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“Not really, but I’m beat and I would like to make it to Galveston in one day. Let’s just get stocked up on some food here and I can eat while you drive,” he suggested, gesturing to the small grocery store outside their windows. She looked it over.
“Sounds good to me. How much longer till Galveston?” she asked, surprised.
They'd spent so long tooling around Missouri and Oklahoma, she'd figured it would be the same slow crawl through Texas. Now here he was wanting to make a clean shot across the entire state in one day. She got a little nervous – maybe this was the end of the line. Maybe her little bar fight had been too much and he was hurrying to get to his family. Hurrying to get rid of her. She swallowed thickly and got out of the car, her sudden nerves making her feel a little sick to her stomach. When had she turned into such an insecure girly-girl? Parker got out from his side.
“Seven hours, give or take. We left Hooker around noon, so that means we won’t get there till about midnight. I figure it’s worth it,” he said, heading towards the store. Paige trailed behind him.
“Why the sudden rush?” she asked. He shrugged, holding the door open for her.
“Honestly, I was kinda killing time for a while. I wanted you to be able to stay on the beach, but I found out my uncle Richie was actually spending his summer there. We could've gone and stayed with him, but I thought it would be funner with just the two of us – I know how much you love to meet new people,” he chuckled. “He did mention he might be going out of town at some point, but it wasn’t definite, that’s why I never said anything, just kept driving slower and slower. Then I found out this morning he'd left for the Bahamas – left a key under the mat for us. We’ve waited so long, I just kinda want to be there, you know?”
All Paige’s nerves turned into warm fuzzies. He'd been driving around with her all this time just to ensure she got to see the beach in Texas, got to actually stay on it. He wanted it to just be the two of them. He was doing something nice. Not for himself, really, but just for her.
He cares about you, but what does that mean you have to give him in return?
“Yeah,” was all she managed to say in agreement, her mind cracking in half a little.
They split up after that. Paige wasn’t sure if they’d stop again, so she grabbed some stuff to make sandwiches. She knew Parker would grab ice for his little styrofoam cooler so she could keep some of the stuff cold till they got to the house. She then decided to grab some more goodies. If they were gonna get there at midnight, they weren’t gonna be getting dinner anywhere and she didn’t want to clean out his uncle’s kitchen, so they would need breakfast stuff, too. She hauled her load up to the counter where Parker was waiting for her.
“Are you feeding a small army? Or wait, let me guess, just the bottomless hole that is your stomach,” he joked. She playfully glared at him and shoved ahead of him in line at the check stand.
“No. I just figured since you’ve been carting me around and you’re taking me to stay on the beach, the least I could do is cook for you when we get there,” she explained, taking the bags of chips and beef jerky (how did he survive on only eating those things!?) out of his arms and putting them with her stuff.
He gaped at her. “You're gonna cook for me? Do something nice for me!?”
“Oh, shush. Just this once, you deserve it,” she laughed, bumping him with her shoulder. Their clerk rolled his eyes and began scanning the groceries.
“Don’t spoil me now, you’ll never get rid of me,” he teased, bumping her as well. She looked up at him.
“Sometimes I almost think that might not be such a bad thing,” she teased back, shocking him into silence.
He finally found his tongue again when she paid for their groceries, trying to tell her that he would get it. She refused. If he was gonna let her into his family’s home, she could at least get the food bill this one time. Besides, she hadn’t paid for a hotel since New Orleans. She barely ever had to pay for gas. Sometimes she wondered where he got his money from, but she felt rude asking.
They set out immediately. Parker decided to keep on driving, telling her as long as she fed him, he would be okay for a while. She made them both double-decker ham sandwiches and he professed his love for her, especially when she cut the crusts off. She made some extras for later on in the drive, as well.
Three hours later, Parker finally had to stop. He had to sleep – apparently he hadn’t really slept the night before; Paige felt bad because she'd slept like the dead. After repeatedly making her promise to not go more than ten miles over the speed limit or anything else “dangerous”, Parker folded himself up on the passenger side and promptly fell asleep against the door.
Paige did as promised and kept her reckless driving to a minimum. At one point she almost screamed at a woman for cutting her off, but after flicking a glance at Parker’s sleeping form, she kept her mouth shut. An hour later, she watched the sun set and put on the headlights to drive through the quiet dark of southern Texas.
Finally, around eleven o’clock it was clear they were getting close Galveston. She'd made good time and there hadn’t been much traffic. She pulled off the highway into a rest stop and let the car idle as she turned towards Parker.
He hadn’t moved much in the last three hours. He would twitch in his sleep, and sometimes mumble, but rarely anything Paige could catch. One time, she was sure he'd said his sister’s name, but that was all she could really make out.
She smiled to herself. She knew that sometimes she was downright rude to him. She knew she could act childish and often times didn’t think of others, only herself. He put up with a lot of attitude from her, but still paid for her motel rooms and drove her around. Went wherever she suggested for the most part, and best of all, he didn't ask a lot of question. Didn't pry into her past.
He suddenly mumbled again and she stifled a laugh. He was pretty cute when he slept. She usually fell asleep before him; he liked to stay up on his phone at night, so she really never got much of a chance to see him sleeping. He was so full of energy when he was awake, always laughing or joking, moving or humming. She didn’t really get to see him in repose.
In sleep his brows were actually drawn together, like he was thinking hard about something. Or was angry. His brown hair was normally kinda messy, brushing his eyebrows with a light wave, but now one half of it was mashed down flat on his forehead from the window, giving him a crazy bowl-cut look. Her favorite feature on him, his hazel eyes, were hidden from view. Because of his sleep scowl, his mouth was clenched, defining his jaw even more. It made him look dark, maybe even a little dangerous. Very sexy. She chewed on the side of her thumb and leaned a little closer to him, trying to get a closer look.
He suddenly snorted loudly and sat bolt upright. Paige let out a little shriek of surprise and scooted back, bumping her head on the window. Parker stared wide eyed out the windshield for a second before blinking his eyes and yawning.
“Where are we? Why are we stopped? What are you doing?” he asked, all through the yawn. She snorted at him and turned the car off.
“We’re about forty miles outside of Galveston, I thought you should take over now. Plus, though I know two bags of pork rinds and three bags of jerky are super filling, I thought maybe you’d be hungry,” she explained, glad he couldn’t see her blush in the dark interior of the car. He nodded, scratching at his flattened hair.
“God, I could eat a horse. Were you staring at me?” he asked, glancing at her through squinty eyes. Her blush turned into fire on her face.
“No! Don’t be stupid! I was about to wake you up, but you started talking in your sleep,” she hurriedly made up an excuse. He nodded again.
