Page 53 of First in Line

“I don’t think so. It didn’t work before for a reason, and nothing has changed, so why try again?”

“I see… I can’t think of anything sadder than finding the love of your life yet being unable to spend it with them.”

He leaves me with those words, which resonate over and over in my head. Itissad. It’s devastating.

Nathan’s last remarks leave a bad taste in the back of my throat. An entire life of watching Jackson from afar, of knowing I had him once and let him go. I lost him because I was too young to cope with everything.

In great need of a pick-me-up, I return to the kitchen, combine the two glasses of wine, and grab the bottle. On my way to the stairs, I change my mind, turn around to grab the bag of desserts, a spoon, and resume my walk to my bedroom.

Tomorrow is Sunday, and I’m not leaving my bed the whole day. I’m done adulting for the weekend. And if life won’t give me a break, I’ll take it myself.

CHAPTER

TEN

Evangeline

“That’s the last of it?” Jackson asks after placing the box into the trunk.

“Yes. I don’t own many things.”

“It’s better this way. We can’t fit much more in there.” He then pulls me into him and kisses the top of my head. “I’ll buy you things, princess. A ten-wheeler’s worth of things.”

Like every time he says something like this, my chest flutters with joy. He really wants nothing more than to spoil me rotten, and I love it.

“Everything ready, kids?” his dad asks, coming out of the house.

We graduated last week, and now it’s time for the big move we’ve been preparing for. My mom drove me with all my packed-up things, and she’s smoking a cigarette in her car, waiting for us to be ready to give me one last hug goodbye.

“I think we’re all good, yeah,” Jax says, closing the trunk.

I’m still not used to this new car, which he bought four months ago. Between the money we had on the side and what he got from selling Winifred, he had enough to buy a nice upgrade. Iwas sad to see Winnie go, but it has been paying off already. He’s been dominating nearly all the SCCA races he’s entered since.

They didn’t have an Italian class at our high school, but one course I decided to follow for my extra credits was focused on statistics. As an assignment, I started working on a binder dedicated to Jackson’s driving career. Quickly, we realized there was a great advantage to having those numbers and graphs. His stats aren’t an abstract concept anymore, but are now organized into very specific data.

When Jax reached out to the F4 team manager in Indianapolis, all he had to do was show him my graphs to be taken in. There is a clear pattern of wins in Jackson’s racing history, and the stats show he’s only getting better. His lap times are improving, his precision is more clinical, and his popularity in the racing world is climbing.

“I made you guys sandwiches,” Jada, Jax’s mom, says, coming out of the house as well. “This is for lunch, and this is for dinner. There’s also apple juice, and I added a box of cookies.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

She looks at us, then her eyes become shiny with emotion. “I can’t believe you two are leaving. You were just kids not so long ago.”

“I’m eighteen, Mom,” Jax protests.

“And I’m seventeen.”

“Exactly. You’re practically babies.”

Before we can defend ourselves, she comes forward and pulls us into a bear hug. “You be safe on the road, okay? It ain’t no racetrack, Jax. It’s the real world.”

“I know that.”

“Evie, you let me know if he drives like a crackhead.”

“Don’t worry, Jada, if he does, I’ll take care of him myself.”

“Good.”