All Chapters of High Octane Hearts: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Everything happens for a reason. We all know this to be true. We have to work hard and become something for ourselves. We have to be someone our parents can be proud of. We all have responsibilities that we must attend to. We all know these days we must work to pay rent and take care of our families. We have to work to survive and we must uphold our names because that's all we have. No one understands that more than Rae Carter. Rae Carter is a twenty-eight-year-old black woman living in a small town in the state of New Jersey. Right now she is running her mother's gas station. Her mother left the gas station to her in her will. Her mother passed away in June. Since her mom has passed, Rae literally eats, sleeps, and breathes work. She doesn't care about anything else. Rae has five employees who work underneath her. With her being the owner, it's her job to make sure everything is done and up to date. On Tuesday Rae is in the office working on

The days after seemed to be running together. At the same time, Rae just kept on smiling. She was feeling over the moon inside. Yet, in the back of her mind, she knew she needed to keep things a secret. She didn’t want anything to get ruined. She wanted to enjoy the moments when they were together. She knew she was going to have to hold it down for as long as she could. Each night they would text each other good night. One Saturday, Rae and Samantha were working the truck, when all of a sudden, Rae was picked up in the air. She started looking around and was wondering who had picked her up. When she got to the ground she saw Mason. She was about to swing on him. She stopped for a second. She realized she was at work and thought she better not. She asked him what he was doing there. She was thinking he was going to give a silly answer. “I need supplies. I figured I would come here. Not to mention, I get to mess with you for a little while.” “Of course you did. Don’t you have an

Mason saw Rae looking as if she was about to doze off completely. Mason went to get up. He leaned her over to where she was leaning on the desk. He got up and went to look outside. He could see the street lights flickering. He knew the lights would be back on soon. He unlocked the door and turned the sign back around. He went back to the office and tried to wake Rae up. All of a sudden, he heard the door. He came out and saw all the lights were on. Samantha said, “what are you doing here so early, hmm?” “Rae and I got caught in the storm. We have been stuck here until it just stopped.” “Oh really? Where is Rae?” All of a sudden, Rae came from out the office. She looked like war. “Girl, you look like shit. What happened?” “Thanks for that. We got caught in the storm and the power went out. I had to lock up the store and we hid in the office all night long.” Samantha started laughing. “It’s not funny. You try doing it.” “Wait, how did you end up here last night?”

Even though they had a whole makeout session, Rae was not going to forget about what he told her. She was going to be watching him very carefully. She didn’t know if she could trust him just yet. They had only been together a month and a week. She didn't want to take any chances. She didn’t want anything crazy to happen. She knew she was going to have to be on full alert now. As the night went on, Rae and Mason had great conversations. It was fun and Rae was truly enjoying herself. She just kept thinking in the back of her mind. She knew worrying and complaining weren’t going to get her anywhere. She knew she was going to have to grind to keep both her business and man. Rae was in the moment. She was enjoying Mason’s company. She was enjoying the blissful moments. She knew these moments were fleeting. She just knew she had to work even harder to keep both parts of her life. Having a relationship and a job is tough, but what she has going on makes it even tougher. As time was passi

Part One- Morning arrived with all the facts of a tow truck through the plate glass. Rae woke on the office couch with a Crick in her neck, one boot still on, and the sharp awareness that she had made several questionable decisions in under seventy-two hours. The power had come back sometime before dawn. The desk lamp glowed dimly in the corner where she must have left it switched on. Rainwater still dripped from the awning outside in slow, irregular taps. Then memory returned in bright, dangerous flashes. Smoke. Fire. Mason’s hands on her waist. His mouth in the dark. The way she had kissed him back like she’d forgotten caution existed. “Fantastic,” she muttered to the empty room. She sat up too quickly and regretted it immediately. Her hair was a mess. Her spine objected. Her heart, traitor that it was, seemed in suspiciously good spirits. The couch opposite hers was empty. No Mason. Of course, no Mason. He hadn’t stated. He’d left sometime after midnight when the rain soft