“I’m ready to win.”
“We’ll see about that,” he says with a grin.
The carts ahead of us finally move, and Lila and Ashley putter around the course. I immediately slam my pedal down and weave around them. So much for Lila’s challenge.
Not long after, another cart edges up beside me.
I glance over to find Max grinning.
At the first curve, I take the turn wide so he can’t pass me on the outside. We keep up the battle lap after lap, and I don’t think I’ve laughed this hard in years.
By the time they wave us back into the pit, my stomach hurts from laughing and tears are stinging my eyes.
“Are you okay?” Max asks as he climbs out.
I grin at him. “Absolutely. That was one of the funnest things I’ve done in a long time.”
“I’m glad you did it,” Max says. “That was pretty fun. I think I came out as the winner, right?”
Spinning to look at him, I say, “Excuse me. You passed me once, but I was able to navigate that turn to get back the lead.”
We’re walking out of the exit, and I feel his hand on thesmall of my back. It’s light, protective, and only makes me like him more. Curt wasn’t great at the small touches.
A couple of carts struggle to get back into the pit, and the workers hurry to help. I love watching this town come together to support one another.
“Can we go get ice cream?” Lila asks.
“From where?”
She shoves a paper in front of my face. “The new place down the road. Something about Salty Sand or something.”
I frown. “That sounds about as bad as our original coffee shop name.”
Max laughs. “That’s for sure.”
Lila rolls her eyes. “Can we go?”
“Sure. I’ll catch up in a minute.”
“Why don’t we all go?” Aiden asks.
I’m not sure why I hesitate. Maybe because spending this much time with Max feels dangerous. I enjoy being around him a little too much. There’s always that tiny what-if whisper in the back of my mind.
What if I could survive a long-distance relationship? What if this could work?
Then reality crashes back in. We’ve never even been on a date. We’re just friends, and I don’t exactly have many of those right now.
We start walking down the road, with Lila and Ashley racing ahead of us. Aiden awkwardly speeds up while the rest of us try to avoid bumping elbows on the narrow sidewalk. Max slows slightly, letting Talia walk beside me.
“That was actually fun,” Talia says.
I look at her, fully expecting sarcasm, but there’s a small smile on her face.
“Right? I didn’t realize go-karting could be that entertaining.”
“It depends on who you race against,” Max calls frombehind us. “If you’re just driving around, it gets boring. But racing someone makes it fun.”
“That’s true,” Talia agrees.
