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One setback isn’t a season, right?
∞∞∞
“Jake.”
I barely stop myself from running into her. “Hey, beautiful. You’re looking extra sexy today. Is that for me?”
Sarah is wearing another black hoodie with her brother’s number and baggy jeans. She’s wearing it for me, considering last night’s request that she wear something sexy.
“I’ll catch up to you shortly,” she says. Maddie only smiles knowingly and walks away.
“Are they engaged yet?” I ask, surprised by my curiosity.
Sarah doesn’t answer my question. Her lips droop as she crosses her arms. My decision to take the extra long way to my RV was wise. “I’m sorry about today’s results. Six laps, and you had a good car out there today, too. How are you feeling?”
“I’m not injured.”
“That wasn’t my question,” she pushes back.
I drop my smile and decide to be honest. “It’s not how today was supposed to go. That McAllister kid thinks he’s better than he is.”
“Boone once said he asked for a new car for his birthday,and they gave him an entire charter instead. He’ll be in that car until he gets bored.”
I often forget how knowledgeable Sarah is about NASCAR. She’s so busy dismissing the sport that it’s easy to miss how much she understands it. If she ever decided to get serious, Sarah could run a team.
“You should work for NASCAR,” I say unthinkingly. Sarah’s resume sitting out the previous night tells me she is looking.
Her eyes narrow, and I realize that statement might give it away. Several hastily taken pictures sit on my phone right now, all giving me clues about what she is up to. I’m unsure how to resolve her new career plans yet, but I can figure that out.
The dating part, however….
“Why do you say that?” she asks.
“You’re smart,” I say, adding, “Come watch the rest of the race with me.”
“There’s no point,” she says, like I knew she would.
“You’re going to fall in love with me,” I say.
“No, I’m not.” Her frown deepens into a scowl.
“By the time the season is half over,” I say.
I also warned her the previous night, and she didn’t believe me. Luckily for us both, I don’t quit. Sarah believes it’s a mocking joke, or worse, a promise.
“Goodbye, Jake,” she says and walks away, leaving me standing alone.
In my trailer, I quickly change clothes and turn on the TV to discover that Boone Rivers won the first stage.
“Fucking hell,” I mumble, even though there is no one around to hear my annoyance.
Sitting back on the couch, I open my laptop and set my phone beside it. Those pictures were hard to see on my phonebut much easier to make out on the laptop’s larger screen.
Her dating app profile was a surprise and a disappointment, but Sarah’s new career plans were not. She’s tackling the entire effort like a project manager would. There is even a list of job descriptions, with titles ranging from teacher to financial analyst.
“My girl is too young for a midlife crisis,” I tell myself.
Sarah is unhappy, and I suspect her family doesn’t realize it, or at least not to the full extent. She thinks I’m being flippant with her when I mean every word. What is required is to prove it.
