Page 241
“How long do we have left?”
He’s grinning. Eyes on the road, one hand on the wheel, the other on the center console where my hand has been. It still catches me off guard sometimes, how natural it got, how fast.
“You know I can drive for a while.”
“I’m good.”
“Cal, you’ve been driving for eight hours.”
“I like driving.”
I look at him.
He keeps his eyes firmly on the road. It all clicks.
“Oh my God. Do you get carsick?”
“No.”
“You do.”
“Only when I’m not driving.”
I start laughing.
“Callum Fox. Frontman of Atlas Falling. Defeated by the passenger seat.”
He looks over at me, smiling.
“So this is why you wouldn’t let me drive to the gala.” I realize.
He shakes his head. “Nope. That’s because I love Sheila too much.”
“Mmmhm. If you say so.”
I’ve been looking out of this window for eight hours, and I’m still not bored of it, or him.
“This was a good idea,” I say.
“I have good ideas sometimes.”
“Don’t push it.”
He squeezes my hand once, lets it go to change lanes, and puts it back.
We’re picking up Sydney and Gianna from LAX in a few hours. We road tripped all the way from Mountain Springs to LAX to pick up the girls before we all head to Joshua Tree. They’ve been texting since arriving at the airport in Denver—Sydney has sent fourteen messages, twelve are variations of I can’t wait to see Joshua Tree, one is a photo of Gianna asleep by the gate. She’s also sent a voice note.
“Play the voice note,” Cal says.
“No, I don’t think I can deal with that right now; I’m peaceful.”
“Come on.”
“I know what she sounds like when she’s excited, and I’m not ready.”
He reaches over and hits play before I can stop him.
“BEA. BEA OH MY GOD. Gianna just told me— Okay, she showed me on the map how far Joshua Tree is from LA, and it’s like—it’s so close to Hollywood. Do you think we’ll see celebrities? Probably not, never mind; we already know one—Hi, Cal, if you’re listening to this, you’re growing on me. Anyway, BEA, the HOUSE. Send me photos immediately once you see it. Also, I looked it up and there’s a place nearby that does stargazing tours and I’ve already booked us on the Tuesday one, you’ll thank me. Okay, I have to go; they’re calling our boarding. See you real soon! This is the best summer of my life, and it hasn’t started yet—” It cuts off there. Presumably Gianna dragging her onto the plane.
