Page 49 of The Amazing Date

I smack it away. “Don’t ever touch me again.”

Ronnie and Thelma step to the side of the mat with whispers and hugs, the victory knocking years off their faces.

Wilma suppresses a snicker and waves at me, pointing to the mat. I jerk away from Roberto again and reluctantly step on the mat.

“Rylee and Roberto. I have to say, in all my years, I’ve never seen a finish like that. You are team number two.”

My gaze lowers to my sneakers, and I bite my tongue, seconds away from drawing blood.

“Your prize,” Wilma continues, and I lift my chin, hoping for a surprise like team number one. “There aren’t any Super 8s in the vicinity, so instead…” She pauses.

I can’t believe how low I’ve sunk. I’m wishing she says Holiday Inn or the Comfort Inn. Anything but…

“You get to stay in a Motel 6 tonight.”

Shit.

Wilma’s eyes twinkle with what I’m sure must be joy in torturing losing teams. This is her true motivation for creating this contest. Maybe she is a former prison guard specializing in torture. She takes in my reaction, and I’m shocked she doesn’t laugh in my face. I’m sure she’ll be entertaining everyone at the end-of-day staff meeting with my reaction to the hotel swap. Outside of sleeping on the streets, the only way to step down from a Super 8 is with a Motel 6. “In addition, you have a dinner budget of twenty-two dollars. Have a wonderful evening.”

All I see is red. It didn’t have to be like this. It was in our hands. I snatch the race envelope from Wilma with our key cards and cash. I open it and take out the two single dollar bills, keeping the twenty.

I hand the singles and a key card to Roberto. “That’s more than you deserve for dinner, and I’d advise you not to come to the room until after midnight and I’m sound asleep. If you wake me, I will smother you in your sleep.”

I don’t wait for his reaction. I don’t wait for his plea. I don’t want to hear his explanation. I can’t believe it. If we won, I’d be sleeping in his bed tonight. It would have been a mistake. Just like our kiss.

He still sees me as that young girl from Puerto Rico, the one he felt necessary to direct and protect. He’s still making decisions for me that affect my life. We are a team, and I will not tolerate him deciding by himself how we run this race. Two more cities and we are done.

It can’t come soon enough.

Chapter 30

Roberto

No good deed, indeed.

It was the right thing to do, and I’d probably do it again given the information I had at the time. But damn, missing out on the car and the trip stings. It would have been the perfect way to make up for the guilt I feel for Gabby’s injury. She and Rylee could have their girls’ trip, bonding while driving cross-country.

I’m sitting in a truck stop a half mile away from the Motel 6 in a town, and I use the term loosely, called Elk Plain. The town is so small and so remote even the Super 8 corporation looked at it and passed.

It’s only nine thirty in the evening, but with the loss of sleep from last night, it feels like midnight. I sip from a bottomless cup of coffee, one of the few things on the menu I could afford, and stare out into the darkened parking lot. There are a handful of trucks parked. Many will remain parked throughout the night, hitting the road at the first sign of light in the morning. I wish I could crawl up into one of the cabs and sleep the night away.

“Here you go, dearie.” The nice motherly waitress who has refilled my cup three times already slips me a saucer with two muffins on them.

I shift in the worn red leather booth, the jingling of a few coins reminding me I barely have enough for the coffee and tip. “I’m sorry I didn’t order…”

The waitress’s tired eyes glow with warmth as she pushes the plate in front of me. “You’ll be doing me a favor. We wind up tossing them out at the end of my shift. I hate to see food go to waste.” The words flow as if she’s repeated it every night for a decade. Her eyebrow quirks up. “No charge.”

Do I appear that pathetic? I nod and make note of her name tag, Thelma. The universe does speak. “Thank you, I appreciate it.” As she retreats, I add her name to the list of delightful people I’ve encountered on this journey who I must find a way to thank once this race is over.

With the mention of the race, my pulse quickens yet again. A unique Rylee-induced bubbling sensation that is a mix of frustration and anger. I pull out the phone and dial Gabby.

She picks up on the first ring. “Ha, I was wondering how long before you called.”

“Don’t start. It’s been a day.”

Her snicker floats across the line, and I wish she were sitting across the table from me, sharing an appetizer between us while she waits on a root beer float. “I figured something happened. I got a text from Rylee an hour ago.”

“I can only imagine,” I puff out.

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