Page 79 of Blocked Shot
“Fine,” she says, exhaling. “Mystery road trip. After my exam.”
“That’s my girl! Now go actually study instead of brooding.”
Natalie smiles faintly. “Yes, Mil.”
As she ends the call and turns back to her textbook, the words still blur, but this time, it isn’t only Jake occupying her mind.
“Gummy bear me,” Mila says, holding out her hand.
Natalie obliges, cramming a handful into her palm then popping a few into her own mouth.
“Do you want a cookie to wash those down?” Natalie teases.
“I mean, if you insist.”
The hum of the highway fills the car as Natalie leans back against the passenger seat, riffling through her bag for the Tupperware she packed. The tension in her shoulders has finally begun to fade. She exhales, stretching her legs out as they speed past endless stretches of trees under the open sky.
“I think I passed,” she says, handing Mila a chocolate biscotti. “I mean, I don’t want to jinx it, but I didn’t completely blank, and I didn’t cry, so that’s a win.”
Mila snorts. “Low bar, but I’ll take it.”
Natalie smiles for the first time in what feels like forever. “You have no idea how relieved I am that exams are over. My brain was turning into mashed potatoes.”
“I noticed.”
Natalie laughs, then glances out the window again. She watches the road signs flit by, seeing one that makes her pause. She straightens in her seat. “Wait… we’re heading toward the border?”
Mila hums nonchalantly. “Mmmhmm.”
Natalie narrows her eyes. “Are we leaving Canada?”
“No comment.”
“I didn’t bring my passport!” Natalie shrieks.
“Relax, I grabbed it for you.”
“Okay, what the hell? Are we going to New York? Boston?” She gasps dramatically. “Are you selling me into some kind of spinster sex trafficking ring?”
Mila bursts out laughing. “Dark, but no. My favorite spinster is perfectly safe.”
“Then where are we going?”
“No comment.”
“Babe, we’re going to cross the border in ten minutes, and when the big scary border agent with a gun asks me where we’re headed I’m going to say… ‘no comment’?”
Mila shifts in her seat. “Good point.” She glances at Natalie, her expression suddenly serious. “Alright, I wasn’t gonna tell you yet, but since you’re already suspicious…” She pauses, casting another quick glance at Natalie before saying, “We’re going to Hartford.”
Natalie’s stomach drops. “Hartford?”
Mila nods. “Yep.”
A cold sensation spread through Natalie’s chest. She swallows hard, her fingers instinctively reaching up to fiddle with the chain around her neck. “No.”
Mila sighs, but her voice stays gentle. “Yes, babe. You used the L word. You need to see him. Tell him how you feel. Dipping in the middle of the night with a shitty note can’t be how you leave things with him. I won’t allow it.”
Silence blankets the car, thick and heavy.
