Page 97 of Revv

“Universal? You sound like you’re fucking choking.”

I keep going until she breaks, laughing hard enough that she has to press her lips together and focus on the road.

That laugh hits me straight in the chest.

I stop singing and look at her.

She catches me. “What?”

“Like hearing you laugh.”

The air changes for half a second. Her smile softens, and she looks back at the road without a comeback.

I turn the music up before she can retreat too far.

We stop for gas outside Fort Myers, and Cece reaches for the handle before I catch her wrist.

“Nah, Mama. I’ve got it.”

She looks from my hand around her wrist to my face. “I can pump my own gas.”

“I know you can.” I take the nozzle from her anyway, then slide my card into her palm. “But I’m trying to impress you, so let me have this.”

Her mouth twitches. “By pumping gas?”

I nod toward the store. “Go grab some of those mango Monsters you like. And whatever else you want.”

She starts to hand the card back. “Revel, I don’t need—”

“Cece.” My voice softens, but the teasing drops out of it. “I know you don’t need me to do anything. I want to.”

That stops her.

She studies me for a second, eyes moving over my face like she’s trying to figure out where the joke is but quickly realizes there isn’t one.

Then her fingers close around the card. “Fine.”

I grin. “See, I knew you liked being taken care of.”

“Ay, don’t ruin it.”

“Get me a water while you’re in there, Mama.”

She turns toward the store, glancing back at me with a look I can’t quite read. “Anything else, príncipe?”

“Yeah.” I let my eyes drag down her leggings. “Take your time walking there, Mama. Let me enjoy the view.”

“Pendejo.”

She flips me off and keeps going, but the smile she’s trying to hide makes me grin as I turn back to the pump.

Halfway through filling the tank, I glance toward the windows and spot her inside near the coolers. Some guy is standing beside her, saying something that makes her smile. He’s tall, tan, and dressed like he’s heading to the beach instead of a gas station, with messy dark hair and sunglasses hooked into the collar of his shirt.

Not her polite smile either.

A real one.

My jaw tightens before I can stop it, which is stupid. She’s buying drinks in a gas station. He’s probably asking where the bathroom is or some shit.