Two: First Encounters

LISA

I hated to admit it but the fact that I absolutely disliked the existence of Axel Ivanov does not mean I'd dispute a fact that couldn't even be arguable.

He was good, effortlessly good when it comes to racing. He was on the third round after effortlessly winning the first two rounds and now, the distance between him and the other cars seemed to be an unbeatable one.

Scratch that, it was an unbeatable one.

After winning the first two rounds, he had had this self-satisfied, I told you so smirk on his face and he had faked bowing repeatedly to the crowd's cheers and applauses as if he was fucking humbled by his winning when he was, in fact, gloating in it.

That asshole.

The cheers and applauses grew more frantic and louder as this car neared the finish spot and now, most people, if not all were on their feet and screaming insanely.

I wished a miracle would happen and someone would overtake him so they'd wipe that stupid smirk off his face.

But miracles like that were incapable of happening as Axel crossed that finish line and the crowd went wild with excitement.

I hissed under my breath as their craziness grew and their applause got louder and they kept stomping on the ground as if they wanted to raise a fucking tsunami.

I hissed again when Axel stepped out of the car, that smirk still on his face and he kept bowing as the crowd cheered on and on as he made his way to the podium feeling like a fucking King.

"Well," he cleared his throat in the microphone after he had gotten the crowd to keep quiet, "does anyone else wants to challenge me?"

"NO ONE!!!" The crowd screamed and I rolled my eyes so much I felt it disappear into the back of my skull.

"I'm going to ask again, does anyone wants to go again?"

"NO ONE!!!!!" The crowd roared even more.

I know no one would want to challenge him again. He had established, without a doubt that he was the king of racing and no one holds a candle to him in the proudest way possible in human history but that didn't stop me from wishing I could put him in his place.

That didn't stop me from wanting to put him in his place.

"God! Axel is so hot," one of the girls beside us gushed.

"I know, right? I'd do anything to have him fuck him just once."

Irritation crawled up my spine.

"Me too! I bet he fucks as hard as he looks, fast, wild, and animalistic. I wouldn't mind him tying me up and doing whatever he wants with my body."

I gagged. horribly. loudly.

Beside me, Tana chuckled slightly as she turned to face me.

"Why do you look like you swallowed something horrible?"

"Listening to that conversation is worse than swallowing something horrible."

"Come on, what's horrible about it? Any hot-blooded girl in this school would fantasize about getting fucked by Axel at least once in their lives."

I rolled my eyes again, "I'm definitely not a girl in this school then."

"Stop it, just look at him," she tilted her head towards where Axel was going on and on, "tell me you can't imagine him fucking..."

"Stop it," I hissed, feeling more irritated. "I'd die first before even allowing him to touch me."

"Hahahahaha. Not funny."

"I guess the money is still mine then," Axel continued on the podium, "it's such a shame that there'd no one to collect it and I'd really love it if y'all can train harder so you'll beat me next time, even though that doesn't look plausible."

My left hand shot up.

More than a hundred eyes turned to look at me.

"Lisa, what are you doing?" Tana whispered furiously beside me but I ignored her.

Axel didn't even look surprised, not even in the slightest bit.

"You need something, baby girl?"

I balked at the horrible nickname as intense irritation spread through my body. He didn't even deem me fit and worthy of a challenge. He just went ahead to assume I was raising my hand for something else.

Bastard.

"Not really," I stood to my feet and started making my way down to the opening, "I'm challenging you."

The crowd had the nerve to chuckle but even their loud chuckling was drowned by Axel's amused one as I finally crossed over to the podium.

His eyes raked over my body and outfit when I stepped in front of him with scrutiny as if he was experimenting on me and he moistened his lower lip briefly before looking at my face again.

He didn't recognize me because there was no way he'd and even if he had prior knowledge about my existence in this school, he'd know me as that nerdy girl and not this badass girl.

He dropped the microphone so he could speak to me directly.

"Baby girl, it's car racing, it's dangerous, it requires a high level of skill and I'm sure it's not..." his eyes roamed over my body with painstaking slowness and his gaze lingered more on my exposed cleavage.

Fucking asshole.

"It's not your scene baby girl, if you need the money, I can give it to you for free, I'm nice like that."

I scoffed.

"I'm challenging you," I maintained eye contact with him, "and I'm telling you I'll whoop your ass."

Slight humor-filled his eyes for the briefest moment before his eyes darken at the recognition of the challenge in my eyes and tone. He was an Ivanov, he never backs down from a challenge and he'd never allow himself to be disgraced by a female.

"You're quite a feisty one, aren't you?" he asked in a voice that'd make chills break out on a random person's spine but I wasn't a random person and he was just about to find out.

"But I can assure you that you don't know who you're fucking with." He started walking towards me.

I met his hard glare, "I can assure you that I know exactly who I'm fucking with."

"No, you don't," he stopped in front of me and he had the nerve to tuck an errant strand of hair away on my head, "just back off, we can come up with an excuse that you did this to get me to notice you or something."

"Scared you'll lose before we even start the race?" I taunted and his eyes darken completely, transforming him into the lethal man that he really is but still, a tiny sensual smirk remained on his lips and he bent slightly so his mouth was hovering over my ear.

"I know you're doing this for the money," his voice turned smokier, igniting something in my lower abdomen, "but you're a feisty lady and you don't want to be treated as a charity case," he moved closer so his lips were brushing over my earlobe, leaving a tingling sensation in their wake, "why done you allow me to fuck you all night and I'd double the already tripled money for you?"

I saw red.

I saw massive red and my hands tightened into hard and painful fists. It took all my self-restraint not to flip him off, to show him I wasn't one he could talk to like that, to really put him in his place. Instead, I turned to him with a smirk on my face.

"I hope you'll be able to keep that same energy when I whoop your ass."

He chuckled and moved away from me.

"The challenge is on!"