I whip around, my heart wanting something that my brain already knows isn’t true. I don’t want to admit it, but I know whose voice that is.
“Ethan!” She throws her arms around my neck and presses her body tightly to mine, not caring about the sweat or the heat or the fact that we haven’t spoken to each other in months. “Oh, Ethan. I’m so glad I found you.”
I pull back from her embrace. “Kennedy. What are you doing here?”
My ex-girlfriend brushes her hair back and gives me that eye-twinkling smile. It looks a little off because she’s not wearing makeup and she looks just as exhausted as I am. She throws her arms up. “I’m stranded. What does it look like?”
“Where’s your family?” I ask. I’m not exactly in the mood to see Mr. and Mrs. Price, who never liked me anyway and really didn’t like when I broke up with their girlfriend.
Kennedy bursts into tears. I’d feel bad except, well, it’s Kennedy. She’s really good at this fake crying thing. “They’re in freaking Ireland! It’s their stupid anniversary trip they make every year, and I’m stuck here and I had to evacuate and none of my friends could take me with them and—” She takes a ragged breath and for one second I think maybe she’s not faking the tears as much as it looks like. “And, and then my damn car broke down!” She throws her arm behind her and points, which I guess is the direction where her car is.
“You have a brand new car,” I say.
“I know! Stupid piece of shit. It overheated. I’ve been stuck here since yesterday. Can’t get ahold of my parents or my friends or anyone.”
“Wow,” I say. Kennedy might be a total bitch but that does suck.
She throws her arms around me again. “Oh, Ethan. I’m so glad I found you. I was going crazy all by myself.”
She buries her face into my chest, and I stand here, arms at my sides. I’ll admit, part of me feels a little bad for her. She’s in a sucky situation, and being stranded without a car isn’t good. But, did she forget we aren’t dating? That we’re pretty much enemies now? I guess this kind of stress can make you forget all of that.
Still, I’m not about to hug her back when my girlfriend could walk up at any minute.
Kennedy pulls away after what feels like ages. She wipes the tears from her eyes. “I’ve been trying so hard to get ahold of my parents but the phones aren’t working here in Texas, so they really aren’t working overseas, ya know? I did get some Wi-Fi signal in the Wal-Mart McDonald’s, so I sent them an email and I’m waiting to hear back.
My eyes light up. The store has Wi-Fi. I’ll use it to try to contact Ella, if I don’t find her soon.
“Do you have gas?” Kennedy asks. She pulls open my truck door and looks up at me.
“Yeah, almost a full tank. Why?”
Her million dollar smile lights up. “Perfect! Let’s hit the road and find a hotel in Dallas.”
“You don’t already have a hotel?” I ask. Kennedy’s family has money. I figured she would already have a five star suite waiting for her.
She shrugs. “I don’t know how to evacuate, Ethan! I just did what the news told me to do. I left my house and drove north and got stuck here. Now let’s go. I’m so sick of this parking lot and I want to get to a hotel and shower and sleep. I have my credit card. I can pay for everything.”
“I’m not leaving right now,” I say. “And you’re not coming with me.”
Fear flashes in her gaze. “Ethan! You have to take me with you. I’m stranded!”
“Kennedy…” I sigh and run my hands through my hair, tugging at the ends just so I can feel something that’s not resentment. “Ella will be here any minute and then we’re going to a hotel with my family.”
“I don’t care,” she says, but her lip curls in a way that means she does care. “I can’t just live in a Walmart parking lot with a broken car, Ethan. I don’t have anyone else. Please don’t leave me here. Please.”
I take a deep breath. If she were anyone else I even vaguely knew, I’d be happily offering them a ride. But she’s not anyone else. She’s my horrible ex-girlfriend who did some pretty shitty things to my current girlfriend.
And, that current girlfriend should be here any minute. What will Ella say?
It’s the thought of her that gives me my answer. Ella is a kind, sweet, person. She doesn’t like Kennedy, but she wouldn’t want to leave her stranded. She’ll probably hate every second of it, but she would tell me to help Kennedy because we’re good people and that’s what good people do.
I let out the breath I’d been holding.
“Fine,” I say. “Get in the damn truck.”
