“What do I get if I win?”
“You never win, Ceci,” I scoffed.
“What do I get?” She let a giggle slip through, and I swear it was one of my favorite sounds.
It was drugging, and that was probably the reason I answered, “Anything you want.”
“Dangerous promises, Connor,” she mused, sounding like she was warning me. It pulled an amused sound from my throat.
“I can handle you, Cee.”
“Whatever. Now you go. What do you want if you win?” she asked.
“WhenI win.”
Another laugh, this time taunting. “Sure. What do you want?”
“I’ll take anything you give me. Now c’mon.”
Petal to the floor, I picked up speed. I could hear the quiet whir of my car's engine as I accelerated. This time it was me who pulled ahead, but instead of slowing down or letting her catch up like she had for me, I kept building up speed. There weren’t very many people out, so we were free to openly speed along the parkway. I tried not to push it too far though, not wanting to get up to anything too dangerous.
“Oh my god!” Cee squealed as she pushed her car to keep up with mine. “What a hypocrite, you’re the real cheat!”
I laughed. “Eye for an eye.”
“I wasjoking!”
“No jokes in war—”
I saw her coming from the corner of my eye, her car moving into my lane. I eased off the gas and moved away from her incoming vehicle. Cee took advantage of this, and when she successfully overtook me, she returned to her lane. I couldheargloating in her silence. Shaking my head, I changed lanes so I was now behind her.
“What are you—”
I sped up suddenly, just enough so that I was riding her bumper.
“Connor!”
“What? I thought you liked games so much, Cee,” I teased. I couldn’t help but crack up at her incredulous tone. Her octaveandvolume jumping up levels.
“You’re fucking crazy!” She said, yet I’m not really sure who the crazy one actually was, because there was absolute glee in her voice.
“Takes crazy to know crazy.”
“Dent my car, and you’re going to have acrazyconcussionwhen I’m done with you,” she said.
Satisfied, I switched back into my lane and cruised next to her as we raced down the highway. A couple minutes passed before something caught my eye in the distance.
“Slow down,” I warned. “Cars up ahead.”
We were getting close to home. Soon we would have to return to the speed limit, which usually meant whoever could navigate better and make the best decisions would win. The precise reason it was always me.
Ceci wasn’t patient, and she tended to make moves that looked great but ultimately bit her in the ass. Like switching into the left lane too soon or getting caught behind last minute breakers.
Seeing the traffic too, Ceci slowed beside me, and for a second I contemplated letting her win this time. But as we neared the exit that would take us to the last road home, I noticed a last-minute opening and gunned it. Speeding up and swinging in front of her with about two car lengths of room.
Shesquawkedin disbelief and I let out a laugh I couldn’t keep in. Hysterical, she huffed, “Am I that much of a threat that you have to cheattwice!”
I grinned. “Don’t blame me ‘cause you can’t hang. One mile ‘til home. Looks like you're not gonna make it.”
