Page 16 of Sing Your Heart Out

De speaks up. “All right, everyone! Now don’t forget! This is a race course. You want to win, but you also need to follow the designated markers. You’ll see the first one marked in orange right over there… and then little red bumps to keep you going the right way.”

“Stay inside the red bumps, guys! Otherwise you can get lost. If you go too off path, your cart will automatically lose power. You should wait near your cart for someone to come scoop you up. Make sense?”

Several engines start, so Dwayne just steps aside and smiles. “Go, I guess.”

Stepping on the gas, I make the buggy spin out for a second before it gallops to life. Mellie holds on to the handle that is at her far right, her expression intense.

“Don’t worry so much,” I tease her. Speeding past the first orange marker, I find that it’s pretty easy to stay inside the red bumps on both sides.

I slow down for the first turn, and the path widens substantially. Another cart comes up from behind, swinging past us, the riders whooping.

“Was that your man?” Mellie asks, nodding her head to the buggy that just overtook us.

Sure enough, Smith is driving the cart at a breakneck pace, his pretty passenger just along for the ride.

Something rises in my chest, fiercely competitive and usually unseen. I don’t want any of my new friends to see this side of me, but I guess I should have known when I called the driver’s side.

“Hell no. He doesn’t get to win,” I declare.

I play to win at that point, pushing the pedal to the medal and racing around the turns just as fast as I can. A couple of times Mellie squeals when I take a turn too tightly, almost flipping us over. But through some kind of grace, the cart never flips. On the final shot, the red bumps widen. Seeing my chance, I swing out to Smith’s side. He glances over at me and frowns, pushing his cart faster.

I go as fast as possible, not even worried about the consequences. Mellie grips my arm, calling for me to be careful.

Smith and I cross the finish line at nearly the same time. I’m just a hair ahead of him maybe, but of course there is no photo finish,

Just Dee and Dwayne, yelling at us to pull over. “Are you crazy? Get out of the cart. It’s just a friendly competition!”

I glance at Smith, raising my eyebrows. He chuckles, getting out. Mellie smacks me on the arm as I unbuckle my seat belt.

“You almost killed us both,” she hisses. “You’re insane!”

I grin at her. “We totally won though. It was worth it.”

Mellie rolls her eyes and heads toward the little shack. I shield my eyes against the sun again as Smith comes over.

“How about the loser,” he points to me, “buys the winner,” he indicates himself, “a hot dog?”

“Hah!” I laugh. “Yeah right. First off, I totally won. And second, I don’t eat hot dogs. They have way too many nitrites. Besides, where’s your partner? Doesn’t Taylor get a hot dog too?”

He wrinkles his nose, glancing over at her. Then he leans over to me, whispering. “She’s seriously so annoying. She talked the entire time we were in the dune buggy, no matter how fast I drove. I think she has a disorder of some kind or something,” he jokes.

I smile at him. “A talking disorder?”

“It’s very sad,” he says with a grin.

“Mhm. Well… I will let you buy me something healthier, I guess. Let’s go see what they have, shall we?”

He offers me his arm. Blushing to the roots of my hair, I put my hand against the hot skin of his arm.

God, how can he make me blush like this when he isn’t even doing anything dirty to me?

Smith walks me over to the little lean to garage where Dwayne sits, fanning himself. It turns out that they only have fast food style nachos for food, which I can eat without putting up too much of a fuss.

I grab a table right under the air conditioner, which is doing its best to cool the shack. Smith brings a giant pile of nachos over and puts down a stack of napkins before he takes the opposite seat from me.

I smile at him, looking at the impressive pile of tortilla chips and fake orange cheese.

He grabs one, pointing it at me. “Surely you have no objection to nacho cheese.”

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