“Yes, Natalie wants me to.”
“Okay, so what’s the problem?” he asks with a slight chuckle. “I don’t mean to be a dick, but he seems like a nice guy and Natalie is happy. What more are you looking for?”
I twist my mouth and think about my answer.
“I don’t know,” I say and lean back.
And I’m so sick and tired of not knowing anything these days.
* * *
“Heyyyyyy, Tobias!”
“What the fuck, Natalie?” I glare as she holds my front door open for me the following day. “Are you serious right now?”
Griffin is parked on the side of the street, and his sister is leaning out the window behind him, waving at me like I can't see her. Both her arms are flailing about as if she were on a deserted island and trying to flag down a plane flying over.
“We get to ride together,” she shouts.
“Did I forget to mention that we’re all riding together?” Natalie asks.
We start down the sidewalk together, and under my breath, I say, “I can't believe you’re trapping me in a car with her.”
“It’s going to be fine.”
I glare at my so-called best friend before she climbs into the passenger seat. I get into the back.
“Hi,” Griffin's sister, Cassie, beams a smile at me.
A stack of special edition copies of my books sits on her lap.
“I have something for you to do to kill time on our road trip,” she says.
Natalie peeks around her seat, failing to hide her smile.
“This is great, Cassie. Thank you,” I say and grab the first book she hands me. “I don’t have a pen, though.”
She holds up a bag that has maybe ten inside of it.
“I’ve got you covered.”
“Perfect.”
I look up at Griffin to say hello to him, but he’s holding his phone to his ear.
Has he not heard of Bluetooth? I bet his car has it.
The conversation must be private. But come on, Nat’s in the car. He needs to be focused when he drives. Especially for a couple of hours.
“Can you make them all out to Cassie with a private note?”
Oh, and his sister is here too.
We fall into a rhythm of me signing books and her cooing over my notes for the next half hour. When her phone rings, I take this opportunity to text Natalie. I might be going through a stage of life when I question everything, but there is one thing I know for sure.
Tobias
After this road trip, this friendship is over.
