Ten
Tinsley
Leo and I are back on the road, more miles eating up the highway as his Suburban drives smoothly across the interstate. I wish we had time to stop and be tourists in a town or two, but after the call Leo received this morning, I knew that wasn’t going to happen. He still hasn’t come down from the way his jaw was clenched so tightly I could hear his teeth grinding.
“I promise we’ll talk as soon as I process shit. I’m trying not to turn around and head right back to Washington.” I bob my head, confirming that I heard him. Leo’s arm is on the dash, and my hand’s been on his bicep for a while now, trying to soothe him while he drives. His fingers were too busy tapping for me to entwine ours together, so I did the next best thing. I’m not entirely sure it’s helping, but the news he received must have been horrible when even after thirty minutes, he’s still not relaxed.
“Okay, take your time. Mind if I change the station?” He’s listening to talk radio, something I loathe. Leo is young, well, not young-young. He’s twenty-five, for goodness sakes, yet he’s listening to the news on some station while we’re driving. We stopped to grab food on our way out of the hotel this morning. I’d love to say that my morning wake-up call came in the way of Leo’s lips passing over my body. It didn’t though, and I groaned the entire time while getting ready. After we got out of the shower, we both promptly passed out, but at four o’clock this morning, Leo’s phone beeped with the alarm. I buried myself under the pillow, which didn’t last long. Apparently, the man I’m halfway in love with is a morning person, and that’s just a bundle of joy when you love sleep. And I do love my sleep. Sleeping in on the weekends is one of my favorite pastimes. That came to an abrupt stop when my parents demanded I move back in with them a few weeks ago.
“Go ahead. If you want to work on some schoolwork, I have a hot spot that’s not connected to Nighthawk or myself. It’s in my laptop bag behind your seat,” Leo offers.
“Are you sure? I can get lost in my work and be the most invisible person when it comes to school.” I watch to see what he says or does, the little nuances that give him away. This time, it’s the slight lift of his lips that lets me know he doesn’t mind. It might be a good idea for both of us, him processing what was said on the phone and me realizing just how much of a scum bucket my parents are.
“Yeah, baby. How’s that creative writing class you’re taking?”
“Wait, how did you know that? I kept that from everyone.” I turn around in my seat after digging around in his laptop bag before finding the hot spot. My own laptop bag is by my seat.
“Tinsley, how do you expect me not to know everything about you? Shit, I knew you liked your bra and underwear to match within the first twenty-four hours. It’s my job to know everything, maybe not the finer things, but you catch my drift.”
“I knew something was messed up in my drawers. I mean, do you see how crazy insane I keep them organized? I’m not sure you noticed that or how even while living out of a suitcase, I’m still able to maintain a ridiculous amount or organizational skills.” I get my laptop set up, my emails pinging right and left once the internet hits it. I ignore them, going straight to my college email instead of my personal one. I’m not interested in anything else, sales or spam. You’d think my compulsion to be organized in certain aspects of my life would bleed into the technology side. It doesn’t. I can have alerts and notifications everywhere and seemingly ignore them.
“I noticed that too. Get to work, crazy girl.”
“You call me crazy? Says the guy who searched not only my apartment but also my room high and low. I think you might be the crazy one, Leo,” I joke before looking at my class assignments. I only missed yesterday. Judging by the amount of schoolwork that’s in my inbox, you would think it was a week. I’m majoring in two different studies, business technology and English. Two polar opposites. I managed to keep that a secret from my parents. My father said if I was going to college, it wasn’t going to become something that wasn’t worthy, while my mother said she wasn’t sure why I even bothered. I’d be married by the time I was twenty-one years old to a man of their choosing. I think they both have completely lost their minds.
“I think we’re going to try and drive into the night, not stop until closer to midnight. Are you okay with that?” Leo asks a few minutes into my schoolwork.
“That’s perfect, but are you going to be okay to drive that much on the little amount of sleep you got last night?” I can feel the heat coming off my cheeks thinking about why we didn’t go to sleep earlier last night.
“I’ll be good, and don’t worry, you didn’t wear me out, too much.” He takes his eyes off the road for a minute to wink at me before he focuses back to driving. My core heats at the thoughts of just how good he made me feel last night. Tonight, it will be my turn to taste him. Leo just doesn’t know it yet. I get back to my work as he continues to drive, trying to get a huge chunk knocked out so tomorrow will be an easier day.
Eleven
Leo
I don’t even know how to tell Tinsley the news I got from Slade. She’s going to lose her shit, and I can’t hold her while I’m driving down the highway going eight-five miles per hour. These next two days are going to be brutal, and not just for me.
Tinsley working on her classwork is for the best. Even after the pit stops we made for gas, food, and the restroom, she went right back to it, not questioning why my eyes were glued to her the entire time or why I was stationed outside the restroom door. Tinsley went along with it.
“Hey, will you find a hotel while you’re online? I’m thinking we’ll make it to Wisconsin Rapids. It’s a bit more populated than I’d like it to be, but by tomorrow we’ll be in Virginia. It means another long day on the road. We’re getting there though.”
“You think you’ll be ready to tell me what’s going on by the time we get settled for the night?” Her voice is soft and sweet, much like Tinsley is as a whole.
“I can. It won’t help you sleep tonight though. It’s bad, Tinsley, so fucking bad. I’m not sure there’s any coming back from it with your parents.” My voice sounds ominous even to myself.
“Ugh, they’re always doing something backhanded. If I wasn’t with my granddaddy, they’d pawn me off to whoever was in the house without a care in the world. Which makes this statement hard even for me to digest, but I’d rather not know until we get to your place. I know the evil they are capable of, and I’ll more than likely break down, and cry for that matter.” My hand finds hers. There’s not much comfort I can give her at this very moment.
“I’m here for you. Drake, Slade, Bridger, Easton, and Travis, we’re all here for you. Not to mention their nosey-as-hell wives too. Giana, Drake’s wife, will nurse you back to health. Slade’s wife, Taylor, from what I’ve heard has the same obsession you do. I bet you two could give us a run for our money. Bridger’s woman, Kellie, will straight up karate chop someone who tries to hurt you. Easton’s wife, Cam, is a mother hen, it can’t be helped. Then you have Raelynn, Travis’s wife. She makes the best desserts you can sink your teeth into. We’re one big happy family. Not only that, Mom and Dad will welcome you with open arms. Mom will probably make some wisecrack comment about how I’m your problem now and she can wash her hands clean of my shenanigans.” I smirk because I know my mom real well, and this isn’t far from the truth.