Oliver seems to be contemplating, but I can’t read his mind, and he is giving no indication of what he might be thinking.
“Uh, I, right… I can drive with Oliver.” I swallow my nerves.
But this isn’t a big thing. No, siree, just a normal day when you end up driving across the country, alone in the car with the guy you might have had too many dreams about.
“Totally. I can ride her.” My eyes turn into saucers from Oliver’s word choice, and he instantly realizes his error. “I mean, she can ride me.” He is fumbling with his words. “Uh, with me… in the car… yep, she can ride with me in the car. Problem solved.”
“See, guys? A little teamwork. Now, I have to run. Ava’s parents want to meet for breakfast. Let me know when you guys are safely on the road.”
“Sure thing.” I watch my pointer finger dab the end-call button then grab my coffee, avoiding the set of heavy eyes on me.
Silence surrounds us for a beat. Truthfully, my mind might be imagining the whole ride-him scenario, which is his fault for triggering the reminder of my fantasies.
“I’ll pick you up at six tomorrow morning.”
Blinking a few times, I whip my attention to see Oliver calmly sitting across from me. His stoic face isn’t helping matters because I’m just not sure if he is thrilled or pissed by this change of events.
“Oh, yeah, of course. Since we’re driving my brother’s car, it won’t look like we’re stealing it if we get pulled over, right? Imean, the registration is in his name, and I have the same last name.” I sound half serious and joking at the same time.
“Why would we get pulled over? We’re not conducting an armed robbery, are we?”
“No, we’re not. It’s going to be a long day. We can stop somewhere to stay overnight.” Worst idea ever, but there is no other way.
His lips roll in and maybe he is reflecting on the logistics of our road trip. “Makes sense.” An unreadable pause hits us again. “It will be too early to grab coffee to-go from here,” he mentions, since Foxy Rox only opens at 7.
I’m going to be stuck in a small space with him for two days. I’ll smell him, feel him close, maybe argue with him over music. Shit, is this going to be a quiet car ride? No. I will not allow that to happen.
“I’ll pick up snacks for the road tonight. Stock us all up. Buy a map too.”
His face turns perplexed. “Pretty sure modern technology will navigate us.”
My face beams. “Loosen up, a paper map is classic. Probably out of date, but you never know when technology will fail and we need a backup. Either way, we’ll probably get lost at some point.”
“Directions gone rogue are one of the top reasons that couples argue.”
“We can’t have that now, can we,” I tease. I’m relieved that our banter can reappear again.
“So what snacks are you planning?”
I bring a finger to my chin. “Definitely licorice laces, granola bars, fruit, water bottles, pretzels. Maybe I should just pack a cooler?” I’m getting lost in my thoughts because this whole unexpected plan is exciting.
But it’s the deep velvety chuckle of the man in front of me which is probably the real reason this feels exhilarating.
“Are we going to a deserted island? You’re really stocking us up there.”
I shrug. “We’ve gone from armed robberies to deserted islands? Seriously, though, we could get stuck in a cornfield. Speaking of which, do you think we can try and make our break stops kind of thrilling?”
Oliver inhales a sharp breath and shifts in his seat.
Right. Because he probably has a mind as dirty as mine sometimes.
But shocker, I actually wasn’t thinking aboutthat. “You know, a quirky road stop or lunch spot.”
“Totally.”
“And music? I’ll set us up with a playlist.”
His smile hasn’t shifted an inch. “You’re going to play ‘Life is a Highway’ as soon as you set up the music in the car, aren’t you?”
