She twists around and grabs the paper bag I packed. When she looks inside, she gasps.
“All my favorites.” She beams at me, then leans over and kisses my cheek. “This is so thoughtful, Nick. Thank you.”
“I’m your fake boyfriend. I should always have your favorite snacks and drinks on hand for a road trip.”
I smile despite the way my brain snags on the word “fake.” I want more than anything for this to be real, but I don’t want to push her when she’s not ready. But I want to show her how I’d treat her if she were mine for real.
She grabs a bag of gummy sharks from the bag I packed.
“I can’t believe you remembered that I like these,” she says before popping one in her mouth. She offers me one.
“Of course I remember. You’ve been eating these since high school.”
She sips her drink and turns to me again. “You’re really sweet to do all this for me.”
I grab her free hand in mine and press a soft kiss against her knuckles. “I like taking care of you.”
Her hazel eyes are bright and warm as she looks at me.
“I can’t wait till we get to the cabin,” she says. “I’m excited to relax and do nothing with you.” She winks at me.
“Me too.”
By the time I pull into the gravel driveway of the cabin, it’s pitch black. I park behind Blake’s SUV and kill the engine.
When Poppy and I hop out of the car, she stares up at the indigo sky, which is glittering with stars.
“Wow,” she murmurs. “You can see so many stars out here. How gorgeous.”
I smile at the awestruck look in her eyes. I unload our bags, and together we walk up the porch stairs and through the front door.
We’re immediately greeted by Blake and Leo. They walk over and hug Poppy.
“You guys made it,” Blake says.
“Thanks for letting me tag along,” Poppy says.
“Yeah, of course. Happy to have you. And happy to split the cost of the cabin with another person,” Leo says.
We all laugh. We follow them to the kitchen. They tell us they’ve got some pizzas in the oven warming up for dinner.
“Is your girlfriend here too?” Poppy asks Blake.
“She’s not coming. We broke up.”
“Oh, no. I’m so sorry,” she says.
“Yeah, dude. That sucks,” I say.
Blake just shrugs. “It’s okay. It’s for the best.”
I wait for him to say more, but he doesn’t. I guess he doesn’t want to talk about it. He doesn’t seem all that sad, so maybe it’s not a big deal to him. I guess it’s good that he’s not too torn up about it.
He opens the fridge and grabs a can of beer, then tosses it to me. He hands Poppy a bottle of water.
“Your sister doesn’t like beer, right?” he asks me.
“Right. She’ll be drinking mostly water. Just like Poppy.”
