AllFreeNovel
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When I veer off the interstate, Devin stirs in his seat, stretching his arms over his head. “I probably should have asked earlier, but you are a coaster girl, right?”
I laugh. “Just try to pull me away.”
I may be Ruby’s sweet, studious daughter, but I’m also Brett’s adrenaline junky buddy.
There’s something about visiting an amusement park that brings back the carefree giddiness of childhood.
“Shut the front door.” I grab Devin’s arm as colorful signs come into view. “It’s a Nickelodeon park?”
His eyes twinkle. “Excited, Dimples?”
My smile grows. “Excited isn’t the right word. I thought this was like a carnival. I didn’t know it was themed.”
Grabbing my hand and lacing our fingers like he’s done it a million times, Devin’s stride picks up speed. “C’mon, let’s play.”
Kiddie or thrill, Devin and I ride every ride. Right next to the five-year-olds and tweens, we don’t even care. I can’t remember the last time I let loose and had this much fun. We take pictures with Patrick and SpongeBob and gorge ourselves on cheese curds and ice cream. I haven’t stopped smiling since we arrived. My cheeks ache.
“Oh boy,” Devin mutters as he scrolls on his phone with one hand and shoves a french fry into his mouth.
His side-eyed gaze elicits a round of belly laughter from me as his shoulders shake. “What?” I flutter my lashes with faux innocence, setting my phone facedown on the table.
“Don’t flash those pretty eyes at me, Spitfire. I saw the notification pop up. What did you just post?”
My breath catches at his compliment. Devin Hawthorne is a wildcard. One moment he’s indifferent and full of male hubris, and the next, he’s secretly replying to Logan’s comment on my post like he knows our history. Since he didn’t complain about me sharing the shot from last night, I assumed he’d be cool with my putting up more.
“Just a few pictures.” I pull the top bun off my burger and eat it open-faced. “Is that a problem?”
“Not at all.” He studies me long enough to make me uncomfortable before his gaze narrows on my tray. “What did bread ever do to you?”
“Nothing. The bread just gets in the way of the flavor. I imagine you understand as a guy who won’t eat fast food burgers.”
Devin gives an amused grunt but continues searching the internet for our next stop. “You know the fossil site wouldn’t be the worst place in the world. They’ve found a lot of things there through the years, but there’s got to be something better. Something—” His eyes light with a buzz. “Ahh, yes. Talk about the most random thing I’ve ever seen. We have to go.”
My brow quirks with nervous excitement. “Where?”
He flips his screen around.
“Oh my gosh, it’s perfect.” Devin beams as I steal the phone from him for a better look. When I reminisce about this trip, I want to be able to tell people about the crazy weird places I went and out of character things I did. This is exactly what I need.
“It’s ten hours, but that means we’re closer to Mount Rushmore for our next stop.”
My head pops up. “You mean we’re going to Rushmore? No complaints from you about boring historical crap or—”
A french fry bounces off my chest. “I appreciate history, you know, just in small doses. I figure Mount Rushmore is a pretty big deal. We shouldn’t pass it up.”
“Good answer.” Returning his cell, I take another bite of my bunless burger. “Ten hours. So what should we do? Stay here tonight? Can we hit both North and South Dakota tomorrow? What time does Rushmore close?”
“Not until ten or eleven, I think. We can work in both. Why don’t we hit the road after dinner and drive part of the way tonight? That’ll give us more time tomorrow.”
“On two conditions. One, we ride the SpongeBob coaster one more time. And two, we stop by the M&M store because I think our road trip is seriously lacking in sugary snacks.”
“Deal.”
We ride more than the SpongeBob coaster again and stop at a few extra shops before finally getting on the road around eight. “I can drive, but if you want…”
He steals the keys from my hand before I finish the question.
“So, tell me about Julia.” Devin turns down the radio once we’re on the interstate. “Why isn’t she on this trip with you?”
