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amount of time using his looks to get what he wanted from practically any girl or woman that he wanted. Now when he looked at himself he no longer saw the hot guy that every girl in high school wanted to date, or every woman in college was willing to sleep with. What he sees now are his brother’s eyes and his mother’s face…
    “Shit!” He grabbed a towel and dried his face and went out into the kitchen. His dad was already up and had the coffee brewing. He felt guilt when he looked at his dad too, but at least his dad’s eyes only looked at him with love and respect. “Hey Dad.”
    “Hey, I thought you were off today,” his dad said.
    “I am. I just couldn’t sleep anymore. I think I’ll go over to the shop and work on the Charger.”
    “You have a race this weekend?”
    Conrad ran a tight racing crew, but he was definitely an exception. Most of his crew had been raised by absent or abusive parents and some of them were homeless when they hooked up with him; he hand-picked them all for their individual talents, not for who they were or where they came from. In Conrad’s case, his father and his stepfather both not only knew about his racing, but they both actually helped him build his car almost from scratch. He’d bought the Charger completely stripped and now it was an ultimate racing machine. Conrad’s one last reason for really living these days was his hopes of becoming a professional racer someday. With his talent, his and his stepdad’s contacts and his father’s support it was a safe bet to believe that was going to happen probably sooner rather than later.
    “Yeah, tomorrow night and Saturday,” he told his dad.
    “Did you get that exhaust leak taken care of?”
    “Yeah, I wasn’t sure I could take another night of breathing the fumes. Last weekend I was high by the time I crossed the finish line.” His dad laughed and Conrad went on to say, “We just replaced the whole exhaust.”
    His dad looked at the clock and said, “That’s good. I guess I better get on the road or I’ll be late. I’ll be back Sunday night but I’ll have my cell on if you need me.”
    “You’re picking up that load in Sacramento yourself?” Conrad’s father is a brick-layer. He ran his own business and sometimes that meant traveling when he didn’t have a guy available to pick up what they needed for a job.
    “Yeah, the guys all have a ton of overtime already this month. We’re on a tight schedule with this new building the city wants put up for the rec center. I hated asking any of them to give up their weekend too.”
    Conrad had nothing but respect for his father’s work ethic, at least where that was concerned he’d had two great examples. He works for his step-father and he’s another one of the hardest working men Conrad had ever known.
    “Okay Dad, be safe. I’ll be back at the apartment tonight but do me a favor and just text me when you’re back.”
    His dad stood up and put his hand on Conrad’s shoulder. “I will. You be safe.”
    Conrad nodded and said, “Always.” That wasn’t exactly true. Conrad needed the adrenaline that ran through his veins when he was taking a risk almost as much as he needed the blood there. His father didn’t need to know that though, Conrad had already caused enough problems in everyone’s life.
    **
    When Conrad got to the shop Shawn was already there. He and Shawn Linken have been friends since kindergarten. Shawn hasn’t had an easy life, and he’s not the most attractive guy in the world, but he’s a really good guy and Conrad loves him like a brother. “Hey, what the hell are you doing up so early? I thought you’d be in bed with Lyndsey until noon today after the night you had planned for her.”
    Shawn almost looked sick. “It didn’t quite go as I’d planned.”
    “Shit, I’m sorry, man. What happened?”
    Shawn picked up a torque wrench and continued what he was doing when Conrad walked in. “It’s just not going to work out.”
    “Man