Page 28 of Road Trip
“That sounded about as fun as when I call home. Until recently I had both grandmothers, my parents, my cousin, and my teenaged brothers all living under one roof. I totally get your pain.”
I handed him his phone back and smiled wearily. “Wow. You win. That’s a heck of a lot of family.”
He told me about his heritage and what it was like growing up in two cultures; Irish and Afghan. Despite their differences, it seemed like they made it work, chaotic or not. My family looked perfectly normal on the outside, but we were virtually strangers. At least with our parents. Katie was very open with me about her life. I preferred being on my own. At least I had up until meeting a very in-your-face woman.
The girls came back a few minutes later and since McShane had moved next to me, the two of them continued to conspire with each other into the next set. This band was from England and definitely more screamy than the previous band. I could appreciate their musical skill, but music, for me, was about getting into a groove and getting lost. The screaming distracted me from that. I looked over a few times at Abra, and she was either trying to shout to Stevie over the music, sending heated looks my way, or looking deep in dark thoughts. When the band finished she squeezed past her friends and wrapped her arms around my midsection.
“I missed you,” she whispered. “Is that weird? I don’t want to get weird on you, but I felt like I needed to say it.”
I kissed her to get her head back in the game. She was worrying for no reason, which was strange because she kept going from calm, cool, and confident, to nervous and worried the next. She pulled back and that blissful smile was back.
“I want you to keep that smile,” I murmured. “It looks so good on you.”
“C’mon, I want to get some candy,” she said, tugging on my hand. “You guys need anything?” she asked her friends.
They were totally making out. I doubted they needed anything but each other. She shrugged, and we were on our way.
