Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 110671 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 553(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110671 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 553(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Darius cleared his throat and planted his elbows on the table, and he cracked his knuckles absently. “Where are we heading tomorrow?”
Gray pinched the screen again. “Minneapolis, I guess.”
“You in a rush?”
Gray’s brow went up slightly. “The opposite, but it’s not like we have any other plans.”
“We could make some.”
“Huh?”
Darius lifted a shoulder. “You’re not ready to go home, and no one says you have to.”
Gray furrowed his brow.
“It’ll take some time before Willow has a good lead for us,” Darius went on. “While we wait, we could take the long way home.” He nodded slightly at Jayden. “Let him see more of the country.”
Was he serious?
Darius leaned forward and grabbed his beer bottle, lifting it to his lips. “Maybe a road trip will be good for you.” He took a swig. “We’ll return the rental. I have a buddy in Louisville we could borrow a car from.”
“A road trip,” Gray stated.
“Is that so hard to imagine?” Darius chuckled, confused. “I told you I wouldn’t let you avoid what you’re running from. I didn’t say you couldn’t be on the road.”
Gray didn’t know what to say. The prospect of taking the scenic route and possibly delaying the homecoming a few days—or maybe even more—was insanely appealing. But foreign. Never in a million years had he thought Darius would suggest such a thing.
He dropped his gaze to his phone and typed in Louisville as the next destination.
It was a six-hour drive south of here. They could probably make it to Columbus tonight; it was about the same distance from where they were now as it was to Cleveland. Only, in a new direction. One that would take them away from their route home.
Gray swallowed and felt something flutter in his gut.
They could head farther south after that. Perhaps show Jayden Nashville and Memphis…not that Gray had ever been to either. His mother had grown up in the South, though. Shreveport. Unable to help himself, he moved a finger on the screen and shifted the map westward. Texas, New Mexico, Arizona…
He met Darius’s patient expression and nodded.
Please.
Gray didn’t know where the road would take them any longer, and it was exactly what he needed.
It felt like a weight just flew off his shoulders.
He could breathe.
“It’s settled, then,” Darius said. “We’ll travel a bit.”
Gray tested a smile, feeling weirdly nervous. In a good way.
Six
Gray rolled down the window and took a deep breath, inhaling the dry desert air.
He’d been dozing on and off the past couple hours since they’d had breakfast outside of Dallas, and his mind was finally at peace again. The road stretched long, the landscape was burned and dead, and yet…everything was perfect at the moment. Jayden was humming in the back seat and playing games on the iPad they’d bought.
Darius was driving—for the first time. That friend of his in Louisville was former military and ran a short-term leasing company, and he’d let them borrow a Jeep Wrangler for free, on the condition that they delivered it to his location in Bakersfield within two weeks. A great deal, Gray thought, though Darius was mostly happy because he’d get to drive an off-road vehicle. Well, that was until Gray put his foot down. Darius had been freaking stabbed. He’d needed a couple days of actual rest, so Gray had forced him to get comfortable the first leg of their new journey.
This morning, Darius had had enough and wanted to drive, and there was no denying that he looked at ease. Window rolled down, Ray-Ban shades on, one arm resting casually on the door, his other hand in his lap with three fingers holding the wheel, head bobbing slowly to the radio.
The ventilation system blasted some heat, compensating for the fact that it wasn’t actually warm in the South yet. But low sixties was a lot better than the midthirties Philadelphia had had to offer.
Here, the sky was blue, and the sun was shining brightly.
Gray extended his hand out the window and moved it like a wave as the music on the radio swept him away for a second. The song was heavy and poignant, a mix between alternative rock and country, and the singer sang about being taken through high water and hell. The tune was almost sluggish, playing on like the drummer and guitars were wading through thick molasses, but the harmonies pushed through it and built up a crescendo that sent a shiver down Gray’s spine.
“Any response from Cole yet?” Darius asked.
Gray shook his head.
He’d texted Cole last night to say they were in Texas. Cole was from here, and Darius had suggested they visit to check in on him. Gray was wholly on board but wasn’t too surprised there’d been no reply. Cole had mentioned more than once that as soon as he got home, he wanted to close himself in with his family for a while and help his dad tend to the ranch.