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Fuck, wow.Fuckingsilence from the passenger side.
“Drop me off at the bus station up the road.” Alyeska isn’t yelling this time.
“Aly, fuck, that was terrible. I’m sorry, I’m being an asshole.” I try to recover; I try to repair.
“Stop the truck, Lad. Let me out here.” Her voice is calm, clear, and decisive even.
Maybe I am the one going crazy.
“Alyeska, it’s the middle of the night, I am not leaving you here at some bus stop overnight. What if we get a hotel for the night? Please, I’m sorry.” I reach over and touch her hand, make it sentimental, but she pulls away and ignores my attempt.
“Listen here, Aladden. You have one more parent present parent than I do. One. And the only reason you didn’t tell him the truth is because you are so scared of what people will think of you if they find out you aren’t as perfect as everyone believes you are. So sad, Lad, you are so terrified of being pushed off your podium, you are going to drag everyone down, so you don’t have to drown.” Her words slam into my chest, and I can feel the weight of the world now.
There are endless streetlights, countless cars, but I don’t stop driving until we are home, because her words frighten me, they bring fury, but most of all, she’s right and I hate to prove those ideas of me right.
“Thank you for coming with me and thank you for stopping me from taking those pills.” We pull up to her cousin’s house an hour out of my way, but I don’t mind.
The couple hours in the car with her gave me time to calm down and feel the shame for treating her so badly in the first place.
“Lose my number,fourth place.” Alyeska hops out of the truck, grabs her backpack, and I wait until she walks inside safe.
I deserve every word she says. Even worse, I know I deserved fourth place, now more than ever. This isn’t how winners act, throwing tantrums when races don’t go their way.
Fuck, Aly is absolutely correct when she said gods don’t need to be worshipped, they need to be humbled.
Chapter 9
Alyeska
“TellmeagainwhyI have to come to a dinner with your future in-laws? I am not the one marrying into the family; thank Mulan’s ancestors and her little lizard for protecting my fertility.” I mock prayer hands and Bambi’s adorable daughters giggle because they think I am hilarious. “No offense, Julie.”
“Are you sure it is necessary she comes with us?” Julian lifts an eyebrow and reaches over to hold hands with my cousin.
He has reason to worry, I wouldn’t bring me either, because honestly, I might open my mouth and heaven help the sacred land I might destroy by the men who stole it.
“Yes, Julian, it is necessary. I am not going in there alone. By the way, Alyeska, Mushu is a dragon, and they are Chinese. It doesn’t work for us since we are Japanese.” Damn, she always has to ruin my fun with facts.
“Fine, but if I went off to war and had to have a sidekick, I would have totally picked the goddamn panda.” I shift under my seatbelt.
“Goddamn pandas!” Both Libby Lamb and Ruby Rabbit shout my words back to me and cover their mouths with the no-no words.
“That wasn’t my fault.” Holding up my hands as my cousin glares at me, like I’m the bad influence. Bambi taught me all the curse words; it’s her fault.
“Girls, we can’t say that around Grandma and Grandpa Crawford, okay? Remember when we wear our nice dresses, we have to act like princesses, and princesses don’t swear.” Bambi is using her soothing mother voice, but it is making my skin crawl.
“Bullshit,” I mutter, but get a death glare so I focus on the passing scenery and the past few days when Aladden decided to be the biggest dick alive with his words. If he wanted to show me some more skills with another dick, well, I could have been convinced he wasn’t all asshole. It doesn’t help we pass his house to get to Julian’s childhood home.
I have been wrong before, but in this case, my assumptions about him were accurate. His pathetic tantrum for not winning made my little nieces’ outburst seem like confetti to his rainstorm.
“Oh goody, we are here. We made it in one piece. How exciting?” I clap and unbuckle myself and the two little girls on each side of me.
“Behave.” Bambi makes me promise.
“Why would you invite me if you even thought for a second I could behave like a normal person?” She smiles, and I know she brought me for comedic relief and to dual out insults.
Lad has done his best to text apologies, but I don’t know why he wants my help. I don’t love him or worship his long feet or his upside-down triangle body. It would be rude to not admire his strong shoulders and buff arms. His waist is adorably narrow.
Swimmers; who would have thought they were packing the level of hotness in the heat department?
