“I love you,” he says.
“Good, because you’re stuck with me.” I smack a kiss to his cheek and make my way over to the SUV.
“Give it back, you uncultured swine!”
“I’ll give you uncultured, you basic ass bitch!”
At that, Max gasps. “You take that back right now! I am anything but basic, and Britney is a goddess among men.”
“Babe, her last decent album was over two decades ago. You’ve been listening to the same three albums the entire time I’ve known you. Be more like Elsa, and let that shit go.”
“Never!” she says in her most dramatic tone, reaching forward to snatch the aux cable from my hands.
“You get fifteen more minutes, and then you’re giving up the cord, Maxine. I will not suffer through three more hours of this.” Cheater that she is, she levels me with her best pleading eyes and pouting lip combo, and I groan as I relent. “Fine, thirty more minutes, but that’s it!”
“Deal,” she says, wiggling with happiness at her victory.
A snort from the front seat has Max glaring in Lane’s direction.
“What’s so funny?” I recognize her squint as the threat it is.
Poor Lane, however, isn’t fluent in Max’s face yet. “You can’t seriously be this obsessed with Britney Spears. Isn’t she, like, before your time or something?”Here we go.
Max rips into Lane with well-rehearsed bullet points on all the things that make Britney the best to ever be. I smother my laugh in Teddy’s shoulder, wanting to stay out of the line of fire. A soft jostling tells me that he’s struggling to keep his composure as well. I catch Mom’s eyes in the rearview mirror, and I don’t miss the humor sparkling in their green depths.
As we cross the Nebraska state line, a chill races down my spine. I left this state as quickly as I could nine long years ago, never once glancing back. Being back now is nerve-racking. Iknow why I’m here. I want to be here, but there’s a part of me that still feels like the boy I was then. Isolated and afraid.
The brush of skin against the nape of my neck pulls me from the thoughts threatening to drag me back into the past. Blinking slowly, I turn and meet Teddy’s stare. “Hey,” I say quietly.
“Hey, yourself. How are you doing in here?” he asks with a tap to my temple.
“Nothing too overwhelming. It started to get bad, but you pulled me out of it. There are so many terrible memories in this state, and I underestimated how hard seeing it again would be.”
“That’s understandable. It’s easier to anticipate what your reaction to the person who hurt you may be. Less so when it comes to the inconspicuous reminders.”
With a sigh, I lie down with my legs on Max and my head in Teddy’s lap, and gentle fingers begin to brush through my hair.
“Babe…” The sound of Teddy’s voice pulls me from the dream I’d been having.
“Wha—” I look around, but quickly realize I can’t see much from my position.
“We’re here,” Teddy says. “Mom is getting us checked in with the front desk. We just need to start getting our luggage out of the car.”
Out of the back window, I see the sign for the hotel we’re staying at. Between that and his explanation, my tired brain finally starts to come back online. Slowly, I sit up and realize we’re the only two left in the car.
“Max and Lane spotted a Mexican restaurant a few blocks away. They went to grab dinner for everyone.” At that, my stomach immediately starts to growl. Teddy just shakes his head. “Honestly, I’m surprised that monster didn’t wake you up sooner, demanding a sacrifice.”
“You’ve been spending too much time with our friends. Sassy is not a good look on you,” I reply in my most haughty voice.I even go so far as to stick my nose in the air to really play it up, but Teddy is having none of it. His fingers dig into my ribs, making me squeal like a five-year-old.
“Cheater.”
“Drama king.”
“At least you recognize me as the royalty I am. Now fetch my bags, peasant.”
He shakes his head at me, but his smile only grows. “I walked right into that one.”
“Indeed you did. Now, chop chop.”
