Are you even serious about this anymore?!?!
She didn’t know which to answer first.
4:36 pm. If Avi had set his alarm for sundown, it was currently going off somewhere.
He hoped it was on the boat. And that someone would silence it.
He couldn’t imagine how many texts, missed calls, and voicemails were waiting for him. Including that text waiting from Sylvie. That night on the bus felt as far away as Vegas now did. So did his fight with Paul, and the snowy rest area.
But nothing felt farther away than Pier 83.
Traffic had been moving at a good clip, but he knew the closer they were to the Tappan Zee/Cuomo bridge, there could be hell to pay. Sure enough, brake lights began shining along Route 287, well before the landmark bridge was even in sight.
Leah sat up, straight as an arrow. “Take the New Jersey exit.” She pointed persistently to the green sign ahead.
“You want me to leave the state? This is a straight shot into Manhattan.”
“Thatexit takes us to Fort Lee, which was supposed to be my home base for three days. And to the George Washington Bridge. Trust me when I say I mapped out, everything around there, from the closest coffee shop to the route to the boat.”
The girl who’d said she had spent most of her life land-locked, suddenly had a sixth sense of the waterways surrounding New York’s most populous island borough? The tour bus had gotten Avi into the city his way a dozen times. Then again, the tour bus had left him behind this time.
While the girl sitting shotgun had not.
“It’s quicker through Jersey.” She touched his arm. “Do you trust me?”
It was a sea of traffic lights ahead, and the exit was coming up quick – a clear shot off the highway, if he could make it over in time. He cut over three lanes, silently thanking his Mario Andretti skills, and took it.
He took her hand, too. “I trust you, Letty. And I’m not going to let you miss your first Baller.”
Leah gave a silent prayer of thanks as she saw signs for Fort Lee and the George Washington bridge. And a wave to Jaz’s cousin, who she never got to meet and thank for her hospitality.
She turned to look at Avi, his profile channeling focus and determination as he navigated them toward the bridge. But he glanced at her from behind the wheel, and the smile that broke across his face was infectious. “What?”
“I can’t believe you were keeping those curls from me this whole time.” His attention was back on the road, but the air in the car had shifted.
“I can’t believe you called me a Mahjong Muse.”
“Calling it like I see it.”
“No royalties if we use the name.”
“Only if you want to do an officially-licensed Painted Doors edition.”
Leah snorted. “For our overlapping fanbase.” She sighed. “Jaz is riding me, and I wish I had something to tell her to set her mind at ease.”
“You can tell her you’ll get a product sample to Eli Gold.”
Leah’s mouth went dry. Had she even mentioned his name to Avi? Or that she had been hoping to grab a minute of his time on the Matzo Baller?
“We don’t even know if we’ll make it to the boat in time, Avi.”
“Oh, he’s not going to be on the Baller this year. But he’s been in your phone contacts since an hour into your trip.”
Good thing Leah hadn’t been driving – she would’ve run Bertha right into a ditch.
“Let me guess – he was your one jail phone call?” This made her laugh, despite the nervousness that ticked up with every mile.
“Always. No guarantees, although he’ll at least listen. But let me make the introductions first. You can at least tell Jaz that.”
