Has Cash always been this boring?
A short laugh escapes and Cash looks over his shoulder at me.
I ignore him and type back.Yes.
Ingrid lets out a long sigh.
Another message pops up.
I didn’t mean what I said about our relationship not lasting. I’m just… confused.
I don’t want to have this conversation over text, but there’s another hour left in our drive. Might as well spend it trying to repair everything I’ve broken.
Confused about what?I send.
Three dots appear. She’s typing. Then they disappear. Reappear.
“I have to pee,” she suddenly announces to the whole car.
Cash groans. “Seriously?”
“I have a small bladder,” she returns, monotone.
“There’s literally nowhere to pee, Ingrid,” Cash grumbles.
“Then pull over to the side of the road,” she snaps at him. “Or is that too hard for you?”
He exits onto a side road and pulls over.
In true Cash Allred fashion, he puts on the hazard lights and makes seven different comments about how unsafe it is to be parked on the side of the road. Something about people dying.
Ingrid and I get out of the car at the same time.
Part of the sun is still hanging low on the horizon, painting her face in pink and gold.
“I’m sorry,” I rush to get out. “I’m sorry I lied. I’m sorry that I made that stupid Cash comment.”
Ingrid nods slowly, her blond hair wrapping around her neck as a dry, hot breeze drifts past us.
“You’re right,” she says. “I let you off the hook too easily. But it’s not because I was treating you the same way I treated Cash. I just… I want this summer to be memorable. I wanted to finish the bucket list items and not do this. Especially not in front of Cash.”
“I know,” I tell her. “I’m sorry.”
“Me too.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I just… I hated when Cash used to give me the silent treatment,” she groans. “I would rather be yelled at than ignored. And I’ve ignored you all day.”
I smile. “You weren’t ignoring me. You were figuring it out.”
She narrows her eyes playfully. “Don’t let me off the hook so easy, Wilder.”
“Come here,” I say and she instantly walks into my arms.
I hold her as tight as I can, breathing her in. She smells like vanilla and sunscreen and the only place I’ve ever felt safe.
Then, she tips her head up. And I can’t resist kissing her.
