Page 81 of Infatuated as They Come
“What is it? Was it the other night?”
“What other night?”
“When I told you about… my dad and stuff…” I pushed a hand through my hair. “Maybe I scared you off with all of that. I know I have a lot of, you know, issues with him. I’m working on them. I’m trying to. And you make me feel like I can get past all of them.”
Her eyes rolled. “You didn’t scare me off, you silly goose. You can share things like that with me. I’m your girlfriend, remember?”
“I didn’t freak you out?” I asked.
“No, of course not.”
“Then what’s with all the bags?”
“I’m taking you on a nice long trip upstate. My parents have a place up there, and we’re going to have a lovely, relaxing time. We can pretend like the whole week is your birthday.”
I blinked at her slowly. “Wait, what?”
“We’re going to Saratoga Springs. It’s super quiet and beautiful up there, especially around this time of year. We’re gonna drive up and spend the week there, and you’re gonna forget all about being so busy all the time.”
The deepest feeling of relief hit me. A week away with Holly without her worrying about college and me being busy with work sounded like pure bliss. But… “I’d love to, Holly,” I said, “but I can’t take time off work.” And then my eyes found the clock and I realized then that I must have slept right through my alarm or something. “Fuck, I am so late.” I got up to move, but Holly placed her soft hands on my chest.
“Yeah, this is the part you might be mad about,” Holly said with a sheepish giggle. “I called your boss on Saturday and…”
“… And?”
“I told him you need time off.”
I drew in a quick breath. “Holly.”
“And he agreed!” She moved her hands to my shoulders, practically falling into my lap. “He said you work really hard, and I said, ‘I know, he’s the most annoying boyfriend in the world.’ Don’t be mad.”
“I’m not mad. Just…” That was a whole week’s worth of wages. Rent and food and bills and dates with Holly. “Just wasn’t expecting to wake up to this.”
“You can haveoneweek off. I’m taking the week off school too. I already talked to my professors and I spent all weekend making sure I was on top of all of this week’s work. Claudia is okay with me missing practice and the upcoming game too. You deserve a break. You’ve been taking care of me this whole time, and your whole life you’ve been taking care of yourself. For just one week, let me take care of you. Please?”
She was looking at me with those big pretty eyes, all brown and deep and warm. My favorite color. I couldn’t say no to her.
“Just for a week,” I said.
“Yay.” She jumped out of bed, hands clasped together. “It’s a three hour drive, so we should probably leave now. Traffic shouldn’t be too bad.”
“Wait, drive up?” I pushed my hands through my hair. “Did you rent a car?”
“I got a car. You go get ready, okay? I already packed your stuff and mine last night.”
My eyes looked to the four duffel bags by the dresser. “That explains those. We’re only going for a week, though. Why’d you pack so much?”
“I don’t know how many outfit changes I’ll have.” She kissed my cheek. “Come on. Get up!”
“Alright, alright. Lemme shower first.”
After getting ready, Holly practically shoved me into the elevator. She was all giddy and excited, her eyes twinkling as I carried our bags for us. Missing a week’s worth of pay was worth it if I got to see that look on her face.
A cold gust of New York City air hit me as we left the apartment behind. We turned the corner at the end of the block, and I was expecting Holly to stop at one of the dozens and dozens of cars that were parked on thestreet, but she pulled me over to one of the buildings to our left. Down a ramp, through a walkway, and then finally, we made it to what looked like a private parking garage. The place was packed with expensive cars, but it was in front of a blue pickup truck in the corner where Holly came to a halt.
“You rented a truck?” I asked, slowly turning to face her.
“Not exactly…”
