Chapter 78: Flat Out
Blake
Winning on the road always made the drive home feel shorter.
Maybe it was because victories had a way of smoothing over everything else. Bruises hurt a little less. The cuts across your knuckles didn’t seem quite as annoying. Even Coach’s postgame lecture somehow felt easier to sit through when the scoreboard was in your favor.
Whatever the reason, the first thirty minutes disappeared almost without me noticing.
James sat in the passenger seat beside Annabelle, one arm draped lazily across the center console while she drove. They’d slipped into that stage of their relationship where conversation no longer needed to fill every silence. Sometimes they talked. Sometimes they simply existed together. Both seemed equally comfortable.
I found myself wondering what that felt like.
Not because I didn’t have someone sitting beside me.
Quite the opposite.
Shannon occupied the other side of the backseat, one knee tucked beneath her as she leaned comfortably against the door, absentmindedly watching the scenery roll past outside the window. Every now and then sunlight filtered through the trees lining the interstate, flashing across her face before disappearing again.
She caught me looking once.
Instead of looking away…
She smiled.
Small.
Natural.
The kind of smile that didn’t seem rehearsed or polite.
It made something in my chest loosen.
“So…”
She tucked another strand of dark hair behind her ear.
“You really were about to fight that guy.”
I laughed quietly.
“Was it that obvious?”
“You dropped your gloves.”
“…Fair.”
“I thought James was going to tackle you.”
“He basically did.”
“You looked really angry.”
I rested my elbow against the window.
“I was.”
She studied me for a second.
“I’ve never really seen you angry.”
“I don’t usually get that way.”
“I know.”
Her voice softened.
“That’s why it surprised me.”
I looked out at the highway for a moment.
Cars drifted past in the opposite direction, each disappearing almost as quickly as it appeared.
“He crossed a line.”
“The stuff he said?”
I nodded.
“It wasn’t even about me.”
“I figured.”
A quiet settled between us.
Not uncomfortable.
Thoughtful.
“I’ve never understood guys like that.”
The words came before I really thought about them.
“I don’t care if somebody sleeps with one person or a hundred people.”
I shrugged.
“Treat people with some respect.”
Shannon watched me carefully.
“You meant what you said to the team.”
I looked back at her.
“What?”
“In the locker room.”
Her expression remained calm.
“When you told everybody you didn’t care if they called you a player, but you wouldn’t treat women like garbage.”
I blinked.
“You heard about that?”
She smiled.
“Daniel talks.”
“…Traitor.”
She laughed.
“A little.”
I rubbed the back of my neck.
“I just…”
Finding the right words proved harder than I expected.
“My mom would’ve kicked my ass.”
She laughed harder.
“I’m serious.”
“I know.”
“My dad would’ve helped.”
She shook her head, smiling.
“I can picture that.”
“I can too.”
The thought made me laugh.
“My mom would’ve waited until Dad got home from work.”
“And then?”
“‘Your son did something stupid.’”
Shannon giggled.
“I can literally hear her saying it.”
“Dad would’ve looked at me.”
I lowered my voice into my best impression.
“‘Well… sounds like you earned whatever happens next.’”
She laughed again.
God.
I’d missed that.
Not the flirting.
Not trying to come up with clever lines.
Just…
Talking.
Actually talking.
It felt different now.
Lighter somehow.
Like we’d quietly agreed to stop pretending we were strangers.
Maybe that was all I’d really wanted from the beginning.
If she didn’t want me…
Fine.
I couldn’t make somebody fall in love with me.
But I’d hated feeling like I’d somehow lost my friend too.
This…
This felt closer to getting her back.
The thought had barely crossed my mind when the universe apparently decided I’d been comfortable long enough.
The explosion sounded like somebody had fired a shotgun directly underneath the car.
BANG!
The rear of the vehicle lurched violently.
Annabelle gasped.
“What the—”
The steering wheel jerked so hard her entire upper body twisted with it.
James threw one hand against the dashboard.
“Tire!”
“I KNOW!”
The car swerved toward the shoulder before Annabelle corrected it just enough to keep us out of the next lane.
Beside me Shannon instinctively grabbed my forearm.
Not because she was reaching for me.
Because she reached for the nearest thing.
Still…
My pulse jumped.
The rear tire flapped violently somewhere beneath us.
Rubber slapped against metal.
The whole car vibrated.
Every passing vehicle suddenly felt much closer than it had thirty seconds ago.
The shoulder finally appeared beneath us.
Gravel crunched.
The rumbling slowed.
Then…
Silence.
For several seconds nobody moved.
Traffic continued rushing past at interstate speeds, rocking the parked car every time a semi thundered by.
James finally let out a long breath.
“…Well.”
Annabelle looked straight ahead.
“I think we blew a tire.”
I couldn’t help it.
“I think you’re right.”
She looked at me.
“Helpful.”
“I do what I can.”
James climbed out before either of us could say anything else.
The three of us watched through the windshield.
He crouched beside the passenger rear tire.
Whistled.
Stood back up.
Then walked toward the trunk.
Hope flickered.
Maybe he’d throw the spare on.
Maybe we’d lose twenty minutes.
Thirty, tops.
He opened the trunk.
Bent inside.
Stayed there.
Longer than he should’ve.
Then slowly stood back up.
His shoulders sank.
He looked inside again.
Closed the trunk.
…
That wasn’t the body language of a man carrying good news.
He climbed back into the passenger seat.
Annabelle didn’t even wait.
“No spare?”
James rubbed the back of his neck.
“…No spare.”
“What?”
“I thought every car came with one.”
“So did I.”
She frowned.
“I swear there was one.”
James shrugged helplessly.
“I found an emergency roadside kit.”
“Great.”
“A flashlight.”
“Fantastic.”
“Jumper cables.”
“Wonderful.”
He looked over.
“And approximately sixteen reusable grocery bags.”
She sighed dramatically.
“I was wondering where those went.”
I laughed.
“So if another car dies…”
James nodded.
“…We’re prepared.”
“But if ours dies?”
“We can bag the groceries.”
Even Shannon laughed.
Annabelle pinched the bridge of her nose.
“I am surrounded by children.”