“Faster than your guardian angels, that’s for damn sure,” Tavis remarked.
The whole mess left Zakk wondering if that small, speeding vehicle was somehow responsible for this mess. Perhaps even a part of it, considering the size of two of the crushed vehicles. During the slow, anxiety-ridden creepy-crawl past the wreckage, made even longer by the attempted merging of cars from an on-ramp, Zakk kept one hand on his phone, half-expecting it to ring. Would Dez and Winter see the mess of cars trying to get over into the one passable late and turn off before they got trapped in the mess, or would they push through to reach the rest stop?
Every now and again someone hit their horn, protesting the attempted merger of another. One car tried to drive up the shoulder only to have a wide vehicle block it to the point where they couldn’t pass anymore. All that prompted was more honking, their tiny sliver of road rapidly transforming into a parking lot, everything grinding to a standstill, cars forming a logjam as drivers refused to yield.
Taking turns was supposed to be something you learned in kindergarten, and yet, the vast majority of them seemed to have forgotten that lesson. Those who did try to let a car in found themselves honked at by those behind them, their act of kindness taken advantage of as several cars tried to tailgate their way through the gap. It was a mess and with the cops all dealing with the wreckage, the lunatics were left to run the road.
Inching along was proving to be frustrating as fuck. Riley bounced in his seat, so much so that Zakk wished he had a length of rope to hog-tie him so he’d sit still. What should have been a handful of minutes turned into almost an hour. By the time the RV pulled into the rest stop, the wreck and ensuing traffic jam had made the news, confirming that it had been a small, speeding sports car that had caused the initial accident.
“I’m going to wait for them outside,” Riley said, bolting for the door. Tavis and Tripp were right behind him, while Zakk stood staring at the television. Cameras focused on the long line of traffic stretched down the highway, while reporters warned folks to find an alternate route if they had the opportunity.
Yelling in the background drew the cameras’ attention, the fire beneath the semi having grown until the taillights were no longer visible. Firefighters scurried around, aiming water at the blaze. Tripp just hoped that whoever had been in it had died on impact, rather than slowly roasting to death.
When the camera turned back towards the long procession of cars inching up the highway, Zakk couldn’t help but hope to catch a glimpse of the two familiar bikes everyone was beginning to panic over.
“Zakk!”
“I’m coming!” he hollered back, refusing to look away from the screen.
“Good, because they beat us here!”
Now that got him moving. Out of the RV and into the night, where Dez had crushed Riley to him, and Winter sat on the back of his bike, Tavis having slid on in front of him, facing him with his hands in Winter’s hair. Whatever the two were saying was impossible to make out, so he stepped up beside Tripp, watching the scene play out while offering up a grateful bit of thanks to the gods that the pair had made it off the road safely.
Chapter 9
Slow those heartrates down
Tripp got the distinct impression that there was something going on between Tavis and Winter that went deeper than being bandmates and brothers on the musical journey they’d first undertaken almost two decades before. What shocked him was that he’d never noticed it before.
Watching Tavis wrap an arm around Winter’s shoulder had more than a buddy feel to it. It was softer, intimate, their actions conveying far more than the few words they spoke to one another. It made Tripp wonder about the rift that had resulted in them not speaking for over three months as well as how they’d seemingly set all that aside the moment they were face to face. Tavis pressed his head to the side of Winter’s. Winter didn’t seem to be saying anything, but Tavis was, and Winter was clearly listening if the way he occasionally nodded was any indication.
Tripp watched as his brother’s chest rose and fell slower and slower the longer they stayed that way. He wanted to say something to Winter, check in and be certain his brother was really okay, but by the same token, he felt like he’d forfeited the right to when the issues between him and Winter weren’t even close to being resolved. That was why it shocked him so completely when Winter shook free of Tavis and snatched Tripp into a hug. He didn’t let go, either. It was surprising to feel how cold his brother was even in the black leather jacket he was currently encased in.
“I really need to talk to you,” Winter murmured when Tripp squeezed him back.
“I’m right here.”
He felt Winter nod against his shoulder, dimly aware of the conversation going on in the background, as James suggested they hit the road now that the bikes were secured. Damien suggested it was as good a place as any to switch drivers, volunteering to take over.
“I’ll ride shotgun with you,” Zakk volunteered.
It seemed like Dez and Winter had already had a conversation about whatever it was Winter wanted space to talk about, because he clasped Winter on the shoulder, cut Tripp what could only be interpreted as a warning look, took Riley by the hand, and disappeared with him into the back of the RV, soon followed by James.
“Want me to make myself scarce?” Tavis asked.
“No,” Winter said as he released Tripp so they could head in. “You might as well hear everything too, considering.”
That one word,considering, spoke volumes. Tripp hoped that, over the course of the discussion, he’d finally get to learn what was happening between them, because curiosity was starting to make him way more god damned nosy than he generally tended to be.
Someone had turned off the television and made off with the pile of Shrek DVDs. Riley, more than likely, seeing as Tripp could make out the faint opening of the movie coming from somewhere in the back.
He started to take a seat, then thought better of it, reversing directions to grab an iced tea from the fridge. The mugs were the perfect size for dividing it between the three of them, and a minute fifteen in the microwave was just as good as if he had used a kettle. The moment he set one down in front of his brother, Winter wrapped his hands around it like he was warming them.
“Why weren’t you wearing your gloves?” Tripp asked, remembering how cold Winter had been when they hugged.
“Took them off when Dez and I were on the side of the road trying to smoke,” Winter explained. “Forgot to put them back on before we got moving.”
“I’m still trying to figure out how you guys managed to beat us here?” Tavis asked.