The Road That Leads to Us Read online

  Boys were dumb.

  ***

  We gathered our bags and loaded the car before sitting down in the dining room of the Bed and Breakfast to eat. Other guests were there too, and I found myself taken with the wild stories of the older gentleman beside me.

  Dean was still being a moody little jerk so I wasn’t speaking to him at the moment.

  “Oh, the things I did when I was young,” the man, whose name was Oscar, said, “you wouldn’t believe it.”

  “Tell me about it,” I pleaded, taking a large bite of egg. The food was delicious and reminded me of home.

  “My friends and I used to sneak out to the water tower and climb up it. Get so drunk we couldn’t walk straight and then we’d have to climb back down,” he chortled.

  “Did anyone ever die?” I asked seriously, because let’s face it, that was a realistic possibility.

  “Oh, no,” he shook his head, “one of my friends broke his leg getting down one time. We never let him live that down.”

  “I bet.” I giggled and grabbed another piece of toast.

  I would probably regret the amount of food I’d eaten later, but I was so hungry I didn’t care right now.

  “So,” Oscar wiggled his brows, “I heard y’all stayed in the honeymoon suite. Good night?”

  I snorted and beside me Dean choked on a bite of egg. I might’ve been peeved with him, but I didn’t want him to die (death by egg would be tragic), so I reached over and beat his back so he coughed up the egg.

  “Thank you.” He croaked out, wiping his mouth with a napkin.

  To Oscar, I said, “We’re not together, together. We’re friends that are on a road trip together.”

  Oscar harrumphed and leaned around me to eye Dean. “From one guy to another,” he started, “this one,” he wagged a finger at me, “is special. Don’t be stupid.”

  Dean paled, his eyes nearly popping out of his head.

  Oscar nodded to himself and went back to his meal.

  We finished eating, but before we could leave, Marjorie, the owner, handed us each a paper bag filled with snacks.

  I peeked into the bag and saw that she’d included an apple, banana, and some cereal bars.

  “That was nice of her,” I said to Dean as we stopped by the car.

  “It was.” He agreed and pulled the map out of his back pocket so he could lay it flat across the car. “I guess we should figure out where we’re headed next.” He mumbled the words more to himself than me.

  This funny mood of his was grating on my nerves.

  I stepped up beside him and stared at the map—at all the places we could visit. There were so many possibilities.

  He smoothed his hands over the map, getting rid of any creases and wrinkles.

  He glanced at me with this devilish smile. “I think we should both pick this time and then have a duel to determine which place we go.”

  “Only you would use the word duel in a sentence.”

  He grinned.

  I huffed, “Fine.”

  “We close our eyes,” Dean said, “and on the count of three we pick.”

  “Okay.” My arm grazed his from our close proximity.

  “One,” he counted.

  “Two,” I said.

  “Three.” Together.

  I jabbed my finger at the map.

  I opened my eyes to see where we’d each landed.

  “Cullman, Alabama.”

  “Fitzgerald, Georgia.” Dean said. “You know,” he pondered, “that was kind of anticlimactic.”

  I shrugged. “Well, we still have to duel. Rock, paper, scissors?” I held up my hands.

  “Best two out of three?”

  I shook my head. “One round, buddy.”

  “But you always win!” He groaned, throwing his hands up in frustration.

  “You snooze you lose.” I placed my fist on my open palm. “You’re the one that wanted to duel.”

  He grumbled under his breath but held his hands out like mine.

  “One, two, three.” We counted together.

  I put my hand out in a scissors gesture and he held his in paper.

  “Ha!” I cried, pretending to snip at his hand. “I win!”

  He threw his hands up in the air again and started towards the car. “I can never win.”

  “Poor baby.” I mock-pouted.

  He slid behind the driver’s seat. “Cullman, Alabama here we come.”

  “I don’t think Alabama is ready for all this awesomeness.” I shimmied my hips and grabbed the map off the car before sliding into the passenger seat.

