for the race, and the sudden new relationship in his life, combined with the attendant drama there, had all apparently caught up with him. It wasn’t even that late, but he was fighting the fatigue already.“It’s bad when the old farts are perkier than the young buck,” Oscar commented off-handedly as he continued to work on modifications to the manifold Jake had spent the better part of two days earlier in the week trying to repair. In fact, it’s what he’d been working on when he’d left to go pick up Lauren for the first time. It was almost impossible to believe everything that had happened since. It had all evolved so quickly. If anyone had told him he’d not only be willingly involving himself with someone this close to race time, not to mention her family drama, too, but actually looking forward and excitedly anticipating whatever came next, he’d have never believed it. And yet, here he was.“Earth to Jake.”He looked up to find Ace staring at him, holding a diagram he’d just finished on a proposed engine modification.
