Page 2 of Love You To Pieces

Oh.

Oh.

It’s hard not to just slam my head back into the seat behind me. Four years of business school, a year of nursing school, two cross-country moves, and disappointing my parents have somehow all led me to this moment. I’m sitting in the back of a shitty, twenty-six-year-old sedan with rusted out rims with two men who smell like dirty teenagers and a woman who folds the moment he simpers at her with his pretty brown eyes that look more like mud than chocolate.

“We’re taking a detour…for drugs,” I state, my voice flat and unimpressed. Shifting on the seat, I fold my arms over my chest and sit back, wishing I could also cross my legs. But with Scotty’s long legs and sad puppy looks that barely convinced me, the passenger seat is too far back for me to do more than try not to focus on the way my knees are jammed into it. “Is that what you’re trying to tell me?”

Ariana, at least, tries to look a little embarrassed. But Tyler just continues to grin at me, like there’s nothing better we could be doing. “We share,” he assures me. “We don’t expect you to pay for anything, and we’ll get more than enough⁠—”

“I’m good.” While I don’t mean to cut him off, I can’t lie to myself and say I feel bad about it.

“You don’t smoke? Or take edibles or whatever?”

“Nah, not really.” It’s not the truth. I have, and I’m not against it, usually. But here? With these three?

I’d rather sleep in the swamp we passed a few hours back, before the grass turned brown and the ground had got flatter to accommodate all the cattle ranches and old farms we’ve been driving past for a while.

Hell, I’d take sleeping with the cattle over getting high with these people. “Especially lately, I’m uh, not so into it anymore.” My words feel awkward, stilted in my mouth, and for a few moments, I’m afraid they’ll notice and say something about my sudden awkwardness. After all, I’m not subtle, and⁠—

Tyler barks out a laugh, and Scotty gives me an apologetic smile over his shoulder. My body tenses in the seat, and I grip my arms where they’re crossed over my chest, reminded again just how uncomfortable this position is and how little space I have in this car.

I wish I never would’ve come here.

“I just think we should go straight there.” Glancing out at the sky again, I gesture toward a far-away bank of storm clouds rolling in. “Look. It’s going to storm at some point. The sooner we get to Dallas, the sooner we can⁠—”

“It’s a few hours, Sadie-Rae.” His grin is back to that ugly sneer he thinks is charming, but really just makes him look like he’s got a stick up his ass. “Six-hour detour, max. Why don’t you just sit back and relax, huh? The way to his house is pretty scenic. So you can just, I don’t know”—he throws his hand up dismissively and snorts, eyes rolling—“enjoy the view, or whatever.”

Ariana throws me a quick, sympathetic glance I catch from the side of my eye, though I don’t give her my full attention.

Instead, I shake my head, my fingers deftly unplugging my headphones from the charger so I can hook them over my ears. If my only option is to enjoy the view, then my plan is to crank up my lo-fi music that doesn’t really overpower anything and enjoy the view of storm clouds rolling across the flat ground, toward the road we’re currently on that seems to lead straight into nowhere.

This is such an awful idea, I can’t help but think to myself, eyes rolling. Somehow, I know it’s going to be more than a six-hour detour.

Hell, maybe we’ll also get rained on before the day is done, just to make everything that much more miserable.

CHAPTER TWO

Idon’t realize I’ve dozed off until Tyler swerves the car hard enough for my head to thump painfully against the window. My hands clutch for something—anything—as my brain tells me we’re rolling off some steep decline into a culvert that’ll kill us all.

Instead, when my eyes finally focus on our surroundings, all I see is the sky that’s gotten significantly darker since the last time I looked, and a building we’re approaching slowly as Tyler rolls through the parking lot.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he grumbles, leaning forward to squint at the two old-timey gas pumps sitting in front of the even older building. It’s a work of architectural mastery, given that the wooden sides are leaning inward, slouching like they might fall in at any moment. Clearly, either God himself is holding it up, or whoever built it had a way with wood that the rest of us can only dream of.

“What’s wrong?” I sigh, the words out of my mouth before I can stop them. With my head throbbing, my bad attitude is at the forefront of my mind, and I can’t bite back my opinions any longer. “Don’t know how to operate something that isn’t a smart device?”

The look Tyler throws at me isn’t exactly friendly, and he slams on the brakes by the gas pump hard enough for Scotty to hit the console in front of him with a yelp. But thankfully, this time I’m ready for it. With my knees and hand braced against the back of the seat, I’m only jostled a bit while holding his gaze with raised brows.

“Tyler, can you please stop being a child?” Ariana sighs, picking up her phone off the floorboard with a withering glare at him. “I can get the gas. My dad taught me to use a pump like this. We just need to pay first.” When she opens her door, I’m quick to follow, and our sneakers send up little clouds of dust from the bone-dry ground.

Thunder rumbles as I close the door behind me. From the corner of my eye, I see Scotty scramble out of the front seat, though his eyes are on Tyler like he’s waiting for an order or to follow his lead.

Truly, he’s the most loyal puppy I’ve ever met, and that’s not a compliment.

Before I say something not very nice, I turn away from the car where Tyler is unscrewing the ancient gas cap, and take my time to stretch my legs, letting my eyes rove over every inch of the area around us.

“Is this…?” I trail off, glancing behind me, only to find that none of my travel companions are paying attention. With my phone still in the car, I can’t really tell how long we drove after I fell asleep. Though with how dark it got from the approaching storm clouds, I imagine it’s been at least an hour or two.

Another roll of thunder sounds from further away, and I glance toward the darkest part of the sky to see lightning forking between the clouds.