“I-I-I don’t know what to say,” I stuttered, shaking my head. I hadn’t been expecting a deep meaningful answer from him. But I should’ve known. All of his tattoos meant something important to him.
“Don’t say anything,” he reached for my hand and entwined our fingers together. “Words aren’t always necessary.”
I swallowed thickly. “Do you ever think,” I whispered, “that we met for a reason?”
He brought our joined hands up to his heart and I could feel its steady beat. “Every single day of my life.”
I laid my head on his bare shoulder. “Before you came along, I never thought about falling in love or marrying someone,” I glanced down at my engagement ring, “but now I can’t imagine not having that.”
“I know what you mean,” he kissed the corner of my mouth. “Some things come along when you need them most, and at the time, you don’t even realize that you need them.”
“Exactly,” I whispered.
Fate worked in mysterious ways. The night I’d met Trace, I’d wanted nothing more than to get back to my dorm without being raped or murdered. When Trace had come along, I hadn’t known how much that single moment would change the rest of my life. But boy, am I glad that it did.
“Are you gonna finish that?” He pointed to my half-eaten egg McMuffin.
“No,” I handed it to him, “you can have it.”
“So, besides seeing the Liberty Bell what else do you have planned?” I asked, gathering up our stuff and putting it in our duffel bags.
“Independence Hall, maybe some museums,” he shrugged, finishing the last bite of my sandwich.
“Are we only visiting museums on this road trip?” I raised a brow. “I thought we were going to have fun, not be bored to death.”
“Museums are fun!” He defended. “But no, we’re not just visiting museums. After this, I don’t know which way the wind might blow us.”
“Except north,” I stated. “You keep saying we’re heading north.”
He looked like deer caught in headlights for a moment, but he shook his head and the look was gone. “Yeah, uh, I want us to go to the lake house. Remember?” He stood, pulling on his shirts.
“Mhmm,” I muttered, eyeing him suspiciously. “What are you up to?”
“Nothing,” he replied a bit too quickly, “nothing at all.”
“Trace,” I said his name warningly. “Is there something you need to tell me?”
“Absolutely not,” he shook his head, grabbing our bags.
He grabbed the room key as well as his car keys, picked up our bags, and breezed out of the room. I knew avoidance when I saw it, and that’s exactly what he was doing. What the hell was he up to? I wasn’t sure I wanted to know.
I scanned the room several times and even looked under the bed to make sure we weren’t leaving anything behind. When I was sure we had all our belongings I headed out to the car. Trace already had the car started and his sunglasses on. He was fiddling with his phone as I slid inside.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“I made a playlist for our road trip,” he mumbled, pushing a button on his phone. The sounds of Lifehouse’s Gotta Be Tonight blared from the speakers. For an old car it had one heck of a sound system. For all I knew Trace had upgraded it. I knew absolutely nothing about cars.
Trace seemed to know where he was going and since I didn’t want to be the annoying, nagging girlfriend—fiancé—I kept my mouth shut.
Maybe in a few days I would finally realize that we were engaged. It was still so new that I kept forgetting.
“Alright,” Trace parked the car, “we should be able to walk to the Liberty Bell from here as well as the museums.”
“Walking’s fine with me. Especially since I’m going to be cooped up in the car with you for a couple of weeks,” I laughed.
He frowned, removing his sunglasses and hooking them into the collar of his shirt. “I don’t know why you say that like it’s a bad thing. I’m awesome to be around. You should be happy that you’re being rewarded with my presence twenty-four seven. Not many get that pleasure.”
“You’re too much to handle sometimes,” I shook my head.