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She began rocking back and forth on the seat. Her eyes widened by the second, and I was tempted to ask if we could drop her off at a psych ward before going anywhere else.
“Ralph,” I said, “I know you think I can’t get anyone else for this job, but surely—”
“I used to be the CEO of the ‘I Hate Travis Carter’ website,” she blurted out. “I scaled it into a seven-figure empire with tons of employees.”
I blinked.
“I mean, I was once one of your biggest fans, like bought every ticket to your fights or watched them on Pay-Per-View, but then you started getting super cocky and feeling yourself and acting like you were the shit.”
“Iamthe shit.”
“Turns out, a lot of other fans felt the same way, so I hosted a place for us all to get together and hate on you and it was very successful.”
“Driver, is there an asylum on our route?” I asked, but he didn’t answer.
“After seeing you lose, though…” She was still talking a mile a minute. “I realized that I was still a fan at heart because that hurt me to see, so I decided that my energy would be put to better use by making everyone fall in love with you again.”
“Okay, okay.” She let out a sigh of relief. “I feelsoooomuch better getting that off my chest now. I hope you’re not too mad about my past, I still feel kinda bad about it.”
“Kinda bad?”
“I’m being honest.”
“Tell me something. Did you step down as CEO before or after your website sold those ‘He Deserved to Get His Ass Beat’ t-shirts?”
“You saw people wearing those?” She smiled, but then she faked a frown. “I mean, oh wow, how terrible you had to see that. I am ashamed to say it was after, but we sold out in like fifteen minutes! We had to re-stock like a hundred times, and it was amazing! Want to hear about my elaborate campaign?”
Jesus Christ.
“Better yet,” she said, pulling out a red folder with hearts. “Allow me to walk you through my list of potential ways that we can make everyone fall in love with The Punisher again.”
I pretended to listen to her words, and then I made a mental note to fire her the moment we returned to Vegas.
* * *
The car pulledin front of The Perfect Feather: Ice Skating Pavilion. The words “Grand Opening Today!” and “Proudly Owned by Skating Champion, Penelope Carter,” shone brightly on the marquee.
Impressed, I stepped out with Madeline trailing me from a distance.
I followed the glittering pink signs into a rink that put every other ice arena I’d seen to shame. The seats were coated in a pearly white, and sparkling chandeliers dropped down from the ceiling.
“Travis?” Penelope called out from across the room. “Is that you?”
Her eyes met mine, and she dropped a folder—sending colored papers everywhere. Then she rushed over with her arms open wide.
“I can’t believe you came,” she said.
“Nice to see you too, Crown.” I hugged her against my chest. “I didn’t know you missed me this much.”
“Wait a minute. Please don’t tell me that you’re only here to hide out from the Vegas press.”
“No, I’m here because IthinkI love my little sister.”
“In that case, she’s a lot smarter than you give her credit for.” She stood on her toes and stared into my eyes, as if she’d find an ulterior motive behind my irises. “Hmmm. I guess you might be telling the truth after all.”
“Stuff like that is why you’ll always be seventeen years old to me.”
“Trust me, I’m aware.” She pulled a pair of shades and a baseball cap from her bag. “Here. I need you to make yourself as invisible as possible from now until you leave.”
