Page 34 of False Start

“Wide receiver.”

Hayden’s eyes went wide. “Wait, what? What are you doing here?”

“It’s off season, babe,” Mike answered.

“I’m here with a friend. Or a friend of a friend. It’s sort of complicated. We’re in the Cougar.”

Their gaze drifted back to rust-laden Cougar and Kit. The open hood had served as a siren song to the fellow car enthusiasts, and she’d gathered a half dozen other people to look, a reserved smile on her face. One she’d never bothered to use with me.

“Wow,” Hayden breathed as she surveyed the car. “Brave.”

“You got any tips for some first-timers?” I asked. I hadn’t done much to make Kit happy today, and finding out some insider information was the least I could do. Especially after driving stick shift went so poorly.

“Did you scout any of the potential stops? We found that helps.” Mike pulled off his fake blond wig and threw it into the back of the Metro.

I shook my head. “Like I said, I was a last-minute addition. I think Kit’s been focused on getting that car running.”

“Oh, social media!” Hayden’s hand flew to her pocket, and she pulled out her phone. She tapped on the screen and let out a low whistle. “You have 4.1 million followers. Wow…”

Her eyes grew wide, and I winced when I remembered the last picture I posted: me by the pool, shirtless. “Yeah, I’ve got a few followers.”

“Well, bad news.” She wrinkled her nose, blue eyes skirting the ground. “You’re definitely not going to win. The judges will make sure of that. They like to keep this a fun counterculture, low-key affair. Shitty cars, weird people, you know?”

“I could make an alt account.”

Hayden shared a dubious look with Mike before she shrugged. “Sure, I guess. I mean, some people don’t have any social media presence, so they just make an account for the race. You could do a themed account for your team. There are awards for the best social media posts sometimes. Do you actually run your own accounts? I thought most celebrities just used assistants.”

“Not me.” There were a few guys on the teams who outsourced those jobs. I had an assistant, but other than contractually obligated sponsored posts, I kept up with my own account, which had gotten me into trouble a time or two. But I knew how to take viral pictures and reshare-worthy captions. “An alt account is something I definitely know how to do. So, we just take pictures at each stop to get our points?”

“That’s it, with the stop hashtag and your team hashtag. The judges tally your points up each day so you can see how you’re doing.” Hayden extended her phone. I took it, flipping through their last race.

“Wow, that’s a lot of posts,” I said with a low whistle as I scrolled through dozens of pictures: UFO-shaped houses, mirror mazes, and Bigfoot hunts.

“It was a ten-day rally through Texas.” Hayden took back her phone. “It nearly destroyed our relationship. We had to lasso a cow and let me tell you, it didn’t matter how much flirting I did, I couldn’t find a single rancher willing to let us try.”

“She finally gave up and asked me to bribe a farmhand,” Mike said.

“And he offered twenty dollars! Can you believe that? Twenty dollars! I told him that’s a fifty dollar ask at minimum!”

“A cool hundred, actually.” Mike paled at the memory.

“He would have taken fifty if you hadn’t insulted him first,” Hayden countered.

“Wait, how many people do I have to bribe on this trip?” I asked.

“Usually none, but that was an exception. You can also just choose not to do a task,” Mike said.

“But if you’re aiming to win, you need all the points. Every stop, every optional activity.” Hayden straightened. “Oh! I think we’re about to get started!”

Ashley, the judge, rushed to the center of the parking lot with a bullhorn in hand. She handed it off to Tom, the older guy with sunglasses and a backward hat. He took it and climbed onto the roof of the station wagon as the teams gathered around. “It’s just about time to go, so I need everyone over here!”

I parted the crowd, beelining for Kit even though she hadn’t so much as made a passing sweep for me.

“Okay, I got some intel,” I whispered into her ear as I wedged in beside her. “We can get extra points for good social media posts. And you know the only thing I’m better at than catching footballs?”

“Talking about yourself?”

“Close.” I powered through despite the insult, not letting it stop me. “Social media engagement. The only bad news is I can’t use my main account. Apparently, the judges don’t want to bring a bunch of attention to the rally.”

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