The Tale of Love & Racing: Sarina's Story

Chapter 5: "I'm touched, really. You would do that for me?"

Thursday, January 4 – Secrets Papacayo, Costa Rico

With Lindsay on the premises, it was another day of the boys cutting loose and having some fun of their own. After starting off the day off with a good long mountain bike ride and taking in the sights, they ventured to renting some motor bikes and going on some of the other trails.

After some laughs and thrills along the way, the pair headed back to the beach.

"So what's your plan for tonight?" Chase wonders, catching Ryan's attention. Was that really necessary? Ultimately, it should be obvious given everything going on right now. 

"Who says I have a plan?" Ryan asks and Chase just shrugs his shoulders. "Look, I can tell that Sarina wants to set Lindsay and I up toge-"

"We could see the chemistry radiating off you both at the banquet party – well, she could at least." Ryan looks over surprised, earning a simple nod from Chase. He wasn't about to deny it as Lindsay had caught his attention that night in a special way. "That's when she came up with a possible double blind date scenario, however your idea for tonight is just that much better in her eyes."

"I know that you and Sarina need some alone time to discuss things, so I was simply offering Lindsay a good time to keep her busy for awhile to give you that." Chase stops, placing his hand on his chest. He wanted to believe that was the only motivation, but knew his best friend better than that. He just wondered how far the other motivations went. 

"I'm touched, really. You would do that for me?" Ryan stops, and laughs. He was immediately brought back to last season and a certain plan, but oh look where it had led them today. 

"That coming from the guy that dragged my ass out to the trac-"

"That's growing real old real quick, Ryan." Ryan just chuckles. "I appreciate it though. But you hanging out with a girl without any reason of your own?"

"Look, Lindsay is a great girl and she's really nice. But a future? Building to that relationship you're both teasing? I don't know if I see that myself, so no – I don't have any secret plans or anything. Given that she's never been here, I may take her to see those exotic birds and check out some of the night life. Isn't that one other beach supposed to a little lively at night?" Chase nods his head, remembering their initial planning discussions. He remembered how they had shifted things, accommodating for the latest events. Part of him still wondered what they were missing there. 

"We're still on for the exotic bird tour tomorrow, right?" Ryan wasn't quite sure on the idea, but knew how much it meant to do something for the girls, so he reluctantly accepted. He just hoped he didn't regret it later on. 

The pair make it back to the beach, seeing where the girls had easily chosen to relax for the day.

"Oh great, trouble is back," Sarina comments, earning a chuckle from Lindsay. "So you're both alive?"

"We were careful and I took care of your sweetheart here to make sure he didn't fall on his head," Ryan offers as Sarina just smiles. She didn't know how much of that to believe, honestly. 

"Strangely, I can't say the same for him all the way around," Chase adds, as Ryan shows them a small scrape on his knee. "Everything okay here?"

"Nothing to complain about the sunny weather, warm temperatures, lemonade, beach and catching up," Sarina tells him as he glances over at Lindsay with a quick smile, despite his own nerves about her right now. Ultimately, it was nice to see Sarina have someone she could just ramble on with, especially at this time. "I'm going to be fine, Chase. We've been over that a couple times now, right? So we can stop worrying and focus on everything else because before we both know it, Daytona will be here."