Page 3 of The Road Ahead
Rio’s eyes narrowed, and they threw me a challenging look. “Wanna take me on?” they asked.
I groaned, knowing it was going to hurt, but happy to do so since it would teach Tomás a lesson. I nodded, climbed to my feet, and within ten seconds was lying flat on my back, wind knocked from my lungs, with Rio holding me down. They had a sparkle in their eyes as they checked to make sure I was okay. They then hefted me to my feet and turned to a gaping Tomás to deliver some snarky comment I was too distracted to take note of.
Rio was an absolute badass, and I was hard in my pants for the rest of the night.
Getting turned on by my cousin hadn’t been on my bingo card that night, and I wrestled with those new feelings for months. I pulled back a little, not texting quite as often, trying to put some distance between us as I grappled with my feelings. I ended upavoiding them when they last came to visit, four years ago, by tagging along on a camping trip some of my friends had planned. It wasn’t my finest hour, and I spent the entire trip regretting being there and wishing I was with Rio instead.
After that I made more of an effort to keep in touch, even if it was just digitally. It killed me not to be able to be there for Rio when their mom died, but I did what I could with phone calls and texts. Over the past couple of years, we didn’t chat as often as we once had, but the chasm that had opened between us narrowed once more. When my dad put the phone on speaker for Rio’s phone call and I heard about how my Uncle Robert had reacted to them coming out, I was furious. I wanted to drive down to Georgia and punch him in his stupid face. Instead, I offered Rio somewhere to stay, hoping that maybe we could once again become as close as we used to be.
I wasn’t going to kid myself into thinking that anything more was possible. Hope was a dangerous—and painful—thing, and it was best to simply not have any at all.
Teresa brought the sandwiches over to the table, and I sat down to eat. Brad finally put away his phone, digging into the food without even a thank you to Teresa for making him lunch. “Thanks so much for feeding us,” I said, more pointedly than needed, but I was seething at his obvious lack of respect.
Brad made it worse when he opened his mouth to ask, “So, what time is he supposed to be getting here?”
At least Teresa didn’t brush that off. Before I could respond, she said firmly, “They. They should be arriving soon. The last text we had from Rio was an hour ago when they reached Stony Creek.”
“He drives some kind of souped-up car, yeah?” Brad asked.
“For fuck’s sake, Brad,” Teresa snapped, finally pushed past her limit. “Rio’s pronouns are they/them.”
Brad snorted and shrugged. “Sorry,” he said, sounding anything but. I wasn’t imagining the sneer in his words as he said, “Sotheydrive some kind of fancy import?”
As if that was a cue, we heard the distant sound of an engine. I was on the verge of just giving in to the urge to toss Brad out on his ass, but he was saved by the very person he’d been a dick about.
My anger disappeared and excitement shot through me, not only because in just minutes I’d be hugging Rio again, but because I was dying to check out their ’86. I’d seen photos, even videos of the car, but nothing would compare to seeing it in person. I wondered if they’d let me drive it? I wasn’t used to driving a stick, but it couldn’t bethathard, could it?
I hurried over to the sink and rinsed my plate, stacking it neatly on the drying rack. By the time I’d made it to the door, the purr of the engine was much closer. I stepped outside onto the porch in time to see the car of my dreams pulling up in front of the cabin. It was more brown than white because of the dust from the dirt road, but she was still beautiful.
But not as beautiful as the person who emerged from the driver’s seat.
My breath caught as I properly drank in the sight of my perfect cousin for the first time in six years. Heeled boots peeked out from under the hem of a pair of black wide-leg jeans. They were wearing a white cropped sweater that showed off a band of the perfectly bronze skin of their stomach. Rio had belts in several forms of martial arts and had worked as a self-defense instructor for the past three years, but I didn’t realize how fit that would make them. From the definition of their stomach, the lean planes only marred by the faint white scar from when they’d had their appendix out, they were toned as fuck. I had a sudden desire to press my nose against that skin, lick around their belly button, then drop even lower.
To distract myself fromthosesorts of thoughts, I let my gaze wander upwards. Rio had always been attractive, but now they’d found the confidence that came with self-acceptance they were stunning. Warm brown eyes were rimmed with eyeliner, there was a touch of pink on their cheeks, and their lips were shiny with gloss. A cute little clip held their black curly hair back from the left side of their face. Finishing the ensemble was a pearl choker and pearl studs in their ears.
I yearned to replace that pearl necklace with one of my own.
“Coop?” Rio asked tentatively. “You okay? You’re kind of staring.”
I shook myself out of my daze and flashed them an apologetic smile. “Sorry. It’s just been so long, and I can’t quite believe you’re here.”
“Do I get a hug?” they asked, holding open their arms in invitation.
In three long strides, I had closed the space between us and swept them into my arms. Rio’s arms clung around my neck as I spun us around, their laugh reminiscent of their eighteenth birthday when I’d done the same.
“I’ve missed you so much,” I whispered as I finally set them on their feet, but I didn’t dare let go. Instead, I hugged them even tighter.
“I missed you too,” Rio mumbled from where I was crushing their face against my chest.
“Rio!” Teresa cried, and I reluctantly let go so they could greet my sister.
While Rio and Teresa were hugging and exclaiming over how good it was to see one another again, I looked over to see Brad emerge from the cabin. His lip curled up in distaste as he looked at Rio and my hackles went up. If he said a single derogatory thing to upset my cousin, he was gone.
The disgusted look dropped from his face as Teresa turned around, waving Brad over to meet Rio. He was polite, even a little charming, as he shook Rio’s hand and exchanged pleasantries. I almost gaslit myself into believing I’d imagined the whole thing, but no, I’d definitely caught the uncensored expression on his face. I was going to watch Brad like a hawk.
“I can’t believe I’m finally back here!” Rio said happily, looking at the cabin and then out across the lake.
“I can’t believe you got yourself a real-life Hachi-Roku,” I said, using the Japanese phrase for ’86 they used in the anime. I moved towards the car, admiring how pretty it was. “This is so cool!”
