Page 23 of The Amazing Date

Any decision you have to make tomorrow is a good decision. No way. I stuff the two pieces into my mouth and reach for the next one.

Courtesy begins in the home. Nope. Next.

Determination is what you need now. I pause. These sound like words I would tell myself, but could I picture Roberto saying them to me? I hover for a minute. Why not? I raise my hand, and the attendant steps to me. I hand him the slip, and he quickly shakes his head side to side. He picks up the rest of the tray, placing it on a table against the wall. He grabs a tray of strawberry cookies, and I glance down the line of trays. The dark-chocolate-dipped cookies are on tray five. I only have three more shots at getting this right before I’m faced with a decision. Dark chocolate won’t kill me, but I will get hives, and my throat will swell. How much am I willing to do to compete?

I push away the thought and concentrate on the new tray in front of me. Don’t just spend time. Invest it. Nope. I chew the cookie and try to picture Roberto in the back room. Would he channel what he thinks I would pick, or would he pick something that rings true to him? My mind then swirls with yet another thought. Maybe Roberto would try to think what Gabby would select. Great, now I have another stream of thoughts to worry about.

Every day in your life is a special occasion. Like hell it is.

The squeak of Trey’s chair next to me causes me to glance over. His first tray is delivered. He rips into the first cookie and barely reads it, stuffing the cookie in his mouth and moving on to the next one.

Expect much of yourself and little of others. I laugh. If Gabby were here, we would pick this one. Game over. I chew on the cookie and look at Trey again. He’s already chewing on cookie six and has barely looked at the fortunes. Brilliant. He’s eating all ten cookies and then will lay out all the fortunes and choose. This way he sees all ten, knowing one of them is the right one. Why the hell hadn’t I thought of that?

I rip through two cookies, following his strategy, but he’s already ahead of me, raising his hand and waving a fortune. When the attendant nods, he leaps in the air, pumping his fist.

I ignore him and chew like my life depends on it. Brooke appears, and I watch them kiss and run out the door. I finish swallowing, knowing I’m going to be sick later, and lay out the ten slips of paper in front of me. Not a single one jumps out at me. I quickly arrange them and narrow my selection to three. The clock is ticking, and I take a stab in the dark and raise my hand. The smart thing to do is to begin trusting your intuition. I cross my fingers.

The attendant reads the slip and shakes his head. I don’t take a breath—there is no time to feel bad. I tap the top of the table. Hurry up, bring me the next tray. He places ten green tea cookies in front of me, and I rip through them in record time. I ignore my bubbling stomach and lay out the fortunes again. I have a strategy now. I quickly separate the slips into two piles. One consists of new ones that weren’t on the prior tray and can be ignored. There are only three slips that repeat from the prior tray. And I roll my eyes. I raise my hand and hand over the paper. I stand and lift my backpack, confident in my selection.

Roberto and I may be from two different worlds, and he may not know me, but he knows his dear sister inside and out. The attendant nods, and I pump my fist. Roberto appears in the doorway with a smile on his face as they hand him a giant fortune cookie containing the next clue. He raises his hand for a high five, holding the winning slip shoulder height for me to read. Expect much of yourself and little of others. “That one sounded just like you. I knew you’d get it.”

I suppress my chuckle, attempting to keep him focused on the race. “Don’t gloat just yet. We’re back in last place.” I crack open the giant cookie and hand him the broken shell. He takes a bite. “Listen up. This former Chinese Telephone Exchange exists as a bank today. Make your way to the bank, however, you must pass through at least four of the eleven alleys in Chinatown. The bank will be the finish line for today’s race. The last team to arrive will be sent home.”

I may not be racing with Gabby, but my partner has already proven a quick study. I glance to his excited eyes. “What?”

He winks at me and paints on a sexy smile that makes me want to stop racing and sop up this moment. “We got this. It’s a running challenge.” Normally he’d be right, but he’s not the one who has to run with a stomach filled with over two dozen fortune cookies. We’re only two steps out of the shop before I push down the bile. I’m in no condition for a foot race.

Chapter 16

Roberto

“Come on, slowpoke.” I’m not sure what is going on with Rylee, but we’ve done more walking than running since we’ve left the factory. I reach back to grab her backpack from her. “Let me carry that for you.”

She pushes my hand away. “I got it. How many alleys is this?”

Her face flushes and is whiter than normal. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. We have a race to finish. How many?”

I shake my head and give her my back. “That was three. One more to go and then the bank. According to that lady we stopped, it should only be a few blocks away.”

Sneakers slapping the pavement causes me to turn. Trey and Brooke race past us. Trey is holding his map in one hand, and Brooke is shouting for him to stop and points in the other direction.

“We have to get a move on,” I say and begin to jog. When I don’t hear the sound of matching steps, I stop once again. “Rylee!” She is bent over a wastebasket, her hands shaking on the dirty metal. “Oh my god, what’s going on?”

She retches out a response. “You mean, besides the twenty cookies I stuffed into my mouth in under a minute?” Her hands cover her mouth, and I reach up to pull her hair back. Once again, she smacks my hand away. “Leave me alone. I’m fine.”

“You’re not fine. Take a seat on the ground and give yourself a minute. I’ll hunt down some ginger lemon tea—that always works for my mom. Stay here.” I begin to step away when I feel a pull on my elbow.

Not only is her face flushed, but her brown eyes have turned the color of ash. “Later.” She bites her tongue so hard I’m shocked it isn’t cut in half. “Let’s go.”

She takes two soft steps in the same direction as Trey before extending her hand out, offering her backpack to me. She’s hurting, but she is too determined to show vulnerability. I also know how much pride she has in being independent. Another trait she shares with my sister.

I grab the bag and loop it over a shoulder and match her stride. It’s slower than our normal cadence, but we are moving. “Hopefully, Trey still hasn’t figured out how to read a map,” I say and am rewarded when the corner of her lip ticks up for a split second.

“Or even better,” she says, nodding across the alley.

Laredo and Adam are pushing each other while arguing. Even from a distance, I hear Adam’s voice. “Asswipe, we’ve gone that way five times already. If you take one more step…”

---