  “They’re probably not.” Dean agreed as he slid his sunglasses on. “Ready, Will?”

  I grabbed a lollipop and stuck it in my mouth. “Now I am.”

  ***

  Day Four of our road trip was about as uneventful as it got.

  Cows.

  So many fucking cows.

  I’d long since stopped counting them.

  Dean stopped at another hotel, the third we’d tried so far this evening, to see if there was any vacancy.

  He parked the car at the front and headed inside while I waited. Based on the number of cars in the lot I wasn’t optimistic on there being a room available.

  Dean came outside not even a minute later and shook his head.

  He looked absolutely exhausted. The purple rings under his eyes had grown darker by the hour and his shoulders were slumped.

  He sat behind the wheel and leaned his head back, letting out a pent up breath.

  The sun was setting and I knew he was too tired to continue.

  “Dean,” I prompted, putting my hand on his shoulder. He jolted at my touch and his weary gaze met mine. “I can drive.” He opened his mouth to protest, so I hastened to add, “I think I’ve got the hang of it, and it’s obvious you’re tired. Please, let me drive for a bit and you can sleep if you want while I look for a hotel.”

  He sat staring at me and I knew he was mulling over my words. His lips pursed like he tasted something sour, but finally he nodded. “Yeah,” he said, “that wouldn’t be a bad idea.”

  I grinned triumphantly and all but fell out of the car in my haste to get to the driver’s side.

  Dean reluctantly switched places with me.

  He immediately went into a spiel about what I needed to do.

  “Dude,” I held up a hand to silence him, “I’ve got this.”

  He grinned at that, but his smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. “You do,” he agreed, pushing his glasses up his nose. “I’ll shut up now.” He held his hands up in surrender.

  I started to drive away and the car jerked a bit. I didn’t miss the look of panic on Dean’s face.

  “Give me a minute to get used to the feel,” I defended.

  He stretched out his limbs and looked out the window and I knew it was so I wouldn’t see him laughing. Too bad I could see the shaking of his shoulders.

  I smacked his arm. “You’re totally over there laughing at me.”

  “Am not,” he snorted.

  I took a deep breath and ignored him. I wouldn’t lose my focus. I could do this.

  This time when I put it into gear there was no jerking. Everything was smooth.

  Dean gave me an impressed nod.

  I smirked at him, saying in one look, “See I could do it.”

  “Are you comfortable driving in the dark?” He asked as the sun receded further.

  “I have driven in the dark before, Dean.”

  He chuckled huskily. “I don’t doubt that, but you’ve never driven my car in the dark before.”

  “I’ll be fine,” I assured him.

  He looked doubtful, but he slid further down in the seat and I knew he was close to falling asleep. He looked so tired, and I was sure that had played into his cranky mood. I wondered, idly, what had kept him up last night.

  I hoped I hadn’t kicked him in my sleep.

  That would be embarrassing.

  Since Dean was so tired he didn’t bothe
r trying to read the map to navigate us in the direction of Cullman. Instead, I drove around hoping to eventually find a hotel with vacancy.

  One of the previous hotels we stopped at the receptionist had explained that there was some kind of festival going on. Apparently it was a big deal and people came from all over the United States for it.

  Thirty minutes later I spotted an exit off of the highway with several hotels.

  Dean was fast asleep, so I took it upon myself to stop and check for vacancies.

  All full.

  It was completely dark now and I was growing anxious. I was fine to keep driving for a while, but I couldn’t drive all night.

  I came out of the seedy motel I’d stopped at—which I’d been beyond shocked that they didn’t have an empty room since the place was gross with a capital G—and Dean blinked his eyes open groggily.

  “Did you find a place?” His voice was deeper than normal from sleep. He looked around at our surroundings, trying to get his bearings.

  I shook my head and pulled back onto the road. “No. Everywhere is full. I can drive a little further, though.” I didn’t want him to worry.

  His brow furrowed and he yawned. “Let me drive for a bit.”

