“Well,” he says, turning the truck down a side street, “you’ll see.”
“Have it your way,” I say, shrugging a shoulder. I’m too tired to care. Besides, I trust Caleb. If he has an idea for what we can do that doesn’t involve going back to my house right now and dealing with my sisters, I’m good with that.
With my stomach growling, I place a hand over it, ignoring the worried way Caleb glances at me. That man would stop me and ask every time he even thought I might be getting hungry.
Instead, I let the soft music piping through the speakers lull me into increased sleepiness. I rest my head on Caleb’s arm, and before I know it the motion of the truck and the heat from his arm have put me to sleep.
Soft lips brush against my forehead, and I blink, opening my eyes to find full dark and a bag full of what smells like bacon cheeseburgers and cheese fries on the center console.
“It’s not gourmet, it’s not pad Thai, and it’s not Italian, so I hope it will do.”
“I love bacon cheeseburgers.”
He holds up a drink in an old-fashioned paper cup. “Root beer float.”
“Oh, hell yeah. Heaven is a root beer float and a bacon cheeseburger,” I say gleefully, taking it from him. It tastes incredible, and I might be half awake, but I’m absolutely starving.
“I’m hungry too,” Gunner says.
“I know.” Caleb grins, his hands already in the bag. “ Did you hear me order a plain patty and some bacon for you?” He unwraps one of the packets of food, revealing just that — bacon and two burger patties — and hands them back to Gunner, who sniffs them delicately before gently taking them from his fingers.
“Thank you,” I tell Caleb.
“For what? Feeding your dog?”
“Familiar,” Gunner corrects.
“Feeding your familiar,” Caleb says, giving me a long, amused look.
“For feeding both of us,” I say. “I could have paid for this. Option to pay with me around, okay?”
“Oh, you want to set rules up for our relationship, sure. Go ahead.” He glances at me and nods.
“How about this? If I decide to take us out, I pay. If you decide you want to go somewhere, you pay. Does that work?”
“We can pretend like that’s the ground rules.” Caleb shrugs. “If it makes you feel better. I will just have to convince you it’s my idea to take you out every time.”
I roll my eyes, but I can’t help the smile that crinkles my forehead. “You got yourself a deal. It might not be a financially stable deal, but it’s yours.”
He holds out his hand and shakes it, then replaces his hand with the hamburger.
“I am so hungry,” I say, and waste no time devouring the burger, which is perfect, as are the fries.
“Is this the place you used to get us burgers from?” I ask.
Streetlights wink on as we drive past
“You’re surprised it’s still here?”
“Yeah, I haven’t thought about these burgers in years, which is, truly, an oversight. Are we going into the next town over?” I ask, still bleary-eyed and half asleep.
“Yep,” he corrects.
I take another bite of my burger, then grab a fistful of fries and jam them into my mouth too, because suddenly caloric intake seems to be the only thing that matters. I am actually starving.
“I can’t get enough to eat,” I say, the words garbled by the amount of food in my mouth
“Well, yeah. You’ve had a long day. Not to mention all the stuff with your sisters.”
