One For The Road

54: Underdog

With my friend Drake and my enemy Josiah, my phone on the table, and a big-time win under my belt, everything was pretty damn good for being in LA while unemployed.

There was one thing missing, though. Annie was all the way across the country in a town in New York, and I knew her well enough to know that she would have loved to be with us.

But it was for the best. She didn't need to be around Josiah (or Drake, for that matter) until she sorted out her life for herself. There was no doubt in my mind that she was smart and talented enough to do whatever she wanted, even though the two of us were just about as different as we could be. She created, and I destroyed.

And as much as I wanted to talk about her, I couldn't. She had just gotten out of a long-term relationship with Josiah, and Drake was slightly in love with her. That was a fight waiting to happen.

Drake and Josiah were chatting about the adjustments Sacrilege needed to stand a chance against Dragon's Breath, and I didn't understand anything they were talking about. All I did was drive the robot.

A few drinks later, my phone rang.

"Wait, wait, wait. Who's calling me?" I closed one eye, but I still couldn't read the words on the screen. "Goddammit, being drunk and dyslexic makes everything much more difficult than it has to be."

"Be real with yourself. You're fucking illiterate," Josiah said.

Drake shook his head. "It's Griffin."

I gasped and put the phone up to my ear. "Oh my god. It's Griffin. It's been so long since I heard his voice."

"What?" Griffin said.

"It's been so long, Griffin. Too long."

"It's been a few days. Are you drunk again?"

"I'm a winner, bitch."

He laughed. "I was just gonna ask how that went. But I have Elizabeth Tonkin here, and she wanted to talk to you about an issue that makes me pretty uncomfortable."

"She and I aren't friends."

"But you're the only one who can even come close to understanding, so you're just going to have to listen to her."

"Tell her that it doesn't affect me what she does—"

Griffin interrupted me. "Here she is."

With that, he handed the phone over to her.

My boyfriend was an asshole. He didn't like her either, but for some reason, she always found her way where I used to be.

The goddamn Mississippi Queen was younger and cuter than me, and maybe there was still a part of me that thought Griffin had a feeling or two for her. But I did my best to keep that out of our conversation this time around.

"What?" I said.

Elizabeth gave an annoyed laugh. "Well, you're just as pleasant as I remembered. All I wanted was to ask is if you think I'm making the right decision, but fuck it. I'll shut you up on the track next season."

"What does that mean? You're not having the baby?"

"I'm twenty-two and have that part of my life ahead of me. Right now, I just want to drive."

I bit my lip. "You know, this bullshit might have cost me a contract with Team Moretti."

"What do you mean?"

"I didn't take your place in the ninety-five car, Moretti's gonna be pissed that I didn't even try to prove myself to him, and unless I spin the story, I'm fucked. So thanks for that."