“Assume she’s being watched,” Grease said. “They’ve got eyes everywhere.”
“Got it.”
“This is need-to-know,” Dragon informed me as I turned to leave. “You can fill Draco in yourself, and we’ll spread the word to the rest of the club. Goes without sayin’, no old ladies, no kids.”
I nodded and got the fuck out of there, but when I went to grab my phone, it was no longer on the bar. Draco had it pressed to his ear, and he was grinning as he spoke into it.
“Looks like your pop just came back out. Drive careful, bud,” he said. He handed me the phone while he searched my face, trying to gauge my mood.
“Hey, Dyl,” I greeted, shaking my head at Draco. Turning, I walked toward the door.
“I’m about halfway,” my boy said with a sigh. “Has the drive always been this long?”
“Feels a lot longer when you’re the one drivin’,” I pointed out, my lips twitching. “How’s it been so far?”
“All right. I’m making good time.”
“Don’t be speedin’ on the freeway,” I ordered. “Set the fuckin’ cruise control.”
“I am, I am,” he replied defensively. “I don’t want to get a ticket.”
“Shit, I’d take a ticket over you crashin’.”
“I’m being careful,” he assured me. “Swear.”
“You’ve been stoppin’ for breaks?”
“I get out and move around every time I get fuel.”
“If you start feelin’ tired—”
“I’ll find a rest stop and take a nap,” Dylan cut me off. “I know, Dad. Jesus. We already talked about this.”
We had. We’d gone over it about a hundred times. I hadn’t wanted to drive separately, but Dylan’s friends had planned one last camping trip—the weekend after we were supposed to leave. I could’ve forced him to come with me—thankfully, he still listened to his old man even though he was nearly a man himself—but I hadn’t had the heart to. The kid was leaving everyone he knew behind.
“You still thinkin’ you’ll get here late tonight?” I asked, checking my watch. It was almost dinnertime. He’d be driving the last stretch in the goddamn dark. Bored, impatient, and tired. A fucking recipe for disaster. I should’ve set him up in a hotel halfway. Then he could’ve stopped for the night.
“Yeah, depending on if I need to stop,” he said dryly. “If that happens, I’ll call you. All right?”
“Cut me a break, kid,” I said, sitting down on one of the picnic tables in the grass out front. “Big trip and you’re still an idiot.”
“Geez, thanks.”
“Your brain ain’t developed,” I reminded him. “You’ll be an idiot for a few more years still.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“Can’t wait to see you, bud,” I said, scrubbing my hand through my hair.
“Same.”
“Listen…” I hesitated. “Dependin’ on when you get here, I might not be here.”
“What?”
“I gotta head down to Sacramento early tomorrow.”
“Seriously?”
