Page 20 of Let the Games Begin
“I win medals when I run in them.”
“Andbeing humble,” she said.
“That makes two of us,” he said.
She shrugged. “And you’re really bad at apologizing. Because I’m still wating on that apology, Moyo,” she said.
“You’re never going to let that go, are you?”
“No! I loved that suit,” she said, though she didn’t actually seem that annoyed at him anymore.
“Okay.” He took a breath. “I could tell your suit was new and you looked like you were having a bad day, so I’m sorry for spilling juice all over it.” Zeke should’ve stopped there but he couldn’t help but tease her. “However, while some part of me feels bad about ruining your suit, it looks like having things spilled all over you is a regular occurrence. So, it was probably going to happen anyway—”
“Don’t start,” interrupted Olivia, putting her right hand up in mock annoyance.
“I’m just pointing out the elephant-sized stain in the room,” said Zeke, thrilled as he watched Olivia’s lips curve up despite her best attempts at hiding her amusement.
“You have the personality of a seventeen-year-old boy.”
“You have the comebacks of an angsty teenage girl,” he said as Olivia revved up the engine. “And the driving skills.”
“Oh, what a surprise.” She shook her head. “An insult about a woman’s driving.”
“Wait, that’s not what I meant—”
“But that’s what you said.”
“Okay, so how longhaveyou been in the golf buggy driving business?” Zeke asked.
“I learned how to drive it yesterday,” said Olivia.
“That makes me feelreallysafe,” said Zeke, prompting Olivia to dramatically press down on the accelerator. The buggy went at full speed, and she made a quick, unnecessarily sharp turn.
“Well, you’re about to feela lotsafer,” said Olivia in a sing-song voice as she drove at the maximum Village speed limit.
He held on to his seat, but he didn’t want to let her see him sweat. She was twisting and turning with enough precision for him to know that she was in complete control of the buggy, but it still didn’t feel comfortable. She stopped sharply, making Zeke’s heart jump out of his chest. Then immediately revved the engine up again, catapulting the buggy back out onto the road. Zeke could see the glint in her eye as she noticed his iron grip on the overhead handle.
“I’m agreatdriver,” she said, enjoying the power she had behind the wheel way too much. “I have a car driving license, a motorcycle license,anda lorry license.”
“A lorry license?” Zeke glanced over at her to try to figure out if she was bluffing.
“I could drive a heavy-goods vehicle for three days across mainland Europe if I needed to.”
“Of course, women can do whatever they want, and I believe in HGV equality…” Zeke said.
“Look, I’m working right now, Ezekiel. I don’t need your try-hard ‘men can be feminists too’ spiel,” she said skeptically.
“Well, they can, and I am,” he said. She rolled her eyes exactly as he’d predicted she would. “But, if it’s not too impolite to ask, why do you have a lorry driving license?”
“Partly to prove a point… but mostly out of spite,” she said, her eyes twinkling at the memory of her grudge-based upskilling. He couldn’t figure out if he was impressed or terrified. But then he looked over at her, and the answer was clear. Her expression was a mixture of mischief and delight.
“Is that something you do a lot? Take on complicated tasks just to prove a point?” he asked.
“Oh yeah, my grudges are like seeds in the orchard of my life. I like to water, feed, and nurture them,” she said with a grin. He found himself glancing down at her lips.
“You strike me as the type to hold a lot of grudges.”
“The type?You’ve known me for like, what,three minutes?” she said. This time he knew from the bite of her lip that she wasn’t annoyed at him. Olivia was flirting with him; she just had a strange way of doing it. Zeke leaned toward her, hyperaware of the ease between them. Every line was a challenge, asking him if he was game enough to play. He was.