  I shook my head. “You drove all day and you’re sleepy. I’m fine…could you hand me some gum though?”

  He rifled through my backpack until he found one of the many packs of gum stuffed in there.

  I took a piece and shoved it in my mouth. Chewing on the gum would keep me more alert and also it was sugar, and everybody knew I needed something sweet every five minutes.

  “You sure you’re okay?” Dean questioned as he put the gum back in the bag.

  “Positive. Go back to sleep.”

  He yawned. “Wake me if you need me.”

  “I will.”

  ***

  My screaming woke him up two hours later.

  I swerved off the road and into a ditch, screaming hysterically. My heart was beating so fast I thought it might fall out of my chest. I heard the sound of my blood rushing through my ears and tried to take deep, gulping breaths to help calm myself.

  Dean sat straight up and cried, “Whoa!”

  His head swiveled from side to side as he tried to figure out what had caused me to scream and veer off the road so suddenly.

  I breathed heavily, tears streaming down my face.

  “A deer,” I panted. “It was a baby deer. Oh God, Dean. I almost hit it and it was just a baby trying to get to its momma.” I sniffled and wiped at my face. “I didn’t want to hit it, but I didn’t want to hurt us either. I panicked.”

  “Willow,” he said in a calming voice, “it’s okay.”

  “No, it’s not okay.” I was hysterical. “I almost killed the baby and us. Oh God, this could’ve been so bad. Your car!” I cried suddenly. “Oh no, what if I hurt your car? And where’s the baby?” I looked around blindly. “I should go check on it.”

  I started to get out of the car, but he grabbed my arm to halt me.

  His hand slid up my arm until it settled on my face. His other hand joined the first and he stared at me with an intense look, like he was trying to figure something out.

  “Dean,” I pleaded, my heart racing inside my chest and tears still coursing down my cheeks.

  His eyes dipped to my lips and before I could blink or inhale his lips were on mine.

  Dean Wentworth was kissing me.

  And not a peck on my lips.

  Oh, no. Homeboy was going for it.

  And me?

  I was stiff at first, but at the feel of his tongue pressing against mine I came alive.

  All fear over the deer vanished and I grabbed ahold of his shirt, holding on as my mouth opened beneath his. I let out a soft moan that was swallowed by his lips.

  I never thought kissing Dean would be like this—and yes, I had thought about it.

  But on those occasions when I did, I thought it might be weird. Dean and I had grown up together, seen each other at our worst moments, and I’d always told myself it would be gross. Like kissing my brother or something.

  Oh, how wrong I’d been.

  No kiss I’d had in the past could hold a candle to this one.

  My hands moved from his shirt, up his neck, until I could grab ahold of the ends of his hair.

  “Willow.” He panted my name against my lips and I nearly moaned again at how breathy he sounded.

  “I need more.” I’d probably be ashamed of those words later, but at the moment I didn’t care how desperate I sounded. I didn’t want him to stop kissing me and I hoped to God he didn’t regret this later or I might die.

  With a small growl, he obliged, and I squeaked when he grasped my hips and pulled me onto his lap.

  My chest pressed against his and I couldn’t tell whether it was my heart or his that I felt beating so rapidly. Maybe it was both.

  His fingers tangled in my hair, pulling it from the messy ponytail I’d had it in.

  “I’ve wanted to do this for so long,” he murmured, pressing more closely to me and nipping at my bottom lip.

  My body hummed at his words. “Why didn’t you?” I kissed my way down his neck.

  “Scared,” he replied, his eyes staring heatedly into mine.

  I paused what I was doing and traced my fingers over his lips. I couldn’t seem to catch my breath.

  “Scared?” I panted. “Why?”

  “I thought you might not feel the same.”

  My lips lifted into a crooked smile. “Silly, silly boy.”

  Before he could respond I kissed him long and deep. Pulling away, I whispered in his ear, “I think I feel the same.”

  “And what exactly is it you feel for me?” He asked, his eyes unsure as he held my hips.

