Page 65 of The Amazing Date

I feel Rylee’s warm hand land on my shoulder as she steps close. The little girl continues. “I had a rope to steer it, but you could do that. Right, Mommy?”

“I don’t know, dear. I don’t know if it’s that kind of race.”

I turn to Rylee, but she is already ahead of me, race clue in her hand. “It doesn’t say it’s not that kind of race.” Her eyes flicker across the clue. “It states we must travel and arrive via skateboard. It doesn’t explicitly state that we have to use both skateboards. I think this may work, Roberto.”

Hope fills her voice, and it’s the best sound in the world. “Let’s give it a try. It may be slow going, but at least we’ll still be in the game.” The little girl hops off our board, and Rylee swaps places with her.

Her body takes up most of the board. The heels of her feet press near the end, and the tips of her toes hang off the front of the board. She attempts to lift her hands off the ground to balance, each time swaying to the opposite side, hand falling to the dirty ground. Balance is going to be an issue.

I bend down, my lips an inch from her ear, and whisper, “Superman.” I know she’ll get it.

She extends her arms out like a bird, and I place my hands on her upper shoulder and give her a slight push. She leans to her right, and I compensate by applying pressure to her left shoulder to balance her once again. We push off a few yards as the little girl races beside us, giggling.

“Yeah. You got it,” she chimes in.

Rylee’s giggle matches hers. “Thank you so much. You are the smartest little girl in all of New York City. What is your name?”

“My name is Jordan,” she states proudly.

“Well, it’s been a joy to meet you, Jordan. My name is Rylee, and this is my boyfriend, Roberto.”

Rylee’s words cause me to stop. Her feet land on the ground, but her attention remains on Jordan. “Thank your mom for stopping to help out. We’re going to continue with our race. Hopefully we’ll come in first place like you and your friend Bianca.”

“You will.” Jordan waves at Rylee before skipping back toward her mother.

Rylee shifts her weight once again, placing her feet back on the board, hands on the ground. “Ready?” she asks, expecting me to push.

When I don’t react, she twists her head to face me. “Everything okay?

I place my hands on her shoulders, lean down, and place a soft kiss on the back of her neck. “You just told Jordan I’m your boyfriend.”

Chapter 38

Rylee

I blame Jordan. Caught up in her youthful exuberance, her rose-colored view of the world, the rainbow future of possibilities in front of her, I let my guard down for a moment. I spoke my truth, and he heard every single word.

“You heard that, huh?” I attempt to laugh off the question, knowing Roberto won’t let it go.

“Every word.”

“Is there any chance we can put a cork in this until we finish this leg of the race?” I attempt once more to divert. Hope springs in my bones as I feel Roberto’s strong hands begin to push me.

“Not a chance.” His words douse my hope. “Since I have to bend to push you, it’s the perfect position to talk. Especially since we’ll be moving much slower than before. So, spill.”

My throat goes dry, and I attempt to balance on this board while my head swirls. Why is Roberto torturing me right now? “There’s obviously something between us.” I tiptoe out to the tightrope of our relationship, hoping the swirling wind of our history doesn’t knock me over.

“Always has been.” His soft, comforting acknowledgment gives me the courage to continue.

“Back in Puerto Rico, I thought we had a chance, a future.” The words explode out my mouth before I can stop them. An admission I’ve kept from everyone, even myself at times. I push myself to continue before he can speak, unsure of his reaction. “Those first days had me rethinking everything. Thinking that maybe, just maybe, there was a chance for me to find something others have experienced but had eluded me forever. You had me soaring to heights unimaginable, dreaming things I knew I had no right to. Thinking of a future for the very first time in my life.” A warm tear falls down my cheek, and I’m grateful Roberto is behind me and can’t see it.

We’ve reached Fifth Avenue, our speed so slow we have no choice but to move to the sidewalk. Pedestrians shoot us nasty looks as we navigate around them. “Then I did what I always do.” The dark words lie heavy in the air, the lightness of joy from moments ago a distant memory. “I ruined it. I ruined us.”

The tears roll down my cheeks, and I struggle to maintain my balance on the board, my entire world appearing to blur once again. “But my feelings for you never changed.” I wish I could see his face, wondering what his reaction is.

Is he surprised that even after he rejected me, raced off the island, and treated me like a sworn enemy, I still harbored an attraction? Longed for a connection? Even as my guilt grew alongside the pain, I still held close the memories of our days together, hoping against hope that somehow we’d make it through and find ourselves together again.

A rough rumble fills my ear as Roberto clears his throat. I can picture him carefully weighing his words. Words which I know no matter how much I brace myself, I won’t be ready to hear.

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