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.Because Elyas had played a damned good game.It had been one big nerve-wracking, tension-inducing game for both of us.Toward the end, we each had only one colored ball left.The pressure was high when I aimed my cue, and—typical me—my luck instantly evaporated, as the ball barely missed the pocket.With everything set up perfectly for Elyas’s last two shots, I mentally prepared for my downfall.A single colored ball and the eight ball were all that separated me from the kiss.The only thing that could save me now was a miracle.And a miracle actually materialized.Elyas suddenly got nervous and seemed way less confident than he had before.I’d figured out early on in the game that he was nowhere near as calm as his facade suggested, but he still managed to maintain a certain level of cool.There really wasn’t much of it left by the time he took his final shot.Events unfolded as though in slow motion: Elyas hit the cue ball, and it rolled across the table, missing his target.It banked off the cushion on the side rail and headed straight for the eight ball, which went right into the pocket.With that, Elyas was out.It took me a second to digest that I had won.Then I was swooped up in authentic rapture, which lasted all the way to the driver’s door of Elyas’s Mustang—and which had only intensified now that I had turned on the ignition.It was a totally different feeling sitting behind the wheel, and loads better than sitting in the passenger seat.I could feel the pedals under my feet as my hands stroked the leather-wrapped steering wheel.I leaned back and took a deep breath.While I could barely contain my elation, Elyas was basically having a nervous breakdown.He wished for nothing more fervently than to call the whole thing off.His attitude made it all the more surprising that he had entered into the wager at all.Presumably, he had not considered the possibility that I might win and he might lose.Too bad.I sat up, took another deep breath, and was about to step on the clutch when Elyas yelped.“What are you doing?”“Driving?” I said with a furrowed brow.“Y-you have no idea how it works!” he stammered, his face growing paler by the second.I sighed.“Put it in gear, press on the gas, drive?”“Of course.but.but you don’t know how the car will respond.This Mustang has three hundred horsepower, which is two hundred ninety-nine more than the beater you’ve been driving!” Fear trembled in his voice.I’d never, ever seen him so nervous, and only now did I realize what I’d been missing.“Calm down, Elyas.I’ll be careful, all right?”He didn’t say anything, so I stepped on the clutch and put the car into first gear.Elyas buried his face in his hands.“Please, God, let her driving be better than her jogging,” he prayed.I tried to curb my excitement before carefully pushing on the gas and slowly easing up on the clutch.The car started moving forward, and it was just.wow.Unbelievable.Much better than I had ever dreamed.I drove the first few yards gingerly; I wanted to get used to the car.Elyas was right—the gas pedal was super-touchy, so I pressed down cautiously.You didn’t have to press much to get a sense of the horsepower.I played with it for a while, testing things carefully, and after a few hundred yards I was able to predict how the car would respond.“All right, you’ve had your fun.Let me drive now,” Elyas ordered, still tense.“Forget it,” I laughed.“We just got started.”“Hello? How long would the kiss have lasted, then?”He had a point, but kisses and cars were apples and oranges.Basically, it was Elyas’s own fault for agreeing to the bet.Now he had to live with it.“You think you’re irresistible, right?” I said.“So I’m pretty sure the kiss would have lasted at least three hours.” I smiled.“Watch the road!” he hissed.The longer I drove, the more confident I felt and the more aware I grew of the power the Mustang had.Gradually my initial nervousness evolved into sheer fascination.This car wasn’t just some utilitarian means of transportation.No, this was sex on wheels.We zoomed through Berlin, thundering through the night, and I tried to take in everything about the experience as intensely as I could.I didn’t know if I’d ever get to enjoy this pleasure again.Whenever we stopped at a light, I couldn’t resist revving the motor—three hundred horsepower! This earned me the attention of other drivers, who all seemed surprised to find a woman behind the wheel [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]