Page 58 of That Summer

“Don’t shut me out again. Ever. Not for a night. Not for an hour. Not even a minute. No matter what you’re thinking. No matter what you’re feeling. No matter what happens on Saturday.” He slipped closer to her. “Promise me, okay? You’ll never shut me out again.”

She nodded, her mind flipping over his words.

“Say it.”

“I promise.”

“Now come here,” he said, his voice smoothing out.

As she stepped closer, he wrapped her in a hug. She hugged him back, hopeful things between them would be okay again. As she replayed his promise, she pushed out of the embrace.

“What’s going to happen on Saturday?”

“Nate.”

A shy little smile ticked at her lips. Just six more days until she could see him. Six. More. Days.

“I have some good news for you. Lots actually.” He scratched his whiskery chin. “Do you want to hear it?”

“Of course.” The nearest item to her was a throw pillow, which she tossed playfully in his direction.

The air in the room changed in a heartbeat. The pea-soup thick tension, anger and dark storm clouds were gone, replaced with the sunlight and light breeze. Her heart suddenly felt lighter.

He sat beside her, but kept a noticeable distance. “Now, do I tell you in chronological order, or just the best news last?”

“Just tell me,” she said.

“Okay. Well, to answer one of your texts, I did very well yesterday. I came in first in the feature which gave me enough points to end the season in first place.”

“Yes!” she screamed and gave him a hug. “Oh Lucas, that’s wonderful. I knew you could do it. Your first win.”

“They can’t call me the Chaser anymore.” His whole face lit up as he launched into details about how he fought to maintain his lead. It was so close as he crossed the finish line, they joked it was a photo finish. “The win will help as far as sponsorships go. Companies are more likely to give money to winners.”

“You were always a winner to me.”

“Awe, thanks.” A crimson colour flooded his cheeks. “Oh, and one other major thing happened. It ends well, but started terribly.”

She leaned closer. “What? Tell me,” she said when he settled back into his seat.

“Nate and Marissa had a fight, the night after we had our… disagreement.”

Her heart did a double beat.

“Right before the second heat. And it was ugly. In fact, I was more than a little embarrassed at Nate.”

“AtNate? Not for him?”

“Ah, no. I’ll spare you the details because it was nasty. Anyways, the fight brought out their demons.”

“Who? Marissa and Nate’s?”

“Yep. I’ve never witnessed either of them drive like that. They were so aggressive to each other. Nate got DQ’d.”

She shook her head, not understanding. “I don’t know–”

“He got disqualified during the second heat and wasn’t allowed in the feature race.”

“Oh my god.”