“When you kiss me, I don’t want there tobea pause. A doubt, a flicker of hesitation in your mind. I only want your mouth on mine when you’re all in, baby.”
He’s annoyed and yet his hold strengthens, somehow tugging me closer to him still.
“Now go to sleep. We have a drive tomorrow.”
forty-five
Rory
We’vebeendrivingforwhat feels like days but has only been a few hours. Finn racing the speedometer the entire way. Not once in my entire life have I ever gotten carsick. Today may be the first.
My stomach pops with little bundles of nerves. That gas station burrito and soda earlier probably not helping either.
“Jesus Finn,” Hailey wails, grabbing onto the seat in front of her. “I’d like to make it there alive!”
She’s sitting in the seat next to mine. Cole’s in the passenger seat up front and Eli in the third row. Having the entire back to himself after he claimed he needed the extra legroom.
My ass! I know he planned on sleeping too, wanting the space to stretch out. With Finn driving, that idea is short lived. For any of us.
I reach for my stomach, that familiar frothy sensation taking over again. This one has nothing to do with Finn’s driving and everything to do with Cole’s arm. Without crushing it, he somehow manages to nudge it between his seat and the door. Reaching behind and finding my calf, he gives it a squeeze before letting go.
He’s been doing things like this on and off the entire drive. Touching me randomly, nothing long, just here and there.
Hailey’s face telling, same as every time she catches it. Which is why I don’t bother giving her the attention again. That and my face is hot.
Finn said we needed this getaway. To me, it just sounded like an excuse for one of his not-so-brilliant, brilliant ideas. Spring break is only a month away.
No one fought him, though, because, well, he’d already mapped it out. All we have to do is show up with a duffel and pillow in hand for the weekend.
My brother said it’s supposed to be a surprise for everyone, but I have my suspicions Cole knows where we’re headed. Not from Finn telling him but him figuring it out on his own.
It was about an hour into the trip. Right after we’d pulled off a major highway and started down a line of never-ending back roads. Cole stopped studying every passing road sign like he was trying to commit it to memory and started playing on his phone.
Barely lifting his head since.
Coincidentally, also putting in headphones when Hailey suggested road games.
“We made it!” Finn hollers. Hitting that four-hour mark like clockwork.
Everyone openly sighs their relief except for Cole when the car drops below eighty.
It’s a few hours shy of midday, the sun high as we come to the edge of the winding gravel road. The temperatures are warmer here. Not a huge amount but enough for a light jacket instead of an oversized one. We also got lucky with the forecast. A rare warm front coming in this week.
The house is picturesque. Craftsman-style beams shade the oversized porch underneath. Split shake siding, somewhere between a dusty gray and pale blue covering the entire exterior. Two rocking chairs on the front and a flagpole off to the side.
And if that’s not enough, the view behind is as picture worthy. Mountains, off in the distance, with snow-topped peaks. Placed as if planted by Mother Nature herself around the house.
It’s as flawless as it is breathtaking. Something off a postcard.
I’ve never seen mountains not only this grand or close, but at all. We didn’t have them where Lillian and I lived. The Caspers’ house is also too far away from anything but the skyscrapers of the city.
“Remind me again why we couldn’t have flown?” Eli grumbles, yanking out his bag from the trunk.
“Never would have had the same impact,” Finn defends. Widening his legs and putting his hands on his waist, he takes a deep whiff. “All part of the experience.”
“The impact on my lunch, you mean,” Eli complains under his breath, handing me my things.
The amount of energy he has alarming after driving the whole way. I’m sure I’d have the same pep too, if I shot back energy drinks like they’re the air I need to live.