Cassie Pov

As I'm putting my bike into the back of Lucy's truck; Gunner walks over to me. "I'm having a party tonight and I want you to be there."

"Really?"

This is the first time that someone on my team invited me to a party and I need to make sure that he's not joking.

"Yes," he looks over my shoulder at another team mate. "I know we've left you out on a lot of things over the years and I think it's time that we start to include you in it. You're one of the guys now."

I never wanted to be one of the guys. I just want to be treated the same as anyone on the track.

He gives me his address and I type it into my phone.

"I'll see you soon." I put the cover over my bike and tie it down.

Gunner and a few guys walk away.

Lucy looks at me. "Are you going to the party?"

"I was thinking about going. Why?"

She looks at Gunner retreating back. "I have a bad feeling about that group."

I place my hand on her arm. "I'll be fine, sis." I look at Callum who's sitting in his black Mazda mx-5 2017 convertible. "Callum, will be there. He won't let anything happen to me. You know how protective he is of me."

She looks at the car. "Yeah, we all know how protective that guy is of you."

"Cassie, are you ready to leave?" Callum calls from his car.

"Yeah," I hug Lucy. "I'll see you tomorrow. How about we grab a coffee from the cafe down the road from my place?"

A smile spreads across her face. "Sure, then we can talk about what we're going to do when we visit our Grandparents."

"See you at ten." I walk away from my sister and climb into Callum's car.

He turns towards me. "Where are we going tonight?"

I give hind the piece of paper. "We're going to Gunner's party tonight."

He lets out a breath. "At least I won't have to kick a guy out of your condo in the morning." Callum pulls out of the parking lot and he heads towards the house where the party's at.

***

When we get to the place I see people walk through the golden gate that has a massive H on it.

I didn't know he was rich.

Callum looks at the house and then back at me. "Cassie, I can't go in there. I'm supposed to be keeping a low profile and going into that house will blow it."

I touch his arm. "I get it. Can you pick me up in an hour?"

"Okay," he looks at a group of people that are trying to look into the car. "Then we can go home and watch a movie."

A smile spreads across my face. "That sounds great." I kiss his cheek. "thanks for dropping me off." I grab the door handle and step out of the car.

"That's Cassie." A guy says. "She's been tearing up the track and she even won tonight against the host, Gunner. I'm surprised that he invited her to the party."

"What if she out shines the host." His girlfriend says. She looks at me. "I don't like her."

It's not the first time I've heard negative things about myself from strangers.

I'm just not going to let it get to me.

She jealous cause she's not talented and well known like me.

I don't need nor want people to approve of what I do.

Ignoring them I walk over to the gate where a security guy is checking names on the clips.

He looks up as I approach. "Well look at who we have here." He says loud enough for people to stop talking. "It's tonight's champion on the track Cassie Tyler."

This is the last thing that I wanted.

A group of people walk over to me and take pictures of me.

Gunner walks over to the gate. "Okay, everyone you will see Cassie later on."

I step through the crowd and walk over to him. "Thanks,"

He places his hand on the small of my back. "The guys are playing beer pong. They want you to join in."

"Okay," I let him lead me to where the guys are.

We enter the grand foyer and my eyes land on the double stairs that lead to the second floor. The handrail is gold and there's a chandelier hanging from the ceiling.

A table with roses has been moved over to the stairs.

Gunner looks at me. "What do you think of the house?"

"It's great. It reminds me of the one that my Grandparents own in Las Vegas."

His mouth drops open. "You're Grandparents are from Vegas?"

"Yeah, why?"

A smile spreads across his face. "I used to spend time near a farm that had a bike track and car track built for their Granddaughter who races."

"I'm the Granddaughter that races and you're talking about my Grandparents farm."

He nods. "I was heading that way over the weekend. I was told that they have a famous racer that's going to be on the track. Do you know anything about this?"

"No,"

He whispers. "I was hoping that it would be you racing. It would be great to see you drive something other than a bike."

We stop at the ping pong table. Where my team are waiting for me.

Kyle gives me a ball. "The guest of honour is finally here. Are you ready to play with the guys?"

I throw the ball into a cup and one of the guys drink from the cup.

Kyle throws his and it doesn't land in a cup and he curses.

I throw the ball again and it lands in another one.

Kyle picks up the cup. "Bottoms up." He drinks from the cup.

Tyron picks up the ball and he throws at the cup on my side. The ball lands in the one close to me.

I pick up the cup. "To winning more races." I drink all the contents in the cup in one go.

Gunner throws the ball and it misses the cups and he curses.

"You'll get the next one Gunner."

"Sure, I will." He nods in the direction of Kyle who throws the ball and it lands in a cup close to me. I hold the cup out to Gunner. "You can have that one too."

Are these guys really trying to get me drunk? It takes a lot more than two beers to get me drunk.

I throw the ball and it lands in another cup.

Tyron picks up the cup this time. "Have you played this game before, Cassie?"

I shake my head. "No, but I used to do a handstand on the keg and drink threw the straw that way."

"I'm impressed." Tyron drinks the beer in his cup.

I hear my message tone and I pull my phone out of my pocket and I see a message from Callum.

Callum: I'm here.

Me: I'll be right out.

Looking at the guys I say. "I have to go.  Thanks for inviting me." I walk out of the house and head to the main road where Callum is waiting for me.