“I know how you feel,” I murmured.
I was looking forward to spending the time with Rae. But the smallest part of me was concerned she wouldn't go along with the plan. Usually, I was concerned Ally wouldn’t go along with it. So conservative. Not wanting to cross any lines that possibly meant temptation. But, with how rocky things had been with me and Rae, I wondered if she’d use this time to be with Ally instead of me. I mean, Mike was awesome. He’d become a very quick best friend. But I didn't want to share a hotel room with him.
Not if my girl was in the room beside us.
“I think Allison will be happy with the arrangements. I mean, I brought it up to her the other day and she didn’t completely shoot it down. She’s worried about it, sure. But I reassured her that my hands wouldn't go anywhere she didn’t want them. And that seemed to alleviate her worries a bit. I think she might actually go for it, Clint. You know, sharing a room with me.”
I paused. “These rooms have two beds, right?”
He nodded. “Yep. Two queen-size beds each. And a balcony. It’s a great hotel.”
My eyebrows rose. “Wow. That does sound like a nice room.”
“Dad said for us to charge whatever we wanted in terms of room service, too. I think, mostly, to settle his mind that we’re ordering food and not out getting our asses in trouble. You know what I mean?”
“We might go out a couple of times, though.”
Mike grinned at me in the rearview mirror. “Doesn’t mean we can’t order something before we leave.”
I shook my head. “You remind me of the old me.”
“Hey. It’s possible to have fun without destroying property and being a dick.”
“Hey! I--didn’t destroy property. Kind of.”
Mike laughed. “At least you own up to the other part.”
I chuckled as we pulled into the driveway of Allison’s parents’ house. A very nice house. One like what I hoped to own one day. A modest home compared to the ones that surrounded it, and yet it was perfect. Not too big, not too small. A white picket fence and a smooth concrete driveway. A glistening white house with one of the few lawns in the neighborhood that boasted green grass instead of fake turf.
I just hoped the girls weren’t too upset that we were running behind.
11
Raelynn
Allison sighed. “I knew the guys would be late. I swear, Michael can’t ever stay on schedule.”
I rolled my eyes. “Quit giving those guys such a hard time. We can’t check in until later this afternoon anyway.”
“I know. But, what’s going to happen when he has to stick to a rigid schedule in college? Stanford isn’t going to settle for a boy always late to his classes.”
“Was he late to classes in high school?”
“No, but he was also locked down into the building for seven hours. He had nothing else to do but go to class.”
Point taken. “I just think you’re riding him a little too hard, Allison. That’s all. I mean, Michael is smart. He’s quick on his feet. Just because he runs late to outside functions doesn’t mean he’s going to treat college the same way.”
“I don’t know. I mean, I know my schedules and outlining things is making him upset. But what else can I do? I want to help him succeed. And it’s like he won’t let me.”
I snickered. “The two of you are going to be fine. Just try not controlling every aspect of his world for once. It’s okay to live. There’s a life outside of school.”
“Yeah, once we get out of school.”
I shook my head as she gazed out the window. Allison was wound much too tight for any of this. Hopefully, this weekend would do her some good. Hopefully, we could convince her to go to a party and just breathe. She really needed to. Because if her panties wound themselves any tighter, her ass crack would slit right up her damn back. I was tired of watching her talk herself in circles. I was tired of seeing how exhausted Michael was with her fucking graphs and schedules and string-to-string play-by-plays outlining the next four years.
The girl had to take a breath.
My phone rang and I closed my eyes. It rang and it rang, and I wanted to ignore it. I knew who it was. She’d called me three times already to rattle off in my ear. I didn't want to talk to my mother anymore. Because while I knew she had my best interests in mind, there was always that reminder of her own selfish motives.