Page 116 of Trading Paint
Tommy, Sway, my family...they understood why I did this. They understood why I risked everything, including my sanity, to follow this dream. I honestly believed they understood this better than I did at times. I didn’t have time to run a sprint car team but every time I was back at the local dirt tracks, I missed it. It was if running the sprint car kept me in check with reality.
Later that morning, after looking over my schedule for the next week, I sat down on the bed in my hotel room to call Sway. It was the middle of June and I saw an opening this week for three days before I had to be in Vegas for the Busch race and then it was off to Rockingham.
She answered on the second ring. “Well hey there superstar!”
“How’s my girl doing?”
My girl?You fucking idiot!
I didn’t give her time to catch on before I asked another question. “How’s school?”
“Boring...it’s not the same as being at the races.” Sway said. “I made it out to Skagit the other night with Tommy.”
“Really...anyone good out there?”I knew she went, I heard from Tommy but I didn’t feel the need to tell her I knew she had been with someone.
“No one like you,” She assured me.
Silently, I was hoping that had a much deeper meaning than implied and by the tone of her voice, it wasn’t a total off the wall assessment.
I was silent for a moment before sighing. “I really want to see you honey.”
I admit, I wasn’t exactly saying the right lines in this conversation but really, could I have sounded any more pathetic? And to think, we’d only been on the phone less than five minutes...it was still early. Who knows what other insanity I can knock off with before the end ofit.
Suddenly she was about as silent as I had just been. “Are you there?”
“Yeah,” she said softly. “I want to see you too.”
Why was this so fucking hard? Why couldn’t I just tell her how I felt or the confusion I was feeling?
Oh yeah, because you’re the master of avoidance and if by some slim far off chance she felt the same way, it would scare the shit out of you.
I cleared my throat before talking. “Can I come see you in Bellingham before I head to Vegas?”
“Oh my god, really?” her voice filled with enthusiasm and had me laughing.
“Jesus, you act as though I just offered up a million dollars.”
“Well,” her voice lowered to an incredibly sexy tone. “At this point, I’d pay a million dollars to see you.”
“I think that goes for both of us.” I laughed and leaned back on the bed. I was suddenly aware of the prominent erection straining against my jeans at the tone of her voice. “So I will book a flight here in a few minutes. Can you pick me up in Seattle tonight?”
“Tonight!” she screeched.
“Well yeah, I said I only had a few days.”
“I thought you meant like in a couple weeks.”
“If you don’t want me to—”
“No!” she cut me off. “I mean yes, I want you to come.”
I groaned and she sighed dramatically.
“Jesus Christ, you fucking pervert! I want you to come see me, notcome.”
“Sorry,” I muttered with a chuckle. “So I will text you with the time my flight gets in there.”
“Sounds good, see you tonight,” she said before hanging up. I hurried and bought my ticket, told Alley where I was going and then headed for the airport, after some bleeding of the valves. That was essential if I was going to be around Sway for a few days.
