Page 43 of The Plus One

I smiled and nodded. Call me crazy but I believed him. He smiled before stepping in front of me and adjusting the strap underneath my chin. “You got your helmet strapped so tight your cheeks poking out.”

My mouth dropped open. “Ace!”

“I fixed it baby… A nigga had to say something though.”

I rolled my eyes and pushed his hands away from my helmet. “You could’ve kept that to yourself.”

“I could’ve.” Ace grinned. “But where’s the fun in that?”

“Keep playing with me.”

“You like when I play with you.”

Before I could respond, one of the guides called everybody over to explain how to operate the four-wheelers. I tried to listen, but somewhere between him explaining the brakes and warning us not to make sharp turns, my mind checked out. There were entirely too many ways for this shit to go wrong. “Everybody understand?” the guide asked.

Everyone nodded except me. Ace leaned closer. “You ain’t hear shit that man said, did you?”

“I heard him say we could flip over. That was the only part that mattered.”

He laughed and pulled me toward one of the four-wheelers. “I’m riding with you.”

“The guide said everybody gets their own.”

“Well, he doesn’t know me.”

“Kema, get on.”

“I don’t like the way you’re talking to me.”

“You want me to ask nicely?”

“Yes.”

He lowered his voice. “Baby, will you please get your scary ass on the four-wheeler?”

I stared at him because this nigga had a lot of nerve to call me scary. I mean he wasn’t wrong but still. “I hate you.”

“Nah, you don’t.”

Unfortunately, he was right. I climbed on and wrapped my hands around the handlebars. Ace showed me how to control the speed and where to place my feet. “What if I panic?”

“Let go of the throttle.”

“What if I forget?”

“I’m right behind you baby. I got you.”

Hearing him say he was behind me did something to me. I wasn’t sure why I felt like I could trust him to save me but I did. The guide took off first, and everybody followed. Ace waited until I started moving before pulling out beside me.

The first few minutes weren’t bad. I kept my speed low and focused on not running into a tree. Then the trail opened, and everybody sped up.

Mud flew everywhere. Sierra screamed while Stephen laughed beside her. Even Tiana’s ass took off like she had been riding four-wheelers her whole life. I pressed the throttle harder, and mine jerked forward. “Shit!”

“You got it!” Ace yelled.

“I don’t got shit!”

But a few minutes later, I stopped thinking about dying and started having fun. I sped through puddles, laughing every time mud splashed behind me. Ace pulled ahead. Oh, so this nigga wanted to race. I went after him. When I caught up, he swerved through a puddle and sent muddy water flying directly at me. “Ace!”