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“You know exactly who you are and what you were built for.”
He means unlike him.
“Don’t forget it, and keep going.”
I try to smile, but my chin is trembling too hard.
“There’s no choice,” he says.
Yeah, I know who I am. I like being who I am.
And I know exactly what I want.
My dad pulls up in one of the JT Racing trucks, two bikes and some gear tied to a trailer in the back. Noah crumbles up the empty cotton candy bag and gives me one last look before hopping down to join everyone.
James climbs out of the back seat, my uncle Jax from the other side, and my mom steps out of the front.
My dad moves to the tailgate, lifting up the cover and pulling out a cooler. They were all at the parade, but he doesn’t bring work home. They must be heading out for an event.
I wipe my eyes and climb down, trying not to hide my hands in my pockets as I walk over, but I do anyway.
Dad looks over at me, stopping his work.
“Hi,” I say.
He gazes at me for a few seconds, a smile in his eyes. “Hey, kid,” he almost whispers.
Jax walks past, behind me. “Staying out of trouble?”
“Neverrr,” I tease under my breath.
I blink, still feeling the tears. I know my eyes are red.
I tip my chin at the trailer with the bikes. “What’s on the schedule today?”
“Air show,” he tells me. “They’ll have a hangar for displays, engineers—”
“Robotics,”James chimes in.
I watch my little brother pass with a crate of gadgets and hand it to our dad.
“We texted and called,” James adds. “To see if you wanted to come, but somebody doesn’t like to answer their phone.”
“Shhh,” Dad tells him.
I don’t tell them that my phone is sitting on a wet forest floor in Weston.
Which means Hunter can’t reach me if he’s trying, either. I’m okay with that right now.
I swallow, inching a little closer to my dad. “Need some help?”
He smiles a little, his shoulders visibly relaxing. “Yeah.”
I crack, unable to look at his face, but I come in all the same, wrapping my arms around my dad’s waist and planting my head against his chest. He immediately hugs me back.
I don’t know if he’s assuming I’m sad that we’ve been fighting, or if he saw the fight at the parade and knows something is up, but he simply asks, “Do you want to talk?”
“Not yet.”
