Page 46 of Light It Up Red
“I only told my mom, and she promised not to tell dad until after we left,” she says, and I laugh.
“Really, what’s he going to do, babe? Lock you in a dungeon?”
“I wouldn’t put it past him.” She shrugs. “But it’s not that. He’s just got a lot going on right now, and I don’t want to add to his stress.”
When Lili returned from Italy, she mentioned how her grandfather was retiring and her father was taking over. She was nervous as hell to bring it up. Like what her father does for a living has anything to do with whether or not I want to be with her. It doesn’t. I couldn’t care less if the man was the devil himself. I’d still want to be with his daughter. There is nothing that could make me not want her.
“I think his not knowing where you are is going to stress him out more than it would if he knew,” I tell her.
“Please, he’s going to know where I am within minutes of stopping to wonder why I’m not home.” Lili rolls her eyes. “But my mom will make sure he doesn’t come find us.”
“Okay.” I slide my hand up and take hold of her palm. “Are you ready to spend the next week in domesticated bliss with me?”
“I think I’m more excited about this trip than I was when I went to Disney as a kid,” Lili says with a huge smile on her face.
“I beat Disney? Shit, babe, way to boost my ego.”
“Your ego doesn’t need boosting. But you are way better than Disney,” she tells me. “Although this drive is going to take forever. We should have taken the jet.”
“It’s only three and a half hours. Besides, I like road-tripping with you.”
“Three and a half hours is a long-ass time. We could have been there by now.”
“Wanna play a game?” I suggest.
“Depends on what it is and if I’m likely to win.”
One thing I’ve learned about Lili is her competitive nature is stronger than mine. Don’t get me wrong… I fucking love to win. But Lili? She has to win. I’m assuming it has something to do with her parents letting her beat them at whatever she was playing as a child. My parents never let me win anything. If I won, it was because I was the better player.
“This isn’t the kind of game you win or lose, babe. It’s just… creative.”
“Okay, what’s the game?”
“What’s their story? My parents used to play it with me when we went on road trips together.”
“Explain it to me.”
“You look around at other cars and make up the story for the people inside,” I tell her. “Like there, that Beamer. Middle-aged guy. He’s on his way back from a boring day at a job he hates. He’s going home to an empty house. He chose a career over love and lives a sad, lonely life.”
“That’s horrible!” Lili gasps.
“It happens. It’s life. What do you think his story is?” I ask her.
“Mmm, let’s see.” She appears to consider her options for a minute. “I’ve got it. He’s a hitman, disguising himself as the average Joe, because that’s how they go undetected. He has the body of his target currently wrapped in plastic in the trunk of his car and he’s on his way to dispose of it. But not before he sends proof of his kill to whomever hired him. Then he’ll burn the Beamer in the woods somewhere and find his way back home to his loving wife and kids, who all have no idea what he really does for a living.”
I look over at my girlfriend, my eyes wide and my jaw slightly dropped. “You and I had very different upbringings, Lili.”
“What? My story was way more creative than yours. I win.” She smirks while crossing her arms over her chest.
“If there was a winner, you’d be it, babe. But there’s not. So, no, you don’t win.”
“What’s the point of playing a game if you can’t win?”
“For fun?”
“Travis, you’re a professional athlete. You’re literally paid millions of dollars to win.”
“Which is why I can play a game with my girlfriend without the need to win.” I shrug. “Besides, I won the fucking lottery of a lifetime the day I met you. I don’t think anything else can ever compare to that.”
