“So, Ishouldn’tlead with the Van Gogh trivia I memorized last night?”
Ro laughs. “Naw, but if you got anything on that new Mona Lisa joint…”
And I hate how acutely aware I am that our arms are still almost touching on the console.
“I asked you to come because I like hanging out with you,” he says easily. “And because even if you don’t know all theart words,you get it. More than most people. I watched you in the shop that day,” he admits, without looking embarrassed. “The way you studied murals most people don’t even look up from their phones long enough to notice. It’s wallpaper to them. But you really saw ’em. Felt like you saw me too.” His eyes dart toward me and back to the road so fast, I might’ve imagined it. “I just wanted you to see a little more.”
I’m quiet again, searching for the right response, but what do you say when someone hands you something sacred?
—
Ro and I hardly notice the traffic that turns what should’ve been a one-hour drive into two. We’re too deep in the throes of themusical trivia game I walked in on him and his dad playing at the shop.
My abs physically ache from laughing at how bad Ro is at losing. After a particularly poor showing on a Kendrick Lamar round I’d expected to be agimmefor him, Ro eyed a passing service station with a little too much interest. Very likely considering the most efficient means of unloading his problem passenger. But as we cross the bridge into Manhattan, I’m still here. And impressively, so is Ro. We both know he’s going down, but he’s going down swinging.
“Try again,” Ro offers, leaving the artist for me this time.
“Pfft. Please,” I say, offended he thought he’d get me with this. “If you’re coming for me with some Aaliyah, you’re the one who needs totry again.”
Ro kisses his fingertips and raises his pointer and middle finger to the sky. “Rest in peace, Babygirl.”
We let the song play, and when the chorus drops, Ro hits me with a falsetto I could never have seen coming. But then again, I’d also never expected spending two hours on the torn pleather seats of an off-duty tow truck to be the most fun I’ve had all summer.
In what feels like a blink, we’re driving along the Hudson River toward Manhattan’s named streets downtown. I don’t hesitate when Ro asks if I’m hungry. The answer is: always.
“You have a place in mind or should I look something up?”
“I know a spot,” he says, baiting me with a look. “If you’re feeling adventurous.”
I don’t hesitate this time either. “Immediately yes.”
We pass a stretch of vacant curb that would be a snug fit to park a Hot Wheels, but before Ro’s rear bumper passes it completely, he hits the brakes.
“Think I can make it?”
I don’t bother looking again or mincing my words. I’ve seen all I need to see.
“Sure don’t.”
“Care to place a wager on that?”
“I meanI’mgood to let this one go, but ifyoufeel like leaving your insurance information on dashboards around town, I’m not gonna get in your way.”
“What happened to your sense of adventure?”
“I wasn’t aware it would involve public vandalism.”
Ro’s laugh fills the cabin as he leaves the too-small-spot behind. “You’ve got no faith in me, E. I’m hurt.”
I suck my teeth. “Damn, I kinda thought you’d at least try to prove me wrong.”
The afternoon sun has been cooking the cab all day, and the lack of shade on this stretch of Seventh Avenue offers no relief. I forgo the buttons of my cropped knit sweater in favor of convenience, peeling it over my head all at once. But when I emerge from the discarded fabric, Ro’s eyes are on me, dusky and alert, following the thin straps of my tank top toward the scoop at my neck. Lingering there just long enough that my skin flushes for an entirely different reason than the sun.
His observation of me is penetrating, but I wouldn’t call the sensation that accompanies ituncomfortable.My body, flaming and thrumming to attention as I shift in my seat to relieve the tightness coiling between my thighs. Ro follows my movements like his gaze is bound to my body by string.
He shakes his head, flicking his eyes back to the road to sever our connection.
“Nah,” he says, in response to my forgotten challenge. “You got in my head. Made me all nervous.”
