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“It just seems so trashy to me, just to have sex with no love or commitment.” I can’t even imagine a lifetime of nothing but a bunch of one-night stands.
He’s rolling his eyes at me. “Evelyn, there can be sex with no love. They don’t always go together, ya know.”
I scowl at him and pull the blanket further onto me. “Well, they should go together. Just fucking like a bunch of animals with no feelings just sounds gross to me.”
He lights up a cigarette and stares at me for a few moments. I think I’ve insulted him just a bit, but I don’t care. He’s a pig. “Evelyn, love is an elusive thing. Not all people who say it, or claim to be in it, actually are. I think a lot of people get so wrapped up in other feelings like being horny, wanting a relationship, being in lust, and all that shit, then they just label those feelings as love. But true love? The kind of love where you would just die for that person? Where you’d do anything just to be with them? I don’t really think many people have that. I know my parents do. I know my grandparents did. But I’ve yet to find that. So, yeah, I just fuck the chicks I can tolerate for a few hours.” He opens the truck door just a bit to flick out some ashes. “Let me ask you something, Evie. Do you really, really love Michael? Or are you guys just in one of those habit relationships. You’ve been together so fucking long, you don’t even know anymore how you feel because he’s basically become like an old piece of furniture you’ve had forever. You’re afraid to try something new because he feels safe. Feeling safe doesn’t mean love.”
Boom.
Maybe he’s right on a few points there, but I’m not going to admit it to him. The spark flew out of my and Michael’s relationship quite a while ago, but that’s normal in a long relationship, right? We still have fun. We still have sex. Yes, he’s busy and distracted a lot, but I know he loves me and I love him.
Storm is smirking at me. “You’re thinking about what I said... wondering if it’s true. Is it real love or is it just a comfortable rut?”
“You’re an asshole. I love Michael and he loves me. We’ve been together for twelve years. Just because you’re not capable of loving and caring about someone doesn’t mean other people aren’t. I feel sorry for you. You’re going to spend your life being lonely and probably end up with a STD on top of it.”
“So what does he do to show you he loves you? I’m just curious how you people on the other side live.” He opens the truck door again, letting a gust of air in for a second time, tosses his cigarette out and turns to me with his full attention.
So, no lie, my mind goes blank. I’m flipping through my brain like a maniac. “He bought me a GPS for my trip here, so I wouldn’t get lost.”
Storm literally starts to crack up. Like right in my face, he is doubled over laughing. I glare daggers at him until he stops.
“Seriously? He bought you a little forty-dollar GPS system, which obviously didn’t work since you got pretty fucking lost. But you think buying an electronic device for someone is love?”
“It’s care, you moron. He bought it because he cares about me. He knows I’m afraid of getting lost.”
“Holy shit, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to laugh at you, but that’s legit hilarious. If he cares so much, why didn’t he just drive you up here himself?”
Okay. So I did ask Michael to drive me to the hotel and then come back Sunday to pick me up. He had no plans other than to just hang around and watch TV. He said he didn’t feel like it and then ran to the nearest store and came back with the stupid GPS. I hate driving and have a fear of getting lost and having a panic attack in the car, but he just brushed it all off and told me I was immature.
I feel defeated. “He said he didn’t feel like it,” I admit. “He wanted to watch TV and hang out on the couch.”
“I might be an asshole... but I know this. If I loved someone, I’d drive them a measly fucking hour or so to a meeting if they asked me to. If I didn’t love them or like them much? Then, no, I’d be just like Michael and plant my ass in front of the TV and forget about it.”
“He’s tired. He works a lot. There’s nothing wrong with that.” Even I can hear the defensive tone in my voice.
Storm nods slowly at me. “Okay, I get it. That makes sense.”
This guy is an idiot. He has no right to judge me or my relationship. People don’t stay together for twelve damn years if they don’t love each other. He just can’t understand it because he’s never experienced it. I feel sorry for him. The longest relationship he’s ever had is with his damn dog.
“Maybe we should try to just get some sleep.” His suggestion sounds great to me. Sleep means no more of his damn comments and judgment.
“Good idea,” I agree, laying my head against the window and looking out at the fast falling snow so I don’t have to look at him sitting there looking at me. We each pull the ends of the blanket up over ourselves and ignore each other. The cold is biting, but the blanket is extremely thick and heavy, trapping our body heat beneath it. Hopefully, I won’t freeze to death in my sleep.
