Page 197 of Ride With Me

“I see. How long have you been on the road?”

Keely shrugged, because it wasn’t like he kept track of the days or how many months had passed since he’d been home. At least three, though it wouldn’t shock him to discover that it was longer. He would make it back there eventually, he always did. It was his sticking around time that fluctuated, though his folks always said that he came by his wanderlust honestly.

“I was born on it,” Keely admitted near the end of a song whose name he could not remember. “Literally. Mama had me in the RV while my mom was racing to the nearest hospital. My old man always said that was the wildest bit of driving he had ever experienced and that was saying something, considering he made his living as a stuntman.”

The guy shot him the side-eye accompanied by a long, low whistle Keely took as admiration. “No shit?”

“No shit. Mom was too, which was why she was driving,” Keely explained. “He tells anyone who’ll listen that she’s the best wheelman he ever worked with, which was why he was in the back delivering me while she was up front taking care of business.”

“Wait…back something up for me a minute,” the guy said, shooting Keely a funny look. “You’ve got two moms?”

“Yup.”

“And they were both with your dad?”

“Since almost a decade before they had me,” Keely admitted proudly.

He’d had an awesome upbringing that he wasn’t the least bit ashamed of, and so much love that there were times when he’d wished for a sibling, just so he could share the trek across several states and all of the amazing adventures that ensued, with them.

“That’s some cool shit right there,” the guy replied. “Good for them. When something works, it works. Fuck what anyone else thinks. Life’s too long to live it by someone else’s rules.”

Oh man, Keely loved hearing it put that way instead of the clichedlife is too short. The passage of time had always flowed like a river for him, rapid, rocky and wild in places, winding and meandering in others, each day filled with the potential for something outstanding to happen, as long as he got off his ass, used his imagination, and wasn’t afraid to venture into the unknown.

“Exactly. I’m Keely, by the way. Thanks for the water. I didn’t realize how badly the heat was starting to get to me.”

“In that case, the storm up ahead would have finished you off.”

Chickling, Keely couldn’t argue with that point. “No shit.”

“I’m Taz,” the man replied, taking one tattooed hand off the wheel to shake Keely’s.

Between the ink and the bike, Keely suspected that Taz had some wild road adventures of his own to tell.

“Real name or road name?” Keely asked.

“Both.”

“Sweet. Sounds like you had interesting parents yourself.”

“You could say that,” Taz said with a rough chuckle that made the ends of his mustache bob. “Or you could say I was lucky not to be named Daffy.”

Snickering, Keely couldn’t help but eye the man with skepticism, the snarky little voice in the back of his head quickly piping up to drown out his impulse control. “It could always be worse. They could have gone for Buzzard or Foghorn.”

“Okay, Buzzard I’d have learned to live with,” Taz admitted. “At least I could introduce myself as Buzz and everyone would just think my folks were space nuts.”

“Or fans of Toy Story.” Keely said, having never grasped the fine art ofshutting the fuck up.

Fortunately, his words didn’t fall flat or backfire on him this time. Instead, Taz spewed soda all over the steering wheel as he laughed, then slapped a hand over his mouth, Mountain Dew dribbling down his beard until Keely spotted tissues sticking out of the center consol and passed them over.

“Thanks,” Taz muttered once he had cleaned himself up and wiped as much of the mess as he could off the steering wheel. “Though if that’s the kind of humor I can expect outta you, I might be in mourning for my upholstery before the end of this trip.”

Oops.

Still, Keely couldn’t keep the grin off his face. “I’ll do my best to reign it in.”

“Please don’t. Seriously. I’ve had my fill of being around people who don’t know how to lighten up and just enjoy shit instead of looking to wreck it.”

“I’ve known a few people like that myself,” Keely admitted, feeling instantly at ease. “They tend to suck the fun out of everything.”

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