Page 54 of Wish Lists and Road Trips

“Thanks for the help. What happened to all of your chivalry?”

He shrugged. “It was more fun to watch.”

I shook my head, amused that he could still surprise me. What was I going to do with all of these pieces of Nick I’d collected when I had to leave him tomorrow?

I straightened my clothes and glanced at my bunk. “Am I ever going to see you again, Nick? After all of this?”

He looked up at me, eyes serious. “Yes.”

“How?”

“I don’t know. But you will.”

I climbed the ladder to my bed, smiling. That was good enough for now. I switched off the light. “I’ll see you in New York, Nicky,” I whispered.

“Nick!”

I startled awake at the sound of someone whisper-yelling my name. I couldn’t have been asleep more than a few hours based on the way my limbs were frozen and my brain fought to clear away the fog. I’d been having a hell of a dream. I was sitting at a huge, polished wood desk, across from a man in a suit, but I was wearing these boxers and no shirt. Brit was on my lap wearing the get-up from the laundromat. Her hands were in my hair, silently stroking the back of my head while I searched my backpack for something I apparently owed this guy and hadn’t brought.

“Let me just make a call,” I’d said, but instead of pulling out my phone, I’d turned and pressed my mouth to the side of Brit’s neck. She moaned my name and then—

“Nick! Psst. Nicky Mouse.”

“Nope,” I mumbled. My voice was hoarse, and I dragged myself up to sitting. “That’s not gonna be a thing.”

She laughed and I realized the remnants of my dream were lingering. I reached down to adjust my shorts. That was going to take a minute. Good thing it was pitch-dark. “What’s the matter?”

“The train isn’t moving.”

I covered a yawn with the back of my hand. “Maybe they stopped to change the tracks. What time is it?”

“Three in the morning.”

I pulled the curtain aside and squinted out my window. What little light shone from the train reflected off of white as far as I could see. Snow. Even though it was plenty warm on the train, I shivered at the sight of it. We were definitely a whole lot north of where we started, but I had no idea where. And we were clearly in the middle of a forest.

I hauled myself out of the bunk. The room was the size of a Dixie cup and when I straightened, Brit and I were almost nose to nose. She was on her side, her head propped in her hand, smiling, and I had a reflexive urge to tuck her hair behind her ear and finish what I’d started in my dream.

I stumbled backward, bumping into the sink. “Uh, let me put some pants on and I’ll go find out what’s going on.”

“Should I turn around?” she asked, mischief in her voice.

My eyes involuntarily slid over the curve of her hip, down her bare thigh. She wiggled her toes to show me she’d noticed. I just shrugged, leaving it up to her.

Then I turned away from her to change because I didn’t want to know what she decided.

I put on jeans and sneakers and made my way down the narrow hall. A few other passengers had stuck their heads out of their rooms and we exchangedwhat the fuck?looks. I wandered all the way to the dining car before I found someone in a uniform. Three someones, actually, all in a huddle discussing something that had their brows furrowed.

“Excuse me.”

They jumped apart and one of them looked at his watch. “Yes, sir. How can we help you?”

“I was hoping to find out where we are.” I looked out the window of this car. Still nothing but white. “And why we’re stopped.”

“I imagine they’ll be making an announcement any minute,” the man said. He took a step toward me, as if to usher me back to my room, but before I could tell him I was going to need a better answer than that, another man wearing a gray conductor’s hat came into the car.

“Welp,” he said, his eyes on a tablet. “The shit and the storm have officially mated. Baby shit storms everywhere.”

One of the uniforms cleared his throat and the conductor looked up, meeting my eyes. Then he picked up a walkie-talkie from his belt and pressed the button. “Time to break the news.”

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