‘ Is this where everything goes murky and we have the flashback?’
‘ You prefer the short version? Basically, I’ m a motorhead through and through. Got my driver’ s license at sixteen. My motorcycle license the same year. Took me till seventeen to get the pilot’ s license-and they don’ t let you fly commercial until twenty.’
‘ So that’ s what you’ ve always done? Piloted?’
‘ Actually, I started out racing motorcycles out of high school. Picked up a few sponsors, too. Thought I might go pro. But then I took a spill& ‘ He paused to knock on his leg as if it were wooden. ‘ Split my leg open. Messed up my knee. That was the end of my racing career.’
I grimaced and said, ‘ That must have been terrifying.’
‘ You know what’ s weird? My family figured I’ d be the one to die young. At the rate I was going, none of us thought I’ d live to see thirty.’ With that reminder of why we were sitting across from each other, I shifted uncomfortably, and mercifully moving on to other topics, he said, ‘ So, what does your boyfriend think of all this?’ I tried to remember when I had mentioned Robert when Troy added, ‘ I assume that was your boyfriend who came with you to the funeral.’
‘ Oh yeah, we broke up a while back.’
‘ Sorry.’
I gave a brief flick of my hand, as if to say, No big deal, c’ est la vie, because nobody wants to admit they’ ve been dumped and, even worse, that it hurt.
‘ Hey, what’ s that you’ re drinking?’ Troy asked. ‘ Let me get you another& .’
‘ Oh, no thanks.’ I caught a glimpse of Brie and Chanel. They sat at the table with the hotter girl and her friends-whooping over the Lakers game and high-fiving one another.
‘ Come on,’ he urged. ‘ That one’ s almost empty.’
‘ Really, I’ m fine. I’ m driving.’
‘ Too bad.’ He gave me what my mom used to call a devil’ s grin, the corners of his mouth sneaking up. ‘ I was hoping if I got you good and drunk, you might show me that list.’
What could I do? It was stolen property as it was. ‘ Fine,’ I said begrudgingly. ‘ I’ ll show it to you-but first, I want to make sure you understand that a lot of the things aren’ t crossed off yet because they’ re in progress.’
‘ All right.’
‘ I’ m working on them.’
‘ Duly noted.’
‘ And it’ s not fair to cross them off until I’ ve finished them.’
He nodded.
‘ Done them proper justice.’
‘ June& ‘
‘ Yeah?’
He held out a hand. ‘ The list& ?’
I dug it out of where I kept it in my wallet and handed it to him.
He unfolded it and started to read.
20 Things to Do by My 25th Birthday
1. Lose 100 pounds
2. Kiss a stranger
3. Change someone’ s life
4. Wear sexy shoes
5. Run a 5K
6. Dare to go braless
7. Make Buddy Fitch pay
8. Be the hottest girl at Oasis
9. Get on TV
10. Ride in a helicopter
11. Pitch an idea at work
12. Try boogie boarding
13. Eat ice cream in public
14. Go on a blind date
15. Take Mom and Grandma to see Wayne Newton
16. Get a massage
17. Throw away my bathroom scale
18. Watch a sunrise