Chapter Two
When I wake up, I am disoriented for a few seconds as the memories of yesterday seep back into my mind. I slowly lift my head, my neck stiff from sleeping with my head leaning against the cold window. I rub my neck and glance over at Storm, who is sprawled out next to me with his foot on my lap. What the hell?
I push his foot off me and he starts to wake up. “Get your damn foot off me.”
I can already see he is not a morning person. He opens his eyes slowly and looks around, dazed.
“Huh? What’s going on?” He straightens out and looks over at me. “What are you doing?”
“Your foot was on me.”
“So the fuck what?”
“I’m not a footrest!”
“Jesus Christ, Evelyn. We’re cramped in a tiny space and I’m six-two. Excuse me for stretching out a little bit.”
“Well, don’t do it on me.”
I twist my neck around trying to ease my sore neck. “This sucks. My neck is killing me.”
“Mine, too. It sucks even more waking up to a bitch.” He stretches his arms out, just missing my face. “My whole body hurts.”
Niko is now also awake and looks back at us. He starts to whimper and circle on the front seat, then stops and looks at Storm expectantly.
“He has to eat and go outside. I’m going to have to take him out there. I have a shovel in the back of the truck. I’m going to clear the snow off the truck, too. We can’t sit here with a foot of snow on top of us.”
I nod at him and then realize I also have to go to the bathroom. This is not good at all. There has to be over a foot of snow on the ground by now. And I’m still wearing these awful shoes.
“Um, Storm? I have to go to the bathroom, too.” This is so incredibly awkward. I just want to disappear.
“Well, damn. That’s a problem.” He runs his hand through his hair and chews on his lip. “Okay, lemme do this. I’m gonna take Niko out and shovel the truck off. Then I’m going to shovel a path a few feet away with a little area you can stand in. I’m going to have to carry you. Again.”
“I seriously can’t believe this.”
“Well, that’s all we can do. Our options are a little limited. I have some napkins up front.”
I am sure my face is a million shades of red. “Fine... Thanks. Be careful out there, okay?” The last thing I need is for him to fall and get hurt.
He pulls on his coat in the cramped space and nods at me. “I’ll be back in a few minutes to get you.”
While Storm and Niko are outside, I try to mentally get my shit together. I’ve never even been camping. Taking a pee outside in a blizzard is not something I ever thought I’d be doing. My friend Amy is going to laugh her ass off when I tell her about this. From the shoveled-off window, I watch Storm roll up some snow and throw it for Niko, and he bounds after it, biting the snowball, and then racing back to Storm. I can’t help but smile. I can see the love between them. Storm is laughing
and rubbing Niko’s head, the dog’s tail wagging excitedly, anticipating another snowball to chase.
After he shovels off the rest of the truck and makes a little path, he opens the truck door. “Okay, sweet cheeks, let’s do this.”
“Storm, this is really humiliating. I really don’t want to be carried outside to pee.”
“Okay, I get that, I really do. Let’s just get it over with. The snow is coming down pretty fast again and the path I made is gonna get covered up. I’m just gonna carry you over there, stick you on the ground, and then come back for you, okay? No big deal.”
So let’s just say being carried around by a guy, then standing in the snow freezing your ass off, and taking a pee outside is pretty much the most embarrassing thing ever.
When we get back to the truck, Storm rummages around in the back where he has one of those big metal toolbox things, only I guess, instead of tools, his is mostly filled with groceries. His arms are loaded with stuff when he climbs back in. He drops it all on the seat between us. Bottled water, potato chips, granola bars, cookies, crackers, and cheese. We take turns feeding big dog biscuits to Niko, and I watch in awe when Storm takes one of the water bottles and gently tips it into Niko’s mouth and the dog actually drinks it.
“Wow. Now that’s pretty cool. How’d you teach him that?”
Storm is all smiles, beaming over his cool dog. “We travel a lot and sometimes I forget his bowl. So we improvise.”
I eat three granola bars and sip some water. I’m actually afraid to eat too much because I am afraid of having to pee, or even worse, out in the damn snow. I shudder at the mere thought of it.
“I have orange juice, too. Want one of those?”
