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She looks at me then and her smile is so big, something inside of me cracks. I smile back, and she steps up to me, her feet on tiptoes as her arms go around my neck. She barely hits my shoulder, and I tuck her into my side. A muffledthank youleaves her mouth and goes straight to my heart. She pulls my head down and kisses my cheek, a shy smile playing at her lips. I can’t remember the last time someone looked at me with such joy and gratitude. The crack widens a bit more.

I take her hand and it feels right, like her hand belongs in mine. I buy us both wristbands, and she tries to pay for hers, but I don’t let her.

“No, this is all part of your birthday celebration. Your money is no good today.”

I can tell she wants to insist, but I stop her before she can say anything.

“How about this? On my birthday, you can take me out and pay for it, deal?”

She looks at me suspiciously.

“When is your birthday?”

“July fifth.”

“That’s nearly a year away.”

“It should give you plenty of time to plan then. I expect it to be epic.”

I can see the wheels turning in her head, and the thought of having Skye with me for the next ten months makes me smile.

“Come on, there’s something I want to try first, before it gets crowded.”

I tug her behind me to the back of the park. When we get closer and she sees where I’m taking her, she starts to laugh. She’s in on the joke. That huge smile is back on her face.

“Oh, you’re going down, Logan.”

I want to go down, all right—between her sweet thighs—but I don’t think that’s what she meant.

We show our wristbands to the attendant at the Go Kart gate. We’re the first ones here. He hands us the mandatory plastic disposable shower caps for hygiene purposes and helmets. When Skye is not looking, I slip him a twenty and ask him to give us some extra time and exclusive use of the ride. He’s glad to oblige.

Skye is trying to put her long hair inside the plastic cap, but it keeps falling off.

“Hold on,” I say. “I have something that might help.”

Then I reach into my jeans pocket and pull out the hair tie I bought yesterday, along with a large box of condoms. But I don’t let her in on my extra purchase.

“It’s brand-new. I just bought it. I figured you’d need it today, and I didn’t want to say anything to you before and give the surprise away.”

Her mouth drops open as if she could not believe I thought of such a thing. I can’t believe it either. I never imagined I’d be buying hair ties one day. First time for everything.

I step behind her and run my hands through her hair and gather it in a low ponytail. Another first, putting a hair tie on someone. Then I put the cap and the helmet on her and do the chin strap before doing my own. She searches my face for something.

I smile.

“What?”

She shakes her head. The attendant, whose name I now know is Mike since he put a name tag on, points to two of the carts and tells me they’re the best two. We take them.

The ride has tires and bales of hay around the entire track. I haven’t done this in years, but I remember having a lot of fun with my brother and grandpa here. This track is one of the longest in the country at almost one mile long, and the carts can go up to fifty miles per hour.

No one under sixteen is allowed to drive them.

I help her into her kart and get into mine. Mike signals us to make sure we’re ready and turns the starting lights on. Red gives way to yellow, and I glance at Skye.

Her eyes are on the track ahead of her. As soon as the green light turns on, Skye takes off, burning rubber in a cloud of smoke. I’m so surprised, it takes a few extra seconds to hit the gas pedal. She’s already a good fifty feet ahead of me. I can’t help the smile that covers my face.

It seems Skye is a speed demon. I spend the whole race trying to pass her, but she closes me in every turn and doesn’t let me by. Having the whole track for just the two of us gives her a chance to go as fast as she can without holding back.