Roxy laughed out loud, shaking her head. Her sunglasses were still in place on her face, shielding the worst of her bruisesfrom curious eyes, though no one paid them any attention where they’d tucked themselves into a back corner of the patio. They’d ordered panini’s and split a bag of crisps, too.
“I can’t tell you that, because nothing has happened. And it’s not going to,” Roxy muttered dryly. Natalie bobbed her blonde eyebrows.
“Yeah, okay. Miss Delulu over here.”
“I mean it, Nat. Nothing is going to happen between me and Travis. It… it’s not.”
“If you think you’re going to be stuck in a car with that big beefy man candy for what—two to three days—and he’snotgoing to do something about all that sexual tension that is literallycracklingbetween you… you’re crazy.Straight delulu, sis.” Leaning back in the chair, Natalie stared at her knowingly.
Roxy rolled her eyes, but let the conversation drop. She didn’t have the energy to argue with Natalie over this. Becausenothingwas going to happen.
Half an hour later, they had cried again, hugged for the millionth time, and finished their sandwiches when Travis messaged to let them know he was five minutes away. They stood, taking care of their trash and straightening the table, before walking inside the air-conditioned building again. Heading toward the back of the coffee shop, they hugged again.
“This is just a see you later,” Roxy whispered into Natalie’s ear, trying hard not to cry again. “I promise this isn’t forever. Maybe once this is all blown over, I’ll come back.”
“Maybe I’ll have to make a move to Michigan,” Natalie countered, hugging her fiercely, then pushed her away. Tears glinted in her eyes. “Now get. You keep me posted the whole way, okay? Take care of you.”
“Take care of you,” Roxy whispered back, her lips wobbling slightly. “Love you, Nat.”
“Love you, Roxy.”
Natalie kept an eye on the front of the building as Roxy slid out the back door. Travis was already waiting for her just outside the door, the 4Runner still running. She dashed across the narrow back alley and climbed gingerly into the passenger seat and closed the door. He reached out a hand and helped to snap her buckle into place, noticing the wince of pain from her, and then his fingers drifted over hers, squeezing them gently. She stared over the console into his eyes, his gaze making a quick once over of her face, as if to make sure she was indeed alright. And then he smiled at her, that quick, mind numbing, brilliant smile of his, and they were off.
It wasn’t long before he was turning them onto the interstate headed north. They had the back windows rolled down, letting the warm afternoon air rush through the car as he picked up speed until they were flying down the highway through midday traffic. She peeked over at him, watching him behind the dark lenses of her sunglasses as he drove.
He was relaxed, leaning back in the seat, his left hand draped loosely over the steering wheel, his right forearm resting on the console between them. Half of his long, light brown hair had been pulled up into a bun on the back of his head, the other half left loose around his shoulders, and the wind tousled it lightly. He had pulled on a pair of darkly tinted aviator sunglasses, which shaded his eyes from the glaring Texas sun. The breeze ripped at the cut edges of his shirt sleeves, making the material billow out slightly. Every once in a while, the way it shifted gave her an unrestricted view of his rippling pecks. That deeply tanned, heavily tattooed and muscled arm was bare from shoulder to wrist.
“Want to find us something to listen to?” he asked over to her, over the roar of the wind from the open back windows.
“I can queue up my Spotify list?” she asked.
He shook his head, turning to look at her, though she couldn’t see his eyes behind the dark tint of his sunglasses. She could however, see her own reflection in them, and grimaced at the sight of her too pale face and those dark bruises that peeked out from behind her own sunglasses.
“I’d prefer the radio, that way the forecast will come on if there’s any change in the weather,” he said, explaining. She nodded; it made sense. Leaning forward to fiddle with the stereo before settling on her favorite country music station. As they drove, they would have to find different stations as they moved out of range.
He notched his chin toward the backseat behind them. “I put your pillow, blanket, and one of my hoodies back there for you if you get tired or cold. The tote behind my seat has all our chargers, extra bottles of water, and the Tylenol, if you need any for your head.” She smiled over at him, and he continued, saying, “And I let Freeman know we had hit the road. I’d like to make it as far as Des Moines tonight; though it will be a long day, and we probably won’t get in until late. Don’t think you have to stay up to keep me company. If you get tired, you can close your eyes and rest.”
Reaching her hand out, she placed it on his tattooed, muscled forearm, where it rested on the console. His skin was warm beneath her fingers, and electricity that had nothing to do with static cling zapped through her. She squeezed lightly, not even bothering to fight against the tripping and tumbling of her heart in her chest. “Thank you, Travis.”
He glanced over at her, letting his lips tip up in another smile. “Anytime, baby girl.”
They settled into companionable silence as the miles disappeared behind them.
Twenty-Seven
Roxy jolted awake, sitting straight up in her seat. Shit. She must have fallen asleep. Blinking rapidly, she rubbed at her eyes carefully, yawning broadly.
“Hi there, sleepyhead,” Travis teased from the driver’s seat. He patted her knee, and she realized he must have reached behind them at some point to drag her blanket forward, covering her. He’d also rolled the back windows up.
She let the blanket slide down into her lap as she yawned again, stretching as much as she could in the passenger seat, then looked out the windows around her. The sky out the windshield in front of them was ominous looking; dark rain clouds rushed toward them from the horizon. Another hour and they’d be in the middle of that mess.
“Sounds like we’re headed straight into a storm. We’re too far North to try and go East, unless we take all backroads, which I don’t necessarily want to do. We just passed into Kansas,” he said. She reached for a bottled water, offering it to him first, but he shook his head. “No, thank you, I’m fine.” She uncapped it, taking several long pulls. Her head was aching. “I’m hoping it blows over.”
It did not. The further North they traveled, the darker and more ominous looking the skyline in front of them became. And then the rain started, pelting the windshield brutally, and Travis had the windshield wipers turned up to full speed. Lightning flashed, thunder cracking loudly, too close for comfort. Roxy sat up straighter in the seat, eyes straining to see through the damn near wall of water that was pelting the vehicle. Travis’s hands were tight around the steering wheel, the only clue she had that he wasn’t as unaffected by the storm as she thought.
He cursed when the wind buffeted them sideways for a third time. He had slowed the car drastically in deference to the conditions. Tuning the radio again and turning the volume up, they listened as the weatherman announced that there was a widespread tornado watch, though luckily none had been sighted yet.
“I’ve got to pull us off the highway, I can’t see ten feet in front of me, let alone trying to drive at highway speeds,” he muttered. “Might be a good time to stop for dinner.”
