She sighed, that long-suffering sound she made when I’d worn her down, but she moved. Sank onto the floor beside me. Not too close. Maintaining that careful distance.
The same distance she’d been maintaining since the plane.
I selected her character. “You can be Princess Peach.”
“How fitting.”
“Thought you’d appreciate it.”
We loaded into a practice track. I kept it simple. Rainbow Road could wait.
“Right,” I said, angling toward her. “Left stick steers. A button accelerates. That’s it.”
“That’s it?”
“For now.”
The race started. Violet’s cart immediately veered off track, slamming into a wall. She overcorrected, spinning out into the grass.
I pressed my lips together.
“Don’t.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You’re thinking it very loudly.”
Her cart finally straightened. She made it maybe ten seconds before hitting another wall.
“How are you this bad? It’s literally two buttons.”
“Maybe if someone explained properly?—”
“I did explain. Left stick. A button.”
“Your instructions were terrible.”
I reached over without thinking, adjusting her grip on the controller. “You’re gripping it like you’re trying to choke it. Relax.”
The second my fingers brushed hers, that same electric awareness from the plane shot through me.
She stilled. May have even stopped breathing.
I pulled back. “Try again.”
She did. This time she made it through a turn without crashing. Then another.
“See? Not so hard.”
“I’m driving in a straight line, Griffin. Don’t get cocky.”
But her cart was moving smoothly now so she was improving. We raced through another lap. I held back, keeping pace just ahead, watching her figure it out.
“There’s a shortcut here,” I said as we approached a jump. “Hit it at an angle and you’ll?—”
Her cart sailed past mine, landing perfectly.
My jaw dropped. “Did you just?—”