  “I feel like,” I ran the tip of my finger down his chest, “I really, really, really, like you as much more than a friend.”

  He closed his eyes and breathed out an audible sigh of relief. “Thank God.”

  He took my face in his hands once more and kissed me hard, like a man dying and he needed me for his last breath, which I was more than willing to give to him.

  I never wanted this kiss to end.

  I wanted this always.

  Eventually, he pulled away and rested his forehead against mine. “We probably shouldn’t be parked on the side of the road at this time of night. We might get rear-ended by a drunk.”

  “Or a deer,” I added.

  He chuckled and kissed the end of my nose. “Or a deer.”

  He opened the car door and maneuvered me off of his lap onto the car seat.

  “I’ll drive now.” He winked as he closed the door and jogged around to the other side.

  The road was quiet and not a single car had passed since I freaked out and veered into the ditch.

  Then again, I’d been so preoccupied with Dean’s lips that I probably wouldn’t have noticed if the President himself passed us.

  Dean’s lips were pretty hypnotizing.

  Dean eyed the clock on the dashboard and frowned. It was after midnight.

  “All this time and still no hotel?” He questioned

  I shook my head. “I’ve stopped at so many, and they’re all full.”

  He scrunched his face in thought and turned to me. “Would you be opposed to sleeping in the car?” He eyed the small backseat.

  I turned to look too and frowned. It was really small.

  I looked back at Dean and raised a brow. “Wanna be my snuggle bunny?”

  He snorted and shook his head. “I should’ve expected that kind of response from you.”

  “Seriously, though,” I looked at the back once more, “I’ll basically have to lie on top of you.”

  He grinned crookedly. “Worse things could happen.”

  He pulled the car back onto the road and I looked around for the momma and baby deer, but didn’t see them. I hoped they both made it to a safe field and didn’t try to cross the road again.

  Dean drove a few mil
es down the road and found a parking lot that would be safe enough for us to sleep in.

  He’d put the soft cover roof on the car earlier so we only had to climb in the back.

  We ended up outside the car at first to stretch our legs.

  He opened the trunk and found a tube of toothpaste. He swiped some on his finger and held the tube out for me. I stuck my finger out for some toothpaste and then swirled my finger in my mouth. It wasn’t the best method, but it worked.

  All the while we kept watching each other from the corner of our eyes, smiling secretively.

  I didn’t know exactly what our kiss meant—how it redefined us—but I didn’t care.

  I stood outside the car while Dean pushed the front seats forward as far as they’d go so we’d have more room in the back.

  I peered back at the small space. “Ready to get cozy with me, Wentworth?” I wiggled my brows.

  He glanced at me over his shoulder, hiding laughter. “You’re determined to have your dad kill me, aren’t you?”

  “What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.” I shrugged.

  “He’s probably got a camera installed in here or something,” Dean muttered as he climbed in the back and kicked off his shoes.

  I put my hands on my hips and leaned forward to peer at him in the car. “Now how would he have done that?” I raised a brow in challenge.

  “Not sure.” Dean held up a hand. “But I’m confident he could figure out a way.”

  I shook my head. “Lay down and make room.”

  “There is no room.” He stretched out his legs as far as they’d go, which wasn’t far at all. He ended up dropping one leg so that his foot rested on the floor.

  I took off my shoes and dropped them on the floor of the front seat then maneuvered my way inside, closing the door behind me.

  Dean had left the car running, so at least we had air conditioning.

  “We’re not going to run out of gas, are we?” I questioned as I basically went splat across his chest. He grunted from the impact.

  “I checked. We’re good,” he wheezed out.

  I wiggled around, trying to get comfortable, but it was difficult when I was literally lying on top of him.

  “You know,” I started, “we might’ve kissed, but this is still mucho awkward.”

  His body rumbled beneath mine and he rubbed his hands up and down my arms.

  “G’night, Willow.”

  I smiled at our little tradition we hadn’t even meant to start.