Page 2 of Ride

A tiny hand pointed at me. “Who are you?”

Amena giggled and I dropped down to his height. “Laikin. What's your name?” I stuck my hand out to shake.

When I asked him a question, he glanced up at his mom before answering. I could see the little hint of her in him from the small round nose, dimples in each cheek, and pointy ears. I used to make fun of her ears growing up and she’d get on me about my failed dance moves. Being my best friend’s sister brought her into my life between the ages of fifteen and twenty—until she left with her secret boyfriend, breaking my heart in the process. Brett, her brother, still stayed in touch to this day and we hang out when our schedules are free. As hard as I wanted to ignore those memories of running up behind her at fifteen to give her our first kiss, we needed to get off the side of the road.

“What’s your name, baby?” Amena rubbed a hand through his curly hair.

He scratched his nose, and he answered, “I’m Kayne.”

I chuckled at his smile. “Nice to meet you, Kayne.” Standing to my full height, I motioned to my car and opened the back door to help Kayne climb inside. I watched Amena help him into the back seat. I held the door open to let Amena get in front. When we were fifteen and planning our future together, I thought I would be opening the door for her forever. I locked my seat belt and checked traffic in the side and rearview mirrors. I turned the volume low on the radio and caught Amena scanning my every move before I focused on the road again. I swore the day I saw here again I’d let her know how she fucked with my head when she left town and never said a word to me.

“Mr. Laikin, do you like pizza?” Kayne raised a right hand up in the air, holding tight to his toy in left hand. Even though Amena was fucking up my head right now, her son sat back in his seat with his toy, getting comfortable.

I glanced at him through mirror. “I do.”

Kayne kicked his feet up in excitement. “Me too! Mommy, can we have pizza?”

“Kayne, that’s not how you ask for something, and besides, I planned on cooking when we got home.”

“He’s fine.”

Amena turned in her seat to look at him. “No, he’s spoiled.”

“But, Mommy...” Kayne crossed his arms around his chest, poking out his lip.

“Spoiled.” I chuckled, thinking back on Amena constantly throwing a tantrum. If Brett and I went anywhere, she had to be there and have the same things.

“What are you saying?” Trying to size me up, Amena fought back a grin at my words.

We pulled off the highway, taking the short route back to Los Angeles. “Where am I taking you?”

“My parents house,” she sighed.

“I thought you said your friends’? Either is cool.”

“Yeah, at first my goal was to hit up Winter, but this time of day she’s working. Thanks.”

“For what?”

“Picking us up.”

I hit the turn signal. “No need to thank me.”

“I asked Brett about you often,” Amena spoke

To hear that she talked with her brother about me and stayed updated on my life was shocking because he never gave me a clue about her—especially not that she’d had a baby.

My jaw went slack. “Yeah, can’t say the same.”

“Not Brett’s fault. I made him promise to keep my life away from you.”

I scoffed, gripped the wheel tighter, and clenched my teeth. “What?” Brett at the end of the day was my best friend, not sibling, and we told each other everything. I understood she was his sister, but that was a big secret to keep from me.

“Laikin, you’re the biggest celebrity in sports. Every girl has a picture of you on their wall, and the last thing I need is to deal with your harem.” She raised her fingers, making air quotes.

“What’s a harem, Mommy?”

A triumphant smirk stretched across my face at Kayne catching our conversation. Plenty of times I eavesdropped on my mom and her friends gossiping.

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