Page 22 of The Road Ahead
“I was not expecting to hear someone referencingInitial Dtonight,” someone said from behind us. I spun around to see a lanky black guy wearing cream cargo shorts and a bright pink Hawaiian shirt approaching.
Rio got to their feet and came to stand next to me, and the newcomer pulled out his keys and disabled the alarm on the Silvia, marking it as his. “Hi,” Rio said, and gestured at the car. “She’s a beauty.”
“She really is,” the guy said. He held out his hand in greeting. “I’m James, but most people call me Jimmy.”
Rio tilted their head to the side, as if recalling something even as they shook the offered hand. “Jimmy Mills?”
Jimmy nodded. “The one and only.”
Rio beamed at him. “No fucking way! I’m Rio Thomas—I’ve been emailing you and just joined.”
“Seriously, dude?” Jimmy grinned back. “You’ve got an ’86, yeah?”
“I do!” Rio then grimaced. “Sorry, but is it okay if you don’t call me dude? I go by they/them pronouns and dude makes me feel a bit uncomfortable.”
“Shit, my bad,” Jimmy instantly apologized. “No problem.”
Rio looked relieved, and I could only imagine how hard it must be needing to have a similar conversation with almost everyone they met. They turned to me and explained, “Jimmy’s the president of the Stony Creek Car Club.” They then said, “Jimmy, this is Cooper.”
“Nice to meet you,” Jimmy said, giving me an up nod. “Is your girl here?” he asked, turning back to Rio. “Shit, sorry. There I go, assuming again. Do you refer to your car with female pronouns?”
Rio laughed. “I do. I don’t know if that makes me a hypocrite or not, but yeah, she’s my baby. She’s not here, though. We brought Coop’s truck today as his sister and her boyfriend are with us.”
I was acutely aware that Rio had yet to mention that Teresa or I were his cousins. It felt deliberate.
“We’re doing a hill climb and cruise on Sunday night,” Jimmy told Rio. “If you’re still in the area after the festival finishes, you should join us. A couple of us have older drifters and we always have fun coming down the mountain together. Most of the others have much newer, higher powered cars, but we’re all pretty good at sharing the road.”
“That would be awesome,” Rio told him, bouncing a little in excitement.
“Did I add you to the group chat?”
“I think so, but I’ve not had much of a chance to have a look,” Rio explained.
“All good,” Jimmy said. “I’ll share the details on there tomorrow after the festival ends.”
“I can’t wait. See you on Sunday.” Rio gave an adorable little wave, and Jimmy and I exchanged more up nods, and we continued towards my truck.
I laughed as Rio practically skipped along the ground. “You’re too cute,” I told them.
“This is going to be so much fun,” they exclaimed, turning and facing me as they continued to walk backward. “It feels like everything is falling into place. Kind of like it’s the universe telling me I’m where I’m supposed to be. I’ve hopefully got a job lined up at the gym, Emmett and Cee-Lee are looking after me as if I’m their actual kid, I’ve found a car club with people who won’t look down on my car because she’s so old, and then there’s you.” They stopped walking and reached out to take my hand.“Cooper, I know I said we’d talk tomorrow, but I can’t wait any longer. I need you to know that I really like you. I have for ages.”
I leaned down and brushed my nose against theirs. “Rio,” I said on an exhale, letting my eyes flutter shut. “I really like you too.” And then I pressed in that little bit closer until our lips met.
Rio wrapped their arms around my neck and kissed me back, and it was soft, and sweet, and so fucking perfect. For something so chaste, the way my body reacted was anything but. I felt hot all over, my heart thumped erratically in my chest, and my stomach was full of butterflies. It was the most electric kiss I’d ever had, despite being just a simple pressing together of lips.
We broke apart a moment later, since I was bending almost in half and Rio was on their tippy toes, and both of us were losing our balance. “Dammit. I really need to get some platforms,” they whined.
I laughed and rubbed at the back of my neck. “I mean, I’ve been taller than everyone I’ve ever kissed before, but yeah, our height difference isreallynoticeable.”
Rio pouted. “Rude!”
I laughed and ducked down to smack another kiss on their lips. “I’m sure we can find you a stool to stand on.”
Before I knew what was happening, they had swept my legs out from under me and I was on my ass in the space between two parked cars, with Rio crouching over me. They squeezed my hips between their thighs as they bent down to hover over me. “Or,” they practically purred, their breath warm against my skin. “I’ll just straddle you to ease the strain on both our necks.” Then they captured my lips between theirs, and this kiss was the opposite side of the spectrum to the first one we’d shared. Rio pushed their tongue inside to swipe against mine, and I groaned at the hot, slick feeling of it.
My brain took a moment to come back online, and I’d just started to enthusiastically return the kiss when Rio pulled backand leapt to their feet. Holding out a hand, they helped me stagger to my feet and then gave my ass a quick pat. “Now, come on. I’m freezing and you promised me your jacket.” Without looking back, they took off, leaving me to stare after them, but willing to follow them anywhere.
Chapter 11
