In his car, Connor let out a desperate, guttural scream.


    He watched, horrified, as Gwh''s car veered towards the barrier.


    Acting on pure instinct, he cranked the wheel, sending his car into a perfect drift to intercept her path.


    Gwh''s car, moving too fast to stop, mmed into his.


    The force of the impact sent Connor''s car flying a hundred meters down the track, where it rolled three times beforeing to a stop.


    His sacrifice had worked. The collision had drastically slowed Gwh''s car, saving her from a much worse fate.


    "Connor!"


    Panic erupted in the stands. The crowd surged down from their seats, rushing towards the wreckage.


    The crash snapped Gwh back to reality.


    She unbuckled her seatbelt.


    She had a few scrapes and bruises from the impact, but nothing serious.


    But from Connor''s car, there was only silence.


    Gwh pushed her door open and stumbled out, miraculously unharmed.


    Connor''s friends scrambled toward his car.


    mes were already licking at the engine, and Connor was slumped unconscious in the driver''s seat.


    "Connor!"


    Oh god, what had she been thinking?


    If Connor hadn''t blocked her, she would be the one lying in a pool of her own blood right now.


    His friends managed to drag him out of the driver''s seat just in time.


    The men half-carried, half-dragged Connor as far from the burning vehicle as they could.


    They had only gotten a few steps away when a deafening explosion ripped through the air behind them.


    Connor''s race car was engulfed in a fireball, sending a plume of ck smoke into the sky.


    The air filled with the smell of burnt rubber and metal.


    The shockwave from the st knocked Gwh off her feet several meters away, followed by.


    wave of intense heat that seared her skin despite the cool air.


    "Call an ambnce! Someone call an ambnce, now!"


    Gwh''s mind went nk, her ears ringing with the frantic shouts.


    She sat paralyzed on the ground, unable to move.


    "Can you even drive? What the hell were you doing? If anything happens to Connor,


    I swear I''ll never forgive you!"


    "You bitch Connor was just ying


    around with you, and you turn it into a deathmatch! So what if you can drive fast? Do you have any idea


    who he is?"


    While they waited for the paramedics, Connor''s friends turned their fury on Gwh.


    Their words grew uglier and uglier.


    If she hadn''t lost control, if her car hadn''t been about to fly off the track, Connor


    wouldn''t have risked his life to save her.


    Now he was lying on the ground, unconscious.


    One of them with medical training checked him over; he had several broken ribs and


    his left leg was bleeding heavily.


    "How is he?" Gwh asked, her voice barely a whisper.


    Her entire world had frozen.


    "You have the nerve to ask? Open your eyes and look! If he wasn''t trying to save


    you, would he be like this right now?" another friend spat.


    "Exactly! Are you insane? He brought


    you here to have some fun, not to get killed! Did you have to m the


    yo


    pedal down like that? Who do think you are, a professional? You''re nothing but a jinx, a damn menace!"


    The usations rained down on her, but Gwh didn''t say a word.


    She let them yell, their voices fading into a dull roar.


    The only thing she cared about was Connor.


    A few minutester, the wail of sirens filled the air as ambnces and fire trucks arrived.


    The firefighters quickly extinguished the ze from Connor''s car.