The event.

“They canceled?” Alice asked, baffled.

“Two of their guys couldn’t come because of problems at work, and your brother and his wife couldn’t make it either,” the guy in front of us explained. He was tall and slender and looked to be around 30 years old. He had short brown hair and wore thin-framed glasses. “At that point, everyone decided to leave it for another time.”

“Are you serious?” Alice let out a restrained sigh as she rubbed her forehead. “Why didn’t anyone tell me?”

The man crossed his arms. “No one has your number. We told Alex, but it seems he didn’t pass on the message.”

Alice winced and pursed her lips. “And why are you here, then?”

The man nodded back to the van parked over by the edge of the lookout, next to the railing. “In case others decided to come race anyway, but you’re the only one who came. I don’t think anyone else will, really.”

“...This is embarrassing.”

“Relax. We’ll just have the meet some other day.”

“I suppose.”

“Well, I’m going back home. See you around, Alice.”

“Yeah, see you around. Say hi to your wife for me.”

The man smiled and waved. He got in his van and drove off, going down the mountain.

Alice sighed again and rubbed her face. “That’s Ruben. He’s the group’s doctor,” she told me.

“Doctor?”

“Yep. An actual doctor. He’s as much into cars as any of us, and he usually brings his M4 to these meets, but when he knows there’ll be a race, he brings the van. It’s as close to an ambulance as it can get with all the equipment in it. Ruben is good friends with my brother, and the man has saved a couple lives already.”

I smiled. “You guys really are serious about this.”

“...I would’ve liked you to see it,” Alice said with a small, regretful smile. She looked around the parking area of the lookout. Spacious and so high up we could see the city lights as small dots. “All the cars lined up, everyone sharing tips, telling anecdotes… Sometimes things get heated up, like that one time someone came here with an engine-swapped RX-7.” Alice laughed. “That was almost war.” That kind of laughter said that even war around here was a good time for them.

Hearing her like this made me realize that when Alice talked about anything else, it often felt stiff and… formal. It reminded me of how I treated customers at the coffee shop: with distant professionalism. Compared to that, when she talked about cars, the meets, the races… She oozed genuine joy.

“It would’ve been nice to see,” I admitted. “Like I said before, I only know cars from games, so seeing some of those in real life would’ve been amazing.”

“Sorry about this.” Alice grimaced. “I brought you all the way here for nothing.”

I shook my head. “You didn’t know. It’s fine. You’re more disappointed than I am.”

She chuckled “I guess I am. I suppose… I should drive you home.”

{But now that’s it’s just the two of us, maybe… No. No, Alice. You’ll just bore him with more stupid car talk. If anything, we should talk about… THAT.}

I felt a short fit of lightheadedness, passing like a breeze through me. I shook my head again to make it go away, and it worked.

“I mean, if you don’t mind…” I swallowed. “We could still just… hang out.”

Alice smiled. “I’d like that. Are you sure?”

I shrugged and **** a chuckle to push away the awkwardness. “You promised me a ride better than any roller coaster, right?”

“I did, didn’t I?” Alice giggled. “”Why don’t we drive back down, buy something to eat and come back up?” She turned away from me to look down at the city, at the lights spreading in front of us. She shivered at the cold breeze, but kept a smile on her face. “I love this view, you know? It’s not nearly as nice during the day.”

“It’s amazing,” I agreed. “I never go out of town, so I’d never seen this.” I took in the fresh air and fixed my coat. Good thing I decided to wear it. It really was cold. Winter was here before I knew it. “Let’s go, then. What do you want to eat?”

“You know, I haven’t eaten a hamburger in months.”

“Hamburgers it is, then.”

I turned around to go into the car, but then I felt something gently grab the back of my coat. I looked back, and was surprised to see Alice bashfully looking down as she held my coat.

“B-Before that, I think that… I… I have a question, Oliver.”

I turned to face her again and nodded. “Anything.”

She sighed. “Did the girls… Your girlfriends… Mila, Grace and Sarah,” she clarified just for good measure. “Did they talk to you after I invited you to come here with me?”

My heart skipped a beat. I knew exactly what she was talking about, and I didn’t expect her to bring it up this way, if at all. It meant they had talked to her already. It confirmed what I’d heard her think.

I nodded. “Yeah. We talked.” I bit my lower lip. “Did they talk to you too?”

She nodded, too. “After chewing me out for other stuff.” She looked me in the eyes. “I didn’t expect it. Still don’t even know what to think about it.”

“It doesn’t have to mean anything if you don’t want it to,” I told her. “It’s up to you.”

“Oh?” Surprisingly, Alice pouted cutely with one of her cheeks puffed and crossed arms. “So you don’t care what happens?”

I flinched. “That’s not what I meant!”

“Leaving everything to the girl is not very manly, Oliver.”

I smiled wryly. “It isn’t?”

“Nope.” She giggled. “Those girls have spoiled you.”

I chuckled. “They have.”

“They probably don’t see anything wrong with it, either.” Alice laughed and shook her head. “Whatever. We’ll see what happens. Let’s go buy some food.”

I could physically feel the air around us relax. Something about that exchange got rid of the tension between us. Thank God.

“Oliver?”

“Hm?”

“We can have a nice, smooth drive down the mountain, or I can show you what my car and I can do. What do you prefer?”

I swallowed my nerves, and with a shaky smile, I answered. “Show me.”

Alice lent me her spare helmet and we were going down the hill. She drove at high speeds and smoothly drifted through most corners. It was insane, it was nervewracking and it was fucking amazing. We made it safely to the bottom, but I was still shaking a bit by the time we were buying our food.

Author's Note: Support me on Patreon or Oliver dies in a car accident next chapter.

Disclaimer: The previous statement is a stupid joke.