Page 44 of Back to You
Dane chuckled. “Hollister, I don’t know if it’s sunk in yet, but you’re kind ofrich.You can afford to take a couple of months off.”
He had a point, too, damn it. “But what aboutyourjob?”
“I can work from the road, tether my phone’s data when I need to. We could always stop and hang out at McDonalds and leech off their wi-fi. No biggie. It’ll be an adventure of a lifetime, just you and me. What do you think?” His blue eyes twinkled like stars, and my heart did that swoopy thing it always used to do whenever I was hardcore crushing on him.
I hoped it never went away.
“I love it,” I said, exhaling a soft laugh. “Let’s do it. Here’s to adventure.”
Abby cheered. “Woohoo! Now let’s order a pizza. I’m starved.”
* * *
“It’s official,” Dane announced when he got home one evening in early May. “I’ve got the first stop of our trip all planned out, and Hollister? You’re gonna love it.” Bouncing his brows up and down, he kicked off his muddy shoes at the front door, then sauntered over to perch on the arm of Gran’s recliner, where I sat.
“Oh yeah? Prove it.”
He pulled out two tickets. “Don’t fanboy too hard,” he teased.
What did he mean by that? I snatched them out of his hand and my eyes nearly bugged out. Brackenhyde? He’d gotten us tickets to aBrackenhydeconcert? For real? “Holy shit, Dane. What the hell?”
“You keep saying that.” He cackled deviantly. “When are you gonna learn that I like spoiling you?”
“Dude. Are you for real?” Brackenhyde was one of our favorite bands. A mix of punk and pop-rock, the few live shows I’d seen on TV had been absolutely amazing. The frontman was a born performer, and the twins and I had spent so many nights studying while jamming out to their albums. Good times.
“One-hundred percent for real. We’re gonna go see Sebastian St. Crow and drool over him—together. You know how Violet always wanted to marry him? This is for us, but it’s for her, too.”
I grabbed him by the arm and dragged him down into my lap, where he landed with anoof.His hip bone dug into my legs, and we had to squirm around until we found a comfortable position, but we made it work. I hugged him. “I think it’s wonderful.”
“Do you like it?”
“I love it. I’m so excited.”
“This is the perfect beginning to our roadtrip,” he said, matter-of-fact.
“When is it?” I asked, squinting at the tickets.
“In two weeks.”
Wow. That was sooner than I thought. I tilted my head to the side, taking him in, loving the way the sunlight made his blond hair glow like burning embers. He was so damn sexy it hurt sometimes, knowing I was the guy he was enamored with. Me. Out of everyone in this great big world, he pickedme.
“What?” He smiled, like he could tell exactly what I was thinking.
“Nothing,” I replied innocently, batting my lashes. “Guess it’s time to buy an RV, huh?”
“Yeah, and think of all the filthy sex we can have in it.” Pure mischief played out over his features, and it paid off two seconds later.
“Guys! What the fuck? Ew!” Abby screeched so loudly that two of Gran’s cats hissed and made a flying dash off the couch. When Dane swooped in to kiss me—totally over-exaggerated and with tongue—she squealed again. “Stop it!”
She snatched the throw pillow off the floor and flung it at us. It sailed right past Dane’s head and rattled the lamp, which made Custard yowl and dart under the couch like WWIII was happening right on top of him.
The three of us looked at each other, and promptly burst into laughter.
“I love you guys,” I announced, complete with dopey smile.
Dane and Abby exchanged a knowing look. “You’d better.”
* * *
