Ignite

“Excuse me? I’ll have you know asshole I’m about to graduate college. As far as the braces and pimples go, that’s what happens when you grow up, grow tits and start having sex. How dare you treat me like some little high school freshman, you arrogant dick!”

My mouth dropped open and I would have given anything to

have a time machine to go back in time so I didn’t have to hear that my baby sister had had sex before.

“What?” Malcolm and I both said at once.

Malcolm pushed his hand through his hair as he said, “You can’t be going around telling guys that shit, Ashley. Are you insane? All it’s going to take is some dick to think that’s the green light for him to make a move on you. I mean seriously. Walking up to some guy and asking him to fuck, he’s going to say yes.”

Ashley raised her eyebrows and said, “A guy like you, Malcolm?”

“What the fuck, Ashley!” I said as I glared at her.

Malcolm laughed and shook his head as he patted Ashley on the top of her head. “Awe, that’s kind of cute, Ash, but I’m nowhere near the guy for you.”

Now I looked over at Malcolm with a look of disbelief. I wasn’t sure if I should be more impressed that he remembered my sister’s name or by the fact that he was actually acting like a gentleman for once. Well, kind of like one since Malcolm didn’t even know the definition of the word gentlemen.

Ashley stomped her feet and I swore I saw tears forming in her eyes. “I’m not a child, Malcolm Wallace, and don’t you dare treat me like one. There are plenty of guys who would kill to sleep with me. How dare you treat me like a baby. Asshole!”

Ashley spun on her heels and practically ran away. Lifting her hand up, she called back to me, “I’ll call you later, Emmit.”

I watched as my sister walked away, clearly upset by what had just happened. When I walked over to Malcolm, I shook my head and said, “What in the fuck just happened? What did you do to make her almost cry?”

When I turned and looked at Malcolm, a look of concern passed over his face. “Um, hell if I know.” Turning to look at me, Malcolm asked, “Did I treat her like a baby just then?”

“It was the patting on the head. In case the two of you didn’t notice, that young lady is all grown up and is not a child. She’s a woman.”

Malcolm and I both snapped our heads over to Adaline. “Don’t say that, Addie!” I said in disgust. Malcolm didn’t utter a word as he smiled at Adaline.

“How’s it going, Adaline?” Malcolm asked.

“It’s going good.”

Malcolm moved back and forth on his feet like he was nervous as he finally looked back and me said, “Good luck tomorrow, Emmit. I’ll see you around.”

Tipping his hat at Adaline as he walked by, I wore a shocked expression. “What in the hell is wrong with everyone tonight? Was that Malcolm being . . . nice?”

Adaline laughed as she walked up and took Lola’s leash from my hand. “Go shower so we can go to dinner. I’m starving. I’ll walk the baby girl.”

As I shrugged my shoulders, I leaned over and kissed Adaline on the cheek. “It won’t take me long to get ready.”

“Don’t rush, we’ll take a little walk and then meet you back in the bus.” I was captivated by my wife’s beautiful smile.

As I jogged back to the bus, I glanced over at Malcolm’s bus that was parked across and down a bit from mine. I couldn’t shake the feeling that he was honestly bothered by what my sister thought of him. I made a mental note to talk to Ashley about what had happened and why she got so upset.

I COULD HEAR “MANNISH BOY” by Muddy Waters coming through Emmit’s headphones as I stood across from him. We were down on pit row and the race was about to start. Emmit liked having a few minutes to himself before each race. I usually left his side for a few minutes so that he didn’t feel pressure to talk to me, but for some reason I felt the need to stay close by him today. I had a feeling I knew why, but I wasn’t going to think too much about it right now. We just needed to get through this race and then I’d tell Emmit.

Dragging in a deep breath, I glanced around and wrapped my arms around my body. My body relaxed the moment I felt his lips on my neck. “Are you okay, baby?”

I dropped my head against Emmit’s chest and looked up at him. “I couldn’t be better.”

Emmit raised a brow and asked, “Are you sure?”

Turning, I placed my hands on his chest and reached up on my toes to kiss him on the lips. “I promise. How are you feeling? Did you get enough water?”

“Yep.”

“Everything feel all right with your suit?”