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But I’m still locked to the bed, and Mimi just grins.
Chapter 12
Mimi
Inthelongestroadtrip I’ve taken since I was a kid, I feel like I’ve barely said half as much as I did back then. After our night of sex, Sebastian is still paranoid and awkward on the road. It’s like every time we get in the car, he changes. I’ve tried talking to him and I’ve tried not talking to him. We even had a deep and meaningful conversation at lunch, and he has just gone back in on himself.
I know he’s not telling me something, but I just wish that he would.
For some stupid reason, I waste the morning trying to get him to talk. Trying to get him to acknowledge last night, or gauge what scared him after lunch yesterday. I spent all last night puzzling it out, and I was ready to question him to the end last night…
Then I come out, and he’s lying there on the bed asleep.
That’s when I had the idea to handcuff him and wake him up.
I suppose it was a test. Is it us, or is something else on his mind?
Still, regardless of what I say or do, he just sits there, hunched over his steering wheel and thinking. The miles roll by along with the states we pass through. Maryland becomes Pennsylvania, and Pennsylvania becomes New Jersey. The sky changes as the sun rises, but the horizon never really alters. Our road keeps going. At least we’ve not resorted to talking about the weather. If that happens, I suppose I can assume that this was all some fling.
“At Least the weather in Philly wasn’t too bad,” he says. “Jersey is still good too.”
I just had to curse myself.
Maybe it can work another way?
At least we’re not dreaming about sex and hooking up with Mimi again? Or acknowledging her?I know what I’m thinking, and I even cringe at it. It's like I’ve lost all my cool. Any other man, and I wouldn’t have wasted a second breath if he’d decided to drop me. Damn history! Damn crushes!
I grind my teeth.
“You alright?” Sebastian asks.
“Yeah, fine,” I say reflexively.
“Okay,” Sebastian says, still looking at me sideways. “I just know that you grind your teeth when you’re frustrated.”
Does he now?
“So what would I be frustrated about?”
A small grin appears on Sebastian’s face. He licks his lips and gestures at the road. “Look, I know I haven’t been a great driving buddy these last couple days. I know I’ve probably changed and seemed off.”
“Off is an understatement,” I say.
“And I know I should just tell you what’s up.” He pauses, as if he’s getting the nerve to do it. “But it’s still so odd that I don’t even know what to say. Or how to begin it.”
“Are you talking about our hookups these last few days or something else?” I quip. I’ve tried not being bitter about being ignored, but then, I guess I'm just hurt by it all.
Sebastian rolls his eyebrows, and his grin pulls to the side.He knows I’m hurt.“I haven’t meant to react the way I have. First, I was overthinking everything between us and what Carlos would think. Then the car crash and what would Luca think. Now thesebratva,if that’s who they are following us. I just feel overwhelmed. And pulling away from you doesn't help that. I’m sorry.”
I feel like such an ass. Still, I sit there with my arms folded. Waiting for him to say something else. Not that I don’t want to buy in and say something, or tell him something else that he hasn’t listed, but I can see he’s getting to what he wants to say in a roundabout way.
“Those guys that tried to run us off the road—”
“That made us crash?”
“Exactly,” he nods his head. “They were the pens at the hotel. They were the ones we saw on the highway and then lost. Well, they were also at the gas station. I saw them when you went to the toilet.”
My eyes go wide. “They found us?”
