Page 66 of The Amazing Date

“From the moment I first saw you, Rylee, I knew you would change my world. And you did.” The weight of his words causes our progression to slow, our speed matching the strides of an old couple to our right.

“You are a wild streak of color in my carefully managed world of grays and black. You’ve taught me that life isn’t a straight line. It’s filled with wonderful detours, unexpected adventures, and treasures unimagined.

“You are the beautiful sun shower that springs out of nowhere I think I need to race away from, only to be drenched with a joy it brings. I never know what to expect from you. Fear what you will say or do. Yet, I know it will be incredible, memorable, and will change my world.”

I plant my feet on the ground. This moment, these words, are too important to miss. Race be damned. He must feel the same way and doesn’t resist.

I stand and turn, and his hand slips into mine before he pulls me out of the flow of pedestrians, pushing me against the glass display of Tiffany’s. His foot stills the skateboard beneath him, and his hand lies gently on my shoulder, the tops of our foreheads connecting. “I should have never pushed you away, Rylee.”

My heart warms with his words. Words no one who has ever said to me.

“I should have never made you feel unwanted. Unneeded. Undesired. Pushing you away has been one of my biggest regrets. My life has never been the same.” A deep inhale lets me know he’s struggling with this moment as much as me.

“I’m so sorry for everything. For ruining your future. For ruining your life.”

He shakes his head. “It was an accident. I knew it even back there but was too petty and hurt to acknowledge it. You didn’t ruin my life. I’ve done that.”

It’s my turn to shake my head. “Still, it was me who made you lose your European assignment. Your dream. Your ability to draw for years.”

“You didn’t send me to California—I did that to myself. I wanted to put distance between us and go lick my wounds, but that was years ago. I’m the one who decided to stay, to take on a job without passion because every time I thought of passion, I thought of you.”

We are two broken souls on opposite coasts, both denying something we knew to be true. Our hearts wanted something our heads refused to allow us to pursue. Two stubborn, silly people who have wasted years of happiness.

I lean forward and press my lips to his. A soft kiss that lingers, neither one of us wanting the moment to end.

He’s taken a chance and has opened a door to his heart. I must walk through it. “I’ve always loved your passion. It’s one of the things that made me fall so quick.” My hand shakes as I place myself yet again in a position that hasn’t always been kind to me. A position of vulnerability, of exposure. “Roberto, will you be my Superman?”

I wait, like so many times before, my heart hopeful, my head reminding me of my history and preparing me for the worst.

His eyes ignite with the passion I love. “You’re already my Superwoman. Yes.” His hand falls to my lower back, and he pulls me in tight. Our kiss is much more than a gentle peck. It’s a bright, light, big-city kiss with a full orchestra behind us. We are no longer hiding in a fort. We are on Fifth Avenue in one of the world’s most famous cities. This is our hello, world kiss.

“Get a room.” The snarky remark from a New Yorker ruins our Hallmark moment.

“Oh right—race.” I blush, heat rushing to my cheeks. I guide my out-of-control hair around my ear. “I guess we should get back to it. We still have about twenty blocks to go.”

Roberto places a quick kiss on my lips and then scoops up the skateboard, walking it to the edge of the curb. “Ready to fly?” His sexy smile has me swooning, and I hop back onto the skateboard.

We make it only half a block before we hear the unmistakable sound we have dreaded for the last ten minutes.

“Losers. Losers,” Kelly and Caitlin singsong as they roll past us. They are skating in the bus lane at a quick clip, no worse for wear, zipping amongst the cars and traffic. “See you at the finish line, losers.” Kelly flips us off with the middle finger before we lose sight of them in the traffic.

Roberto is quiet, and I know he’s thinking the same thing—we’ll never catch them now. We are moving at a quarter of their speed, and with every second, their lead increases. This may prove to be the one hiccup we will not be able to overcome.

Chapter 39

Roberto

Rylee’s shoulders slump after the girls disappeared. I assumed they would catch up and pass Ronnie and Thelma but hadn’t expected them to make up so much ground on us this fast.

Just before they disappear from view, I catch a glimpse of Kelly holding on to the rear of a bus. It tows them through the Midtown traffic like a jet skier pulling a surfer out to sea. The reckless maneuver explains how they’ve gotten to Midtown in record time. With them clearly ahead of us, I direct our skateboard out into the street, taking a riskier approach in the name of avoiding pedestrians and increasing our pace. We move at a better clip in the street, however, nowhere near the speed we were moving when we had two working skateboards.

We cross Forty-Second Street, and the Empire State Building comes into view. Sweat pours down my back, burning the scrapes, but I ignore it and focus on the goal ahead.

“Twenty-five bottles of beer on the wall. Twenty-five bottles of beer…” Rylee sings the odd song.

I snicker and continue to push. “I could use a beer right about now. What’s with the song?”

“Take one down and pass it around, twenty-four bottles of beer on the wall,” she continues. “I was just thinking of little Jordan and what she would do if she were here. She wouldn’t spend a moment feeling bad for herself. She’d plow forward, not losing a bit of hope, knowing good things lie just around the corner.” I let the words marinate, the image of Jordan staring at the horses, a look of wonderment on her face. Rose-colored glasses.

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