He remembered—and I don’t know why, but it catches me off guard.
“We gonna have to break some collarbones to get my car back?”
“Not necessarily.”
“I’ll do whatever it takes.”
I glance at him. He sounds deadly serious. It’s kind of scary. AndI kind of love it.
He starts yawning again.Never mind.
“I meant to ask—why did we have to leave today? We could’ve set off tomorrow,” he says, settling deeper into the seat. “Not that I’m complaining, or anything. The sooner the better.”
“You really want me to break it down for you?”
“Hey, you’re in charge—but this is my baby we’re talking about. It’s not like we’re going day-tripping. You should probably give me a heads-up, or something.”
I nod thoughtfully. “Okay. This is one long-ass trip, so we’ll take a nap break before we get there. We’ll see how far we can get before we need to stop, and then we’ll find somewhere to crash. We need to keep our strength up. Friday night could be pretty… intense,” I add.“Plus, we’ll be hanging around the track tomorrow. Doing our best to try and blend in.”
And making sure we’re ready if shit gets real.
“What’s this meet thing, anyway?”
I shoot him a look. “You know Worthington? Well, imagine that times a million. Way more cars, way more people. Way higher stakes.”
He nods slowly, his gaze drifting over the dashboard.
“And you don’thaveto come,” I remind him. “You can opt out at any point. Wait for me back at the hotel. Like I said—I know this isn’t your scene.”
“You think I’m a wuss? Just because I’m not a bad boy doesn’t mean I’m not a man.”
I can’t help but laugh at that. “Okay, okay, man!”
“Except it’s not okay,” he sulks.
“Hey, I was planning on having quiet time on the road, man. We don’thaveto talk, you know.”
“Just trying to distract myself.” He thinks for a moment. “What if the Dodge isn’t there? Then what?”
“Then it’s back to the drawing board. We’ll just have to cross our fingers and hope RJ picks it up sometime.”
“Okay…”
Except it’s not okay.
I really feel like baiting him, but I can feel the edginess coming off him in waves, and I decide to drop it. Driving in silence suits me better, anyway.
From that point on, he doesn’t say a word, and when I glance over, his eyes are closed. Seeing him asleep like that is a relief. My legs relax, and I hit the gas, pushing the car hard in a bid to put time and miles behind us. By the time nine swings around, I’m starting to feel hungry, and it’s like Lewis has read my mind.
“Snack break?”
I shake my head. “Let’s push on; I’ll turn off at the next exit and we’ll grab a drive-through.”
“You eat in your car?” He sounds outraged.
“Not normally, no. But there’s nothing normal about this situation, right?” I glance at him. “You get crumbs on my seats, though, and I’m warning you—you’ll be hitchhiking to New York.”
“Understood, Officer. I’ll take over so you can eat.”
