Page 23 of Just A Trip


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He laughs, and because I’m splayed across him, I can feel every vibration of that laughter in my soul.

“I want to tease you about so many things right now,” he wheezes.

“Well go on, give it your best shot.” I should get off of him, but I’m surprisingly comfortable.

His laughter fades into the night. His eyes are so blue they are almost glowing in the crack of moonlight coming from the sunroof. “Are you trying to fall for me?” The rumble of his deep voice is the only sound for miles, and the words echo through my lonely, barren heart.

Me? Fall for him? Please. That’s the last thing I’ll do. Been there. Done that. Got the cheap tourist souvenir, and now I’m over it.

“Ha. Good joke.”

I roll off him and plaster myself against the far wall of the van. “Well, goodnight.”

I close my eyes and count to a hundred. A few times. Then finally drift to sleep.

Chapter 11

Trent

IgnoringKarliisimpossible.Especially when she makes cute little noises in her sleep, somewhere between a snore and a sigh. She’s got her hands tucked under her cheek and her nose is all scrunched up. More than once, I’ve considered pulling out my phone to snap a photo. Okay, I did take one. But only one. Fine. Two. I’m not a creeper, I’m… investing in my safety. We have a long drive ahead of us and I might need some blackmail later in case she tries to give me another tattoo or sell me out to a cartel… okay that was a stretch.

And I’m a creeper. I’ll delete them.

Tomorrow.

It’s been a while since I’ve been out, as my brother so kindly stated earlier this evening. But never once have I enjoyed a night quite like this one. I thought Karli and I would merely tolerate each other for the drive home, but the last few hours have been more exciting than my last…six months have been. Perhaps Sean was right. I’ve been hiding away for too long. I think I’ve been so driven trying to chase my dreams alone, that I forgot how to let other people in, how to live life. Now that I’ve had some space and time to think about it, I realize how dumb that was. My family loves me, they’d support me in anything. If I had told Sean what I was doing, maybe he wouldn’t have kidnapped me tonight. And then I wouldn’t have said awful things to him.

I scrub a hand down my face, the endless thoughts refusing to cease. The one that’s most consuming though is Karli.

I’m attracted to her. I was two years ago, and I still am. When she laughs she makes my heart beat in a wild rhythm like it’s getting ready to jump off the high dive. But she’s still a mystery to me. I want to know more about her.

I slam my eyelids closed and regulate my breathing. It’s been a long night, I should rest. But this bed is the least comfortable thing I’ve ever encountered. Yet I stay right where I am, right where she is.

In a van. On the side of the road. I use my phone light to study everything around me: the tattered curtains in the already blacked out windows, the hideous floral carpet covering the interior walls. It looks like there used to be a row of cabinets along one wall, but all that’s left is a single box. The skylight is pretty cool though. I don’t remember the last time I took the time to enjoy the stars. But besides that, I can’t imagine what compelled Karli to purchase this thing.

Karli shifts, and my whole body is aware of every point of contact she makes. She sighs, then flips an arm over my chest, her palm dropping right over my heart.

I can’t breathe. She’s… her arm… I… my brain is short-circuiting.

I have touched women before. And I’ve touched this particular one plenty of times tonight. So why does my heart rate feel like it’s scaling the stratosphere at lightning speed?

I take a breath. But all I smell is her. She smells like flowers and summer, and suddenly I forget that I’m in the back of an old van, on the side of the highway. What is happening to me?

My brain can’t even function. That should be the only sign I need thatthisisn’t a good idea. We are so different. I know, opposites attract or whatever, but I’ve been stuck with Sean, my literal opposite from the womb. I need someone who isn’t going to drive me nuts. And Karli definitely… used to irritate me. She’s not so irritating anymore.

“You smell good,” she mutters.

I tense.

I should be a gentleman and remove myself from this situation. From her.

Her hand crawls to my neck, and she sighs into my shoulder. “Hobie.”

My entire body turns into a pathetic pile of mush.

I suppose I can be “Hobie” for a minute. I’m going to have to be because I can’t move even if I wanted to.

Five minutes later, I find the strength to pull out my phone and text Sean. He asked where I was an hour ago, and told me he’d come get me. But that text went ignored as well.