Page 99 of Till The Sun Dies (Checkmate 2)

Today, I have nowhere to be, no deadlines to meet, no one I have to check in with. Just me, my car, my friends, an open roof, and road that won’t end until I decide I want it to.

Today’s perfect.

Moving down the front steps and onto spongy grass, I walk toward my shiny Wanda and luxuriate in her brand-new white wall tires.

Wanda gets a reset today, too.

Ang helped me rebuild her, he helped give her a new lease on life, and today, she gets to drive away and eat up the open road. When we return, she’ll be all mine and ready for a new life with someone that’ll take care of her.

There’s no central locking in this car, just good old-fashioned inserting a key into the lock, so with my bags weighing me down, I get the car open and the brand-new soft top roof back.

There’s no way in hell I’m driving this without the roof down.

Jess runs around Kane’s house snatching up last minute supplies for our long trip. Kane packed his single backpack last night, because he’s all army ranger or some such thing, and can happily survive so long as he has a fresh pair of socks and a gun.

Eric – Kane’s former housemate until my damaged self moved in and got him booted out – wanders through the house to make sure everyone has what they need. For the time we’ll be gone, he’s moving back in and working on administration stuff for the business Kane wants to start, so when we get back, they’ll be able to run headfirst into work.

This trip is like a last hurrah none of us knew was coming. We didn’t know we needed it, but we’re throwing ourselves into plans like it’s our last summer on earth.

Last winter proved that maybe it could be.

Tomorrow isn’t promised, and after everything that went down, I wonder if Kane and Jess need this time to decompress just as much as I do.

This is a road trip of freedom. Of healing. Of living today, just in case tomorrow forgets to come.

“Oh my God. Oh my God! I can’t find my skates!”

Kane’s laughter echoes through the house. “Why the hell do you need skates, Blondie? We’re driving!”

“What if we find a skate park? What if guys challenge us to the pipes, and then we can’t win, because we forget our skates?”

“Are you serious right now? Does that happen often? Are there skater gangs just waiting for people to pass through town? Do they set up barricades at the‘welcome to town’signs, and you can’t pass unless you know how to flipkick? Will they boo us out of town, Blondie? Are you scared you won’t win the participation ribbon?”

“It’s kickflip, not flipkick, you uneducated baboon. And yes! If there’s a ribbon to be won, I really want it!”

“I’ll protect you, Jessie.” His goofy snicker is a direct contrast to his thug looks. “I promise, if they challenge us to a skater duel, I’ll break their ankles.”

The deep rumble of a classic Charger echoes across town. I’m so accustomed to the sound now, it’s like I know where he is, what gear he’s in, and what kind of mood he’s in.

Angelo Alesi is on the move, and he’s coming our way.

With butterflies battering my stomach, and a heart that does odd cartwheels in my chest, I toss my bags into the backseat and rub a spit-wetted finger over a tiny mark on the door.

If anyone scratches my car, they’re dead meat.

Since Jess is having a meltdown in the house, and Kane is trying to clean up after her, and Eric is following them and offering useless shit that Jess can fill my car with, I lean against the Buick and wait for the Charger to come closer.

I know he’s coming here.

I know he’s coming with us.

And a surprisingly large portion of my heart is happy, and the happy is more demanding than the freaking out.

That’s good, right?

It’s not weird that this man I grew up with now makes me nervous. Right? We spent countless hours working in the garage in silence. Not a single butterfly. But then something happened; a lingering glance, a brushing of fingers, a night spent in companionable silence while we waited for a baby to be born.

An erection against my back while at a shooting range changes things, and lingering eyes when he thinks I’m not watching cements those changes.

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