Chapter 31
The next night, there’s a knock on the cabin door.
I pull up the ring camera feed and see a mop of sandy brown hair staring back at me. Reid is here.
I hesitate to open the door. This must be a dream.
He left—he lost his van and his shot at Red Bull and he left.
Left me all alone to conquer the scariest competition I’ll probably ever do in my entire life.
I’m trying not to be pissed at him, but I am a little, if I’m honest. It’s not that he left—it’s the way he did it.
I let him grovel. “Addie, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have left. Let me in please.”
There’s a big white box in his hands. I can’t imagine what’s inside.
I know he can see me staring at him, but I stand there anyways. He shouldn’t have left me like that. He promised he wouldn’t. I get why he did, I really do, but it doesn’t make it hurt any less.
The wooden deck creaks under his weight as he falls dramatically to one knee. It’s a satisfying sight. I indulge his performance and keep watching from inside as he declares, “Addie. Please accept my humble apology.”
With a theatrical flair, he opens the box to reveal twelve perfectly gooey cinnamon rolls. My heart is officially doing somersaults.
This particular dessert has been our thing since we first met.
His mom has a special recipe. Her first week on the job, she made a fresh batch and had Reid bring them to us kids.
We were hesitant to let him play with us, but the baked goods changed our minds.
We never looked back—he’s been a part of the family ever since.
He’s joking around with this apology, but I can tell it’s sincere. There’s turmoil in his eyes.
I creak open the door, and he starts to stand up. Instead, I push him down slightly. “I think I’d like to take a picture to remember this.”
As I pull out my phone, I snag one of the iced delights and tear off a chunk with my teeth. He grabs for one too, and I close the lid tightly. “Apology gifts are not to be enjoyed by the offender. You know the rules.”
He smirks at me. “Addie Fairfax, is seeing me on my knees going to your head a bit?”
Reid is trying to make this sound sexual, and it’s not, at least I’m pretty sure it isn’t, but I can’t deny I’m thinking about it now. My eyes scan the dirt driveway—parked next to Willa is a tiny red car. I can hardly believe he fit in there.
“Why’d you come back? And more importantly, how did you find me?” I cross my arms.
“You never turned off your location.”
I sound like an idiot, of course he used my location. “Okay…but why did you come back?” I’m suspicious—I can hardly believe he’s actually here right now.
He looks genuinely sorry. “Because I shouldn’t have left.”
“It’s okay, I get why you wouldn’t want to watch me ride after everything that’s happened.”
Reid finally gets up off of the floor and reaches to grab onto my shoulders. “Addie, I always want to watch you ride. To be there for you. I’m sorry I made you think any different. I was an ass for abandoning you. I was just so fucking bitter that I thought you’d be better off without me.”
I don’t reply, because if I do, I’m going to cry. Instead of actually processing my pain, I ran towards Riley. When I lost Reid’s warmth, I fled to another source of comfort. If I had let myself contemplate how scared I was to do this without Reid, I would have driven straight home.
Covering the hurt with humor, I quip, “So you’re gonna drive that little thing all the way to Rampage?”
He blushes—I can barely tell in the dim light—but I swear I see it. “Well…I was thinking you’d let me join you and Willa?”
Now I’m the one who’s blushing. He wants to ride in the same van as me? Two of us in a space built for one? His hand is up in his hair, like it always is whenever he’s unsure of something.
He defends himself quickly. “I figure I can drive and you can rest.”
“I don’t know.”
“Addie, think about it.” He’s trying his best to pass on his excitement to me. “You can be a passenger princess. Doesn’t that sound nice?”
It does sound nice. I’m so sick of driving. I cave. “Fine. But you’re sleeping in a tent as soon as we get there.” I hold up my pointer finger near his face for emphasis.
We’d have to spend maybe one more night on the road. One night snuggled up tight to my childhood crush in this suffocating van. I can handle this.
I usher him inside as I start to help him set up a makeshift bed on the lumpy couch. He doesn’t seem even slightly annoyed. I’m tucking the sheet in when he starts rambling. “So, do you think it’s too late to make merch?”
“Merch for what?”
“For you, duh.”
It feels impossible to picture there being shirts with my name on them, but I guess team diggers at Rampage do usually have matching shirts. It’s been days since I got the news that I’d be one of the riders in the most epic freeride competition there is, and it still doesn’t feel real.
“I’m thinking Barbie theme. Like big pink letters that say ‘Baddie Addie’.”
I roll my eyes. “Maybe let’s focus on what we’re going to build instead of the fashion choices.”
He doesn’t hear me—he continues to debate with himself over my brand. “Hmmm. Not Baddie Addie. You hate that name.”
I’m surprised he realizes how much I hate it—that’s when it hits me he’s never called me that before.
Reid continues talking to himself about shirt designs, and I sink into rumination over Rampage.
You have to build out your own trail—it’s half the reason I was so upset when Reid left.
He’s done this whole thing before, and his help will be invaluable.
There’s a giant cliff face, and you pick a line and then literally build your own ramps and features.
I’m relieved he’s back, since I don’t know any of the diggers assigned to me.
A big part of me is more nervous about my ability to wield a shovel for this thing than it is to actually ride down it.
Reid is very obviously still thinking about merch designs, because he’s staring at my shirt like he’s imagining what logo would look the best. He holds out both hands in front of my chest and says, “What about ‘Blondie’ in big curly letters right here?”
His hands zoning in on my boobs puts my head in a place I don’t want it to be. Fluffing his pillow, I start to head to my bedroom. “Goodnight, Reid.”
He has himself all tucked into the blankets, with his long legs tipping over the edge. “Night, Blondie.”
I feel so much steadier with him here. I could have done it without him, at least I hope I could have, but I didn’t want to. We started this journey together, and we’re going to finish it that way too.