Royce snorted. “I’m not worried about the car.” He kicked at the ground. “I’m worried about Cody. Is he really okay?”
“Physically, yes.”
“I understand. I’m not calling the cops. Don’t worry.” He clapped my shoulder. “But we do have to get this rodeo rolling.”
“We do. Thank you.”
I texted Cody the campground address in Key West as I went back to the car.
I was so relieved that Cody wasn’t hurt or worse, and I wanted to smother him with love, but that wouldn't go over well either, because Cody would probably run away again if I overwhelmed him. If he even decided to show up.
We were about to be locked in on a long, three-hour drive to Key West. Vince and Joey grabbed breakfast sandwiches for us from the food service area. We still had just enough time to eat and get on the road. I was in for a long day of missing Cody and the constant presence of his stream of commentary, his sweet little voice, his complete enthusiasm for whatever he was involved in. I thought I would have to skip the rest of the trip and go find him. I needed him back, but I had no idea where he was. Not to mention, Cody said he wanted space, and as hard as it was, I had to give it to him.
Ultimately, I couldn’t make him do what I wanted, but if this was the beginning of the end, I didn’t think my heart could take it. I’d been hurt like this before, and it took years for me to even consider dating again. In fact, when I met Cody, I wasn’t dating. I’d hang out at Afterglow and sometimes hook up with a willing body, but it wasn’t anything more than that. Cody had been completely different. He’d changed everything for me.
His exuberance on the dance floor struck me first, and then his beauty. He literally jumped into my arms on the dancefloor. Hiseyes grew wide with surprise and maybe a bit of uncertainty, but I smiled and said hello, though I was pretty sure he couldn’t hear me over the loud music. I didn’t let him go, though. We danced through two more songs before I grabbed his hand and led him to a table. It was a little quieter there but still loud. I yelled in his ear that we should go outside to talk, and I was half-surprised when he vigorously nodded. He followed me out, and the rest was history. I fell hard for the sweet little, who was now poised to shatter me, and all I could do was keep driving forward.
Chapter thirteen
Cody – Panic Switch
I refused to fall asleep in the car before I reached the campground in Key West. I hadn’t slept all that well the night before, but I was also extremely determined. I was ready for dinner by the time I finally pulled onto the property. Maybe it was my growly stomach that kept me awake. At least I made it, but now I had to find my Daddy, and that filled my tummy with nervous, anxious swirlies. I hoped he wasn’t too mad. I’d brought this all on myself though, hadn’t I?
Wow. The campsite was right on the water, so close we could literally roll out of the tent and into the wet. We could put our paddleboards in right there. That sure woke me up in a hurry. I couldn’t wait to get in the water. Of course, I had to make up with Daddy first.
I rubbed my face and got out of the car. Daddy and Vince were messing around with stuff at Daddy’s car. It looked like they were unpacking and packing back all the stuff. The camping-type stuff was coming out, and smaller stuff was going backin the trunk, probably whatever we were going to need for the parade the next day.
The smell of bacon wafted through the air, so hopefully someone nearby was making BLTs for dinner, and I couldn’t wait for that yummy goodness if it was our people. My tummy growled as I peeked at what else Warner was pulling out of the trunk. “Uh…Hi, Daddy. I came back.”
He bumped his head on the open part of the trunk and cursed as he turned to face me, rubbing the spot. “Cody!” He sounded way more happy than mad, and those crazy, nervous butterflies started settling down.
“Are you mad?”
“No. Of course not. I just want you to be safe.” He pulled me into his arms and kissed the top of my head, which was so sweet when he did that. “I didn’t hear you pull up.”
“You were really focused on all the stuff.” I glanced around at everything. I’d only been playing around when we were packing at home, but now I wondered if we did indeed pack too much. But it was stuff for four people, not only me and Daddy.
“We can talk later. There’s a lot to do to get ready for tomorrow.” He gave me the Daddy-eye, which was the look he had when he wanted me to move out of the way and let him do his thing without interrupting. I got that a lot when he was on the phone with clients, making food for us, or cleaning up. “Dinner is about to start. Can you and Joey go fix some plates for all of us?” Hopefully, we could get in the water the next day, but also the PRIDE parade through downtown Key West was happening. First, everyone needed a good dinner.
“Sure, Daddy.” I grabbed Joey by the shoulders and turned him around. “Come on, Joey. It’s food time.”
My tummy growled again and Joey giggled. “We better feed that monster soon.”
“Shut up.” I bumped into him and chuckled a bit, but I didn’t feel much like laughing, which had nothing to do with being tired. Nope, I was still anxious about what was coming soon…the big talk.
He gave me a sideways half-hug. “Glad you came back. It was kinda boring here without you.”
“I’m always the life of the party,” I teased, but then, with a sigh, we followed our noses to where Crow and Drew were making dinner and other people were helping. They were making bacon and eggs on one of those big flat-top grills. I never thought to put an egg on a BLT but some people were doing it. We fixed our plates, and I put an egg on the side for Daddy in case he wanted it on his sandwich. Then we sat at a table with Jax, Todd, and Royce—the pups.
Royce jumped up and hugged me before I could even sit down. “I’m glad you’re back. Are you okay?”
“I’m sorry about that. Guess I needed a little more space than I thought. Oh, here’s your keys.” I handed them back, and thankfully, they started talking about the cruise instead of focusing on my disappearance.
“Will we stop and get in the water?” Joey asked.
“Yeah, for sure.” Jax nodded. “That’s always so much fun.”
“Great. I can’t wait to go paddleboarding. I’ve never been before. I’ve never been on a cruise either.”
