Page 21 of Wish Lists and Road Trips

“Fine.”

She set my phone in the console and crossed her legs. “Have you ever done this before? Taken a road trip?”

“A couple of times.”

“With a woman?”

I laughed. “Does it matter?”

She gave me a sly smile. “You didn’t answer, so maybe.”

“And if I said yes, what would your follow-up have been?”

“I would have asked if it was as fun as this one.”

I shook my head. “It wasn’t with a woman, and it was planned, so it had that going for it. My brother and I took a trip to Florida when I was in college to see a Phillies spring training game.”

Her eyes went wide. For some reason that excited her. “Did you two party all the way down the east coast?”

“Not exactly.”

Alex wasn’t even supposed to travel that far away from home with his condition. But my mother was completely oblivious to the fact that it was spring break, and besides, it was his birthday. Since we all knew every one of those he got was a gift, no one challenged him.

“I turned twenty-one the month before,” I told her. “My brother got me so drunk off of rum punch at an ocean-front bar in Myrtle Beach that I was too hung-over to do any of the driving the next day.”Served him right, the fucker.

I smiled at the memory. I hadn’t done that in a while.

“See,” she said. “Now that’s a fun story. You should have led with that.”

Brit dug through the tote bag she’d bought at the airport, and I knew as soon as I heard her excited squeal that I wasn’t going to like whatever it was she found.

“I forgot I bought this!”

Please don’t let it be another belly shirt.

Thankfully it was just a box of what looked like trivia cards. She tore off the plastic wrapping. “Let’s play, can we?”

My competitive side nudged me. Alex and I had a fourteen-year-long UNO tournament going against our cousins. It picked back up at every holiday and summer barbeque. None of us could stand to lose, so after each round, we’d up the stakes and start again. Though, I guess it was over now.

“Sure,” I said. “We can play.” My coffee was wearing off, so at least a game would keep me awake. She set the box on the center console. It was black and red with two question marks positioned like something from the Kama Sutra. “Wait, what is this?”

She wiggled her eyebrows. “It’s a game of intimate questions.”

I nearly choked on my spit. “Where did you get that?”

“I bought it at the gift shop at the airport,” she said. “I’ll go first. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?”

That question wasn’t particularly intimate. Maybe it wouldn’t be that bad. Though, with Brit there didn’t seem to be a boundary to be had, so I wasn’t convinced. “I’d live where I live now,” I said, flipping on my blinker to pass another car.

Brit threw herself against the seat with a groan. “Think outside of the box, Nicky.”

I laughed. She was right, but my brain wouldn’t entertain another answer when all I could think about was making my way back to Philly. She wasn’t having it, though. She hit me with a stare.

“I guess anywhere on the lake,” I settled.

“Yeah? You’re a water guy?”

“I don’t know what a ‘water guy’ is.”

---