Page 56 of Homesick

I can see Blake debating his next move carefully. “Fine,” he agrees before heading back to his truck. Before I can even feel my feet moving, I’m running after him.

“Blake, wait!”

“What?” he says, turning sharply to face me.

“Listen, if you don’t want me to go, I won’t. I know we ended things on the wrong foot, and I wouldn’t want to make you uncomfortable."

Blake looks at me with his brows scrunched together. Part of me wants him to agree, but another part of me isn’t ready to completely let go. This is hard on both of us and all I want to do is scream.

“It’ll be fine, Wren. I’m just . . . this whole situation just sucks. It’s just a car ride. It’ll be fine,” he says, seemingly trying to convince himself of his own words.

Being confined in a closed space with the man I’m still in love with for four hours? Oh sure, totally fine.

* * *

“I think you should take an overnight bag just in case,” my mom suggests before throwing my worn-out duffle bag at me.

“It’s only a four-hour drive. We’re coming back later tonight.”

I see my phone light up on my nightstand and see Blake’s text telling me he’s on his way. I close my eyes and take a deep breath. I’ve found myself doing that a lot lately.

Four hours doesn’t seem like a long drive unless you’re doing said drive with your ex-boyfriend who you just had a failed fuck buddy relationship with. God, I had perfect timing, didn’t I?

“What’s wrong, sweetie?” my mom asks before taking a seat next to me on my bed.

“I messed up things with Blake,” I admit without going into much detail. “Now I have to do this trip with him and it’s going to suck.”

My mom gently throws her arms around me and pulls my head onto her shoulder. “Aww, sweetie, it’ll be okay. He’ll get over it. Remember when you hated him at the beginning of the summer? Feelings change.”

Did I hate him? I hated what he did to me, but I’m not sure if I hated him exactly. Honestly, love and hate are such strong emotions, it’s hard to decide how I feel half the time. The one thing I did know is I never stopped thinking about him. How can you hate someone that takes up so much space in your mind?

“I don’t know. Things are just too complicated. If we were meant to be, it would’ve happened by now.”

My mom suddenly begins laughing and I pull back from her loving hold. She pushes herself off my bed and smiles down at me. “Wren Grace Campbell, you are only twenty-four years old. You’ve got plenty of time for meant to be’s.”

I part my lips to respond, but our mother-daughter moment is cut short by an obnoxious honk. I peek over the windowsill and sure enough, Blake’s truck is sitting in the driveway, attached to one of our trailers.

I give my mom a quick kiss on the cheek and tell her to tell my dad goodbye. I quickly hustle down the stairs and slip on my cowboy boots. I reach for the doorknob but take one minute to calm my anxiety. You will get through this trip and it will be fine. You will be fine, I whisper to myself in my mind.

With one more deep breath, I yank the front door open and walk to Blake’s truck. I stop for a moment when I see him leaning on the exterior of the truck on the passenger side. I let my eyes swiftly fall over him for a moment, trying to register his mood.

As I approach, his face holds a stony impression that is tough to read. He opens the passenger door for me, but before I hop up in the cab, I pause.

“Are you sure about this, Blake?”

Blake tilts his head toward the morning light peeking up over the rolling hills of Campbell Farm. He stares for a moment, contemplating his next move.

“I made a promise and I intend to keep it, Wren.”

CHAPTER 20

We have been listening to twangy country music for the past three hours and I’m about to lose it. I like country music, but I need to listen to something else before I go crazy. I reach out to change the station and before I can blink, Blake slaps my hand away.

In shock, I turn toward him and give him my best what the actual hell face.

“If we’re going to sit in silence, can I at least listen to some decent music?”

“You know the rules, Wren. I’m driving so I pick the music.”

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