Mas gains on the group. Puts up at the front, behind Darko Daddy Dom. His hand keeps throwing up signals that no one follows. Bored, I reach into the glovebox. Mas slammed it earlier, but persistence is my brand. I pull out a paper map.
“LIFE IS A HIGHWAY,” I scream, sign and unfold it dramatically. “GONNA RIDE IT ALL NIGHT?—”
The wind rips it out of my hands. Slaps Diego on the helmet, causing him to wobble. He reaches up to throw it off his visor. Then it rockets past Holli, who swerves to avoid it. Both shoot me the finger. Whatever.
I dig around again.
Find a small busted-ass foam finger that says #1 DAD. I pop that baby on and start waving it around.
“WE’RE NUMBER ONE AT BEING NUMBER TWO!”
Mas twists around just enough to glare.
I fully commit and scream even louder. “I’M NUMBER ONE, MAS IS NUMBER TWO.”
He revs the engine in warning. I stop screaming but use the foam finger to mimic the signs that Dom’s throwing out. The city falls away. The road stretches out. Long and straight with little traffic. Even the cool Boston skyline fades into neighborhoods and nothingness. Gets me thinking about Mas.
Last night, he told me I need more “emotional maturity.” Whatever the hell that is. Like he wants me to be some lame ass college professor, all boring and shit. Bitched my ass out when I asked if we could bring Sofia back. Said that wasn’t space. But she had been gone for hours already. Like, how much space does someone need?
He yammered on about space. Need to let her breathe. Respect, blah blah blah. But he didn’t say the part I know now. The part about how much it sucks. How empty everything feels. How quiet my brain gets right before it gets loud again.
How I miss her.
Those swinging hoops when she’s snapping at me.
Her hands planted above her curvy as fuck hips like the boss bitch she is. Her DSLs that smile at my face and suck my dick. The way she calls me nene and means it. The way she dared me to fuck her harder, and I did. Shit in my chest gets tight again. Uncomfortable as hell.
I do the only logical thing to fix it. I throw both hands up and scream, “I’M KING OF THE WOOORRRLLLDDD!”
My foam finger flies off. I twist to see where it went, but it’s long gone. Diego thumps his helmet like he’s praying for me. Mas takes a hard turn, definitely on purpose, and the sidecar lifts on one wheel.
For half a second, I see the afterlife.
“WHOA BAT MOBILE, TAKE IT EASY!”
We land again with a bounce that rattles my spine. Sends pain deep into my ribs. Motherfucker. I slump back into the seat, heart racing, chest tight in a way that has nothing to do with fear. Mas is doing his best not to kill me, but scare the shit out of me for sure. It’s awesome. It chases my thoughts away from her. But as Dom signals the exit, we fall into formation after him, and I whisper what I want the most.
“Miss you, my angel.”
It gets eaten by the wind, but I still feel it. Still feel the ache. Still feel the stupid, soft part of me that I usually pay no attention to.
Diego and Hollister zoom ahead, blocking the other lane for Mas to get over. Then we’re back at that shitty diner Dom walked out of once when Holli Balls said I was being too much. That was forever ago.
“CHICKEN NUGGETS FOR THIS CLOOOWN!”
Perfect fucking day.
CHAPTER 20
MASSIMO
The sidecar rocks like we just jumped a curb, even though we didn’t. Em’s voice booms over everything, louder than the engine, louder than my thoughts. The diner sign glows ahead, that same busted neon coffee cup flickering like it’s dying but too stubborn to quit. Same cracked lot. Same oil stains. Same crooked handicapped sign some asshole backed into.
Feels like stepping back into another lifetime. Before the accident. Before Sofia. Before my brother almost died on the side of the road. Before I got stupid enough to fall in love.
I ease the Aprilia into the lot. Sidecar clatters over a pothole. Em throws his hands up like we hit a jump at the X Games.
“WOOOOO! TOUCHDOWN! WE MADE IT, BABY!”
