Never in my life have I experienced a first kiss like the one I share with Juliette. Most times they’re awkward, a tangled mess of tongues, bumping noses, and unfamiliarity. Not this time. My first kiss with Juliette is one that I’ll never erase from my memory, and I want to make a million more memories with her. Preferably ones that include our lips. Her lips.

I don’t want to move too fast with her. At the same time, I want to leave everything behind and run away with her. I’m not reckless; I know I can’t do that. I’m falling so fast soon I’ll crash on the ground. I should slow down. I need to slow down. Courtney will kill me if I don’t pump the brakes.

But Courtney’s situation also makes me realize that while keeping a foot hovering over the brake is important, sometimes you need to step on the gas. Everything can disappear at any moment.

“Want to get out of here?”

Juliette breaks me free of my trance. I could stare at her for hours, never blinking once, drinking her in. I do want to get out of here. I want to take her back to my place, lay her on my bed, and treat her like the woman she is. But that’s the exact opposite of what my brain is telling me I should do.

Stupid brain.

“Yeah. What do you have in mind?”

She dangles her keys in front of me, a sly look on her face. “I’ll drive.”

Fifteen minutes later, Juliette and I are standing inside Marty’s Race Experience, the roar of go-karts shooting around us, whizzing around the track. “I’m almost afraid to ask what we’re doing here.”

“Well, we’re racing, of course.”

Wow. A woman not afraid to sit behind the wheel. I watch as she slaps forty dollars down on the counter, thanks the clerk, and hands me a helmet. “You’re not scared, are you?”

Does she really think I’m afraid? I mean, I doubt I have a reason to be. “Honey, I’ll have you know I grew up playing racing games on the Atari.”

She pats the helmet in my hand. “Well, I grew up on the race track.” She slides the helmet over her head. I don’t think she’s ever looked sexier than she does with the helmet, a green elf suit, and red and white striped stockings. “So you better watch out.”

She turns on her toe and heads to the race track, already leaving me in the dust. I jog to catch up with her. “These are go-karts, you know.”

“So? They still go fast, and I can take you down. That’s what’s important here.”

My lips curl up into a smile. “Is it?”

“You bet.”

She selects the go-cart in lane three, leaving me with four other choices. I take lane five. I can take the corners at a much wider turn and gain speed on her.

We start the engines, and I’m surprised I don’t smell gas.

“Electric. Better for the environment and our health.”

I know I’m in trouble when the light turns green, and she squeals out of her lane before I even think about it.

My foot touches the floor as I press the pedal all the way down. My head jerks back, the weight of the helmet pulling me down. The first corner approaches, and I yank on the wheel to make the turn, needing to swing it back so I don’t almost hit the wall. Juliette waves, never even turning her head to glance back at me. I don’t wave back, focusing on the track. We have four laps, and with the first lap almost complete, she is doing what she promised and leaving me in the dust.

As we move into the second lap I gain a bit of ground. It’s obvious she’s slowing down on purpose to allow me time to catch up. Fine. I’ll let her. It gives me the perfect opportunity to take the lead.

Do I care if she beats me? Do I want her to win the race? My testosterone is strong, trying to take control of the situation, but the part of me that wants her so bad is holding back. I’m in the lead for lap two and lap three, but as soon as we start lap four she whips past me so fast I almost lose control of the go-kart. She’s a full half lap ahead of me when she strolls over the finish line claiming victory.

When I park my go-kart, she’s already been standing on the sidelines for almost a full minute, her arms crossed as she taps her foot.

“Couldn’t keep up, could you?”

Her helmet is tucked onto her side, her hip jutted out. With her head tipped to the right, her hair falls with it, the reddish-brown locks hitting her shoulder.

“I could. I choose not to.”

“You let me win?”

The doubt in her voice is apparent. I didn’t let her win. She beat me fair and square, but the man inside me can’t admit that to her. Even if I try to open my mouth to speak the truth, I can’t. “I sure did,” I agree, even though I know she doesn’t believe me. I like that she humors me.

I take her helmet from her and hand them back to the clerk. She flicks her hair back and runs her fingers through it to comb it out. I wish my fingers were in her hair.

“What?” She says.

“What?”

“You’re staring.”

“Am I?” I hadn’t realized I was, but I’m not surprised. I don’t care if she catches me. I can stare at her for hours. “So racing, huh?”

“Yeah.” She leads me over to a bench and we sit down. “My dad used to race, years back. He started me on the go-karts. I always wanted to race a car, but after my parent’s divorce, we sort of stopped doing this stuff together. I come here at least once a week and take a few laps.”

She doesn’t know how sexy she is right now. I’d love to see her in a jumper, tight against her body, accentuating every curve. I turn my body so she can’t see how hard my private thoughts are making me.

“I’m sorry about your parent’s divorce.” My parents stayed together up until my mom’s passing, but that last year was difficult. I’m convinced that had my mom gotten better, they may be divorced today. Dad couldn’t handle it. He wasn’t strong enough.

“It’s fine. I don’t see him much anymore, and well, I talk to my mom but you already know the situation with my brother.”

“Did you decide if you’re going to see him?”

“Oh, I made that decision the second my mom asked me, and I’m not changing my mind.”

She’s head-strong, that’s for sure. It seems when she has her mind set on something, nothing will change it. I like that.

“Did your sister talk to her daughter about her illness?”

I should know the answer to this. I should have stayed on my sister’s butt until I knew if she had spoken to her or not. I didn’t want to butt in more than I already had, though. “I hope so. She obviously knows something is going on.” I scoot closer to her. “I don’t want to talk about her, though. Tell me more about you.”

I slide my arm around her and she pulls into me. I could get used to this.