Page 168 of Daddy, Take Me Away
We hiked hand-in-hand to the lookout, where we snapped some pictures, drank our water, and enjoyed the amazing view before making the hike back.
“That was really cool,” Cas said as he buckled me in, another Daddy thing he insisted on doing. “It's crazy how much cool stuff there is so close to us that I haven't even seen.”
“Yeah well… you were kind of busy going to school and raising a teenager.”
“True.” Cas winked, then leaned over and pressed a kiss to my cheek. “Worth it because now I get to see all the cool things with you.”
Be still my heart. I actually melted. It was hard to not feel guilty when I thought about how much Cas had sacrificed for us, but with little comments like that, he was quick to make sure I understood he didn't regret it.
“Where next?” Cas asked as he climbed in the driver's seat and passed me a bag of candy and my water bottle.
I shrugged. “I don't remember. You're the one who changed all the plans.”
“Oh good, then wherever we end up will be a surprise, and if I get us lost, you won't even know.”
I rolled my eyes, certain that Cas knew exactly where we were going next and opened a book. It wasn’t a dirty book, though, because those were all on my kindle and I hadn’t thought to download anything new before we set out this morning. So instead, I was struggling to get into a popular sports rom-com. I made it through about five pages before I closed the book with a sigh, and turned my attention to the Daddy beside me. Cas. My Daddy. It was going to take some getting used to.
“Since we’re a thing now, for real, you should tell me your name,” I started, bringing back the game we’d been playing every day of the trip.
Cas glanced away from the road long enough to give me the side-eye. “Nope. Not gonna happen. Besides, why would I tell you when we have a bet in place?”
“Fine,” I huffed, not at all sad now that I remembered the bet. There was a lot I could do with winner’s choice. “Casarius. Cashmere. Casimir. Casio?”
“Casio?” Cas barked out a laugh. “Like the calculator?”
I shrugged. “If I was named after a calculator, I wouldn’t want to tell people either.”
He chuckled. “Fair point, but no, I’m not named after a calculator and none of those are correct.”
I sighed. “Pretty sure I’ve exhausted all the C A S names in the world.”
“Pretty sure I never said it was a Cas name, now did I?” Cas turned to me with a shit eating grin. “A lot of names in the world, babygirl. Hmmm, maybe I should start thinking about what I want when I win…”
He tapped his chin and I glowered. “Keep your eyes on the road, Casper.” If I couldn’t guess his name, I would just call him whatever I wanted.
“Keep trying, babygirl. Keep trying.”
I knew I would, but the not being a C-A-S name thing had thrown me for a loop. Where did I even begin now? With a sigh, I turned my attention out the window staring at the mountains.
So far this road trip was way more than I had bargained for, in all the best ways.
Cas
“Wake up, babygirl.” Reaching over to touch Polly’s shoulder, I gave a gentle shake. She’d been passed out for hours. Not that I blamed her. I’d kept her up late and woke her up early, and we’d already hiked several miles before noon.
Polly startled and wiped the spittle from the corner of her mouth before gaping at me horrified. “How long have I been asleep?”
“Hours. It’s time for dinner, and then after dinner, we’ll hike the badlands for a little while. Aztec is going to have to wait until morning.”
She blinked, still getting her bearings. “Dinner? Already?”
“Well, it will be an early dinner. We’re just waiting for the sun to go down a bit before we do any more hiking.”
“Oh yay. More hiking.” She was awake now, fumbling for her purse.
I grinned at how sleepy and out of it she looked. “These stops were your idea, not mine,” I reminded her before exiting the truck to come around to her side and let her out.
“I know, I know,” she grumbled when I yanked the passenger side door open. “It seemed like a good idea at the time.”
