An enormous screen projecting a film in which a woman in a feather boa was absolutely railed from behind.
All my thoughts were overrun by the image of this woman with a beehive and the man working behind her with the mother of all porn-staches. I tore my gaze from the scene to look at Dex, who appeared as thunderstruck as I felt.
“Is that a projector?” he asked.
“Oh my god. It’s a porn movie night,” I said. Snapping out of the daze, he grabbed my arm and tugged me behind a stone pillar, blocking us from view. “They’re having a porn movie night.”
“There are so many people. It must be open to the public, not just guests,” he murmured thoughtfully. My stomach gave a giddy lurch.
“Oh mygod.”
“We have to leave.”
“Wait, wait. Did you see the movie? It has to be from the seventies. Vintage porno, Dex.”
“Violet, we have to go.”
“This is amazing. I can’t believe you tried to talk me out of coming down here,” I whispered as he wrapped his fingers around my wrist and dragged me from the courtyard. The giddiness dimmed, unable to compete with the warmth of Dex’s hand against my skin—my entire body broke out in a sweat.
When was the last time I’d been touched? From my body’s reaction, you’d think the answer was never. Not once.
In the lobby, Dex released my wrist and the fog cleared. I blamed the porn for getting me all hot and bothered. Maybe I needed to get laid—though definitely not by the dude driving my sister and me across the country. He was simplythere, existing while gorgeous. Who wouldn’t have an inappropriate thought or two?
“So,” I said as we made our way into the elevator. Dex tugged a hand through his hair and hit our floor number. “Do we consider that an orgy?”
He shook his head and my every vein buzzed to life as he began to laugh. Slowly. Just a crack at first, the slightest exhale slipping into a catch, and then he broke. Shoulders shaking, he bent forward, pressing his head against the wall, the sound of his laughter bouncing off the metal. It seemed like the sort of magic that only passes through once every decade, a rare comet. I alone bore witness to the most remarkable thing in Poconos history.
Then he snorted and I lost my shit right along with him.
Eleven
TOLEDO, OH
The route led us to a sixty-foot bear. And by route, I meant Phoebe.
An unforgiving sun cast the world in the dense heat that made existing outside air-conditioning excruciating, yet the three of us stood in crunchy grass, sticky with sweat, squinting up at a wooden rendering of Yogi Bear. I wasn’t sure why we were here. Yogi was before Phoebe’s time, and she’d never been one for cartoons. Then again, it seemed like the kind of thing our dad would get a kick out of. Maybe that was reason enough.
“So,” I said. Phoebe’s expression was frozen somewhere between disappointment and irritation. “Is it everything you hoped it would be?”
“I don’t know what I was hoping for,” she replied. “But nope.”
“He’s pretty big,” I offered.
She made a face. “I mean. Sure.”
“He’s a world record holder. That’s cool.”
“I’m underwhelmed.”
Dex said, “It looks like he’s doing a Nazi salute.”
Phoebe laughed. I wheeled around, fixing him with a look. “He’swaving,” I said. He shrugged blithely, a bead of sweat working its way from his temple, arcing down his jawline.
“Right.” His dark eyes pierced me in place before shifting to my sister and quickly back again. I blinked away as he asked, “We done?”
Phoebe looked at Dex, her eyes going soft, lip beginning to jut. His expression remained impressively neutral.
“No,” he said.
