Chapter 2

When I woke up the next morning, Carter was already gone.

I sat up, got dressed, and lazily grabbed a piece of toast from the fridge, biting into it as I unlocked my phone.

Carter and I had shared location tracking set up on our iPhones.

His location showed he was at his racing club.

Carter was the founder of the club, and his team was currently the hottest thing on the local circuit. I knew he was busy trying to build a celebrity racing team.

He’d only told me these things when he was drunk and rambling.

Normally, he never talked about his work with me. He thought I wouldn't understand.

After all, I’d been slow my whole life. I moved slow, ate slow, and talked slow. When I was a kid, my mom used to tease me that the Slow Poke Monster would catch me if I didn't eat faster.

Obviously, it didn't work. I still did everything at my own pace.

All of Carter's friends knew about me, but I didn't know any of them.

He once told me, "Sloane, you’re not that sharp, and your reactions are so slow. How am I supposed to introduce you? Be good. You don't want people laughing at me, do you?"

Back then, my heart swelled with bitterness. It turned out that after all this time together, I was just an embarrassment to him.

When he saw my fallen face, he’d wrap me in his arms and soothe me. "They’re wild and loud anyway. You don't like going out. Just stay home and wait for me, okay?"

On his phone, my contact name was "Miss Tortoise." His on mine was "Mr. Hare."

When he was pursuing me, he’d play a sweet acoustic song on his guitar, humming the lyrics.

"I want you to be my little tortoise forever. I love you more every day."

Those lyrics were his confession to me.

My ringtone had been a recording of him singing that song ever since.

"La la la la la...

La la la la la..."

The ringtone suddenly cut through my thoughts, dragging me back to reality.

"Sloane, some guys from the club are coming over for dinner tonight. Clean up the place a bit, okay?"

I had waited so long for the day Carter would finally introduce me to his friends. But now, all the excitement was gone.

"Sure," I said flatly.