Page 1 of Happy Hour

1.Aero Push–Sway

Aero Push – This happens when following another race car too close. The airflow from the lead vehicle doesn’t travel across the following vehicle normally. The air goes over the top with a downward force on the front and narrows. As a result, the car won’t turn easily in corners. The front of the car tends to push up the banking toward the outside wall resulting in an “aero push.” This condition is more apparent on the exit of the turns. The only way to compensate for this is to slow the car down.

“Two tickets?”

“No.Oneticket for Charlotte North Carolina,”

Peering down at the chips in my black toenail polish, I touched them up with a black Sharpie I found beside the bed.

“What city?” The woman with Southwest Airlines barked back at me.

I gathered she was just as annoyed. After being on the line with her for the last twenty minutes, I hated to tell her she wasn’t exactly my favorite person either.

Glancing out the window as I paced, a slow but constant mist of rain fell. A steady flow of cars came and went through the parking lot of the dorms. Most of the students heading home for the summer, as was I.

“Like I said the first five times, Charlotte North Caroline,” I really wanted to add some choice words at the end but I refrained.

I couldn’t be sure what I’d do five minutes from now if I was still on the damn line though. A girl can only take so much this early in the morning without coffee. And personally, I believe in our

constitutional right to speak our minds. In fact, I think more people should exercise this right, in my opinion.

“Would you like this flight for today?”

Before answering, I sighed dramatically attempting to let her know just how frustrated I was. “Yes.” I gritted out, my leg continued to bounce as I sat there waiting.

Once I finished coloring my toes, I tossed the Sharpie aside.

“First class or coach?”

“First class,”

I blamed Jameson for all of this bullshit I was going through right now. The jerk called me at two in the morning to tell me he clenched the pole for the NASCAR Winston Cup Coca-Cola 600 race tonight and needed his good luck charm there. I hadn’t seen a race in person since Daytona—I figured I owed him that much.

I was also inclined to think I was not fully awake when I agreed to fly across the United States forjustthe weekend.

Who does that kind of thing?

Me, I did that shit.

Why?

Because I’m an idiot, that’s why.

Jameson Riley was my best friend thatfinallymade it to the big time this year. After taking his precocious racing talent from the bullring dirt tracks of the Pacific Northwest to the elite levels of NASCAR, he did it.

And if he asked me to fly to the North Pole to see Santa Claus with him, I would.

That’s how pathetic I was.

From the time I met Jameson when we were eleven, we’ve been inseparable, up until a few years ago when I decided it was time to finish my bachelor’s degree and actually attend classes. That meant me being in Bellingham while my friends were traveling all over catching any race Jameson could.

I’d been attending Western Washington University in Bellingham for the past three years and finally graduated last week, a free woman. No more late night study sessions cramming for mid-terms, I could finally have a life of my own.

It took me some time to decide what I wanted to do with my life. You know constantly putting it off, taking classes like pottery or art to avoid actually having to make a decision. But when my dad, Charlie, said he didn’t raise a pit lizard for a daughter, I made the decision to go into Business Management. That sounded sophisticated enough for me.

College effectively ended my “Pit Lizard Phase” of following Jameson around on his quest. I wouldn’t even say I followed him around either. I was there for a reason but it wasn’t always therightreasons.

Now, finally all Jameson’s hard work had paid off. Last winter he signed with his father’s new NASCAR Winston Cup series team Riley Simplex Racing and a full sponsorship from Simplex Shocks and Springs, a manufacture of well, shocks and springs for race cars.

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