Page 21 of The Road Ahead
“This is a little different to that,” I pointed out. “It’s not like we’re second cousins, twice removed. Rio and I are related by blood.”
“It’s not like you’re trying to hook up with a sibling,” Teresa said.
I looked at her and wrinkled my nose. “Eww. You’re totally not my type.”
“Fuck off,” she said, batting at my arm. “Does it matter?” she said, getting back to the point. “If they don’t approve?”
I gave her an incredulous look. “Ofcourseit matters! Our family is all Rio has left. If Mom and Dad washed their handsof them, all because of me wanting to be in a relationship with them, I’d never forgive myself.”
She scooted her chair closer to me and pulled me into a one-armed hug. “I think it says a lot about you, Coop, that the reason you’re worried is because of how it'll affect Rio’s relationship with our parents, and not yours. I really hope they wouldn’t have too much of an issue with it, though. It’s not like you two can have offspring and create your own royal family or anything.”
“Ha ha,” I said drily.
“Seriously. Even if the worst comes to worst, and they react badly, I really doubt it’ll last. They certainly won’t disown anyone. It might just take them a little bit to get used to it.”
That did make me feel a little bit better. “Okay. Thanks.” I tilted my head at the dance floor. “It’s been a while since you joined me. Do you reckon you can keep up?”
Teresa scoffed. “Please. I’m gonna wipe the floor with you.”
“I’d like to see you try,” I goaded her.
We bickered playfully until Rio returned, carrying two hard lemonades and three bottles of water. I got up and hurried over when I saw the juggling act they were performing to carry it all. They smiled at me gratefully as I offloaded the waters, then handed Teresa her drink. “I figured we’d also need water at some point,” they told her.
It wasn’t much longer before the band was ready, and they introduced themselves and gave us a quick overview of the first five dances they’d be doing. I stood and held my hand out to Rio. “You joining us?”
They took my hand, but said, “You’ll need to help me with the steps. I’m not familiar with any of these.”
“You’ll pick it up in no time,” I assured them. “These first ones are really easy, with hardly any tags or restarts, if any.”
We started off with “Keep Up With A Cowgirl,” which was a complete beginner dance that I usually found a little boring, butit would ease Rio into it. We stayed on the sides of the group, and I gestured to our right. “Right vine, hitch, then left vine, hitch. Forward, two, three, kick. Back, two, three, touch.”
By the end of the second quarter turn, Rio had it down pat. They moved with ease and grace, a huge smile on their face. I let my body move on autopilot, able to do this dance in my sleep, and watched Rio. I was a massive fan of this outfit, especially the way it showed off their toned stomach. In fact, I was so busy watching the way their muscles were moving under that perfect bronze skin that I was slightly out of step and ended up bumping into Teresa.
“Concentrate,” she chided, looking more amused than anything.
As the session continued, we worked through some of the newer dances, as well as some of the classics. I cheered when “Always Humble”started playing, since that was one of my favourite dances. It was still pretty basic, but I loved the rhythm of it and always had fun. We moved on to some more advanced dances, and Rio and I ended up in a fit of giggles when they got completely confused and ended up falling against me. A glare from the woman in the row ahead of us had us stumbling off the dance floor and back to our table so we wouldn’t disrupt anyone else.
We gulped water and watched everyone dance, and if our arms pressed against one another, or Rio hooked their foot around my ankle, well, I wasn’t going to complain.
The sun had set, and we were between gigs, browsing the market stalls. Teresa had met up with some of her friends, taking Bradwith her, and I was enjoying having some alone time with Rio. We chatted about random subjects as we looked at the different wares for sale, and it felt natural. Comfortable.
A gust of wind blew into the small marquee we were under, looking at some handmade jewellery, and Rio shivered. I’d noticed the temperature dropping, but it wasn’t too bad with my jeans and long-sleeve shirt, but Rio must certainly be feeling it. “Are you cold?” I asked.
“A bit,” they admitted. “It’s my own fault for forgetting to bring a jacket.”
“I’ve got a spare one in my truck. I’ll go get it for you,” I offered.
“I’ll be happy to wear your jacket, but I’m not making you walk all the way out to get it by yourself. I’ll come too.”
I smiled, and we headed in the direction of the large field that was being used as a makeshift parking lot. We were almost at my truck when Rio stopped dead in their tracks, their eyes wide. “You okay?” I asked.
“Holy shit. It’s an S15!” they exclaimed, walking over to an older style car that looked vaguely familiar to me. “A Silvia.”
I joined them and looked over the car. It was either blue or black—it was hard to tell with how dark it was— and had a large spoiler on the back. It was sleek looking, low to the ground, with expensive-looking rims. “Where have I seen something like this before?” I mused.
“The Two Guys From Tokyo drove one in stage four, and Hiroya Okuyama drove one in the fifth stage ofInitial D,” Rio said absently, crouching down to make a closer inspection of the tires.
“How ever could I forget that?” I drawled, amazed at how much knowledge they’d retained from a show we’d watched as kids. I mean, to be fair, Rio might have rewatched the anime more recently than me, but really, who remembered all theseside characters who were usually only shown for an episode or two?
