Marcus leaned against a pristine matte-black muscle car gesturing broadly to the rows of roaring engines "What do you think?

Beautiful machines right?" asked Marcus.

Alexander walked alongside him his eyes scanning the modified imports "Did you seriously buy that Corvette just to come to this meet?" asked Alexander.

"Of course" replied Marcus chuckling as he checked his watch "I completely totaled my last car during the previous race so I urgently needed a new ride."

Alexander shook his head a cold smile on his face "You’re completely insane you know that?" stated Alexander.

"Do you honestly think I do anything without a guaranteed profit?" asked Marcus his tone turning sharp "Stop being such a total party pooper or I won’t invite you out again."

Alexander stayed quiet realizing Marcus actually had a point.

The guy lived on the edge but he always had a calculated strategy.

Marcus nudged his shoulder nodding toward the sedan "So what kind of Mercedes are you running today?" asked Marcus.

"It’s the E 450" stated Alexander.

"Hmm that’s a good piece of machinery" muttered Marcus analyzing the specs in his head "It’s definitely better than the 350 turbo in terms of top-end power.

You have way more horsepower but your initial acceleration is slower.

The heavy corners are going to cost you a lot of time when you try to re-accelerate.

Come on I’ll pay your entry fee as it’s five grand.

If you feel confident enough you can do a personal high-stakes bet—wager your own machine or put down extra cash.

The twenty-five thousand is just the standard event prize but the organization uses it as a guarantee so if you make a side bet you have to pay up on the spot."

Alexander adjusted his jacket his expression completely neutral "Let’s do it" said Alexander "I still have an appointment with Stephen later tonight anyway."

Marcus abruptly froze his eyes widening slightly "Wednesday huh?" muttered Marcus a knowing smirk rapidly spreading across his face "I see as I won’t ruin the surprise for you so I’ll just say... have fun."

Alexander frowned annoyed by the secrecy "Hey don’t be like that" said Alexander "Tell me what’s going to happen."

"Hehe no way" replied Marcus laughing as he walked toward the registration desk "Just go have fun at Stephen’s gym.

The guy is an absolute machine so if he tells you to jump you don’t ask questions you just ask how many times as the man is a true master believe me and he’s going to turn you into a real man."

Alexander let out a mocking grunt "Like you?" asked Alexander.

Marcus turned around his expression dead serious despite his grin "You can say that as a joke but anyone in this entire warehouse can suck my dick real hard" stated Marcus "There is absolutely no way I’m losing out there.

Even though I’ve been incredibly busy and haven’t gone to Stephen’s place these past few days I attended consistently for several months straight so I have total confidence."

They finally reached the organizers’ table at the back of the warehouse.

The moment Marcus stepped into the light the men behind the desk stood up shouting greetings and shaking his hand as if he were a household name.

Everyone in the underground circuit seemed to know exactly who he was.

Standing just a step behind him April and Ivy were practically vibrating with excitement.

If Alexander had the widespread reputation of being the university’s cold prudish prince Marcus was the absolute alpha of the campus.

He was the guy every girl whispered about a living legend of guaranteed explosive orgasms.

Rumors constantly swirled around the dorms that spending a single night in his bed was a surefire ticket to touching heaven at least five times before morning as there was even a running joke among the girls that if you ever got invited to Marcus’s apartment you had better bring a massive gallon of water just to keep from getting completely dehydrated from coming over and over again.

And here they were standing right next to the king himself at an elite event that practically oozed pure adrenaline.

April was completely in the clouds her eyes locked onto Marcus’s back but Ivy was still holding back her expression slightly more grounded as she glanced between Marcus and Alexander.

Marcus slapped his hand down on the registration sheet pointing a thumb over his shoulder at Alexander "My friend here wants to run the sprint" said Marcus "He’s driving a Mercedes E 450.

Clean completely cherry."

The organizers shifted their gaze to Alexander nodding in appreciation.

Everyone in the room knew exactly what the term cherry meant in the underground racing world as it was the universal code for a completely stock vehicle straight from the dealership showroom without a single aftermarket modification.

Cherry cars always ran in their own designated bracket because the playing field had to be strictly managed since any modified car no matter how ordinary it looked on the outside could easily have a savage high-power animal of an engine hidden beneath the hood which would give a driver a completely unfair advantage on the tarmac.

The head organizer let out a low whistle checking a digital tablet on his desk "You’re in luck Marcus" said the leader tapping the screen quickly "The absolute last race for the cherry bracket is literally about to start right now just before we move on to the real men.

Tell your boy to get his car to the starting grid immediately as let me call them up and tell them to halt the countdown for a second."

The man picked up a heavy black radio pressing the side button with a click "Grid control this is HQ.

Hold the lights on the cherry race.

We have a last-minute entry a stock Mercedes E 450.

Slot him in now."

He released the button and looked up at Alexander "Alright you’re good to go.

Move it."

Marcus turned to Alexander gesturing urgently toward the exit "Run old man we have to get you out there" said Marcus checking his watch "It’s the absolute last race of the bracket as it actually looks like they started the schedule a bit early today... well no actually I always just show up exactly at this time to run my own tier because I absolutely hate waiting around for those snails to finish... no offense hehe."

Alexander didn’t take the comment to heart offering a calm confident smirk "None taken" said Alexander "Where do I need to line up?"

Marcus quickly pointed through the warehouse doors toward a blocked-off section of the neon-lit avenue outside "Right down that ramp second lane" said Marcus.

As Alexander turned to walk back to his sedan he noticed Ivy stepping away from April and following closely behind him "Hey can I stay in the passenger seat?" asked Ivy her eyes glittering with a sudden spark of curiosity "I really want to feel a little bit of that raw adrenaline."

Alexander opened his car door looking back at her with a calm assured smile "Of course" said Alexander "Let’s go as it’s going to be fun."