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“Touch my sister and I’ll break your arm, Maddox.” Camden’s eyes are narrowed at his best friend.
Maddox looks to his right and then to his left at Trazia. “Apologies, my lady. Big brother over here has some issues with me helping clean up the mess I made in your cleavage.”
She stares at him with her mouth slightly open. “Do you not have a filter?”
He shrugs his shoulders and begins shoveling his food into his mouth. “Why filter our most honest thoughts?”
Camden rolls his eyes. “Maybe because you make people uncomfortable.”
Before Maddox can respond, Conrad, Levi, and Mateo walk in. They are slightly sweaty and just a little out of breath. “Cars are both loaded up,” Levi informs us.
Taking the last bite of my eggs, I grab my trash and start collecting everyone else’s empty plates and discard them in the trash can before pulling the bag out and tying the top off so we can put it in the dumpster outside. Blaire is already up and cleaning the few dishes she used to make breakfast and putting them away in the cabinets.
Conrad is talking with Maddox and Mateo in the foyer. I walk over to him and wrap my arms around his waist. “Hey, handsome.”
He smiles down at me and wraps his arm around my shoulders. “Ready to go?”
I nod.
He kisses my temple and we all begin making our way outside. Camden, Blaire, Conrad, and I end up riding in Mateo’s SUV again. Camden grumbles and tries to get Conrad to switch with Trazia and says he has a weird feeling about leaving his sister with Maddox after what happened at breakfast, but Conrad convinces him everything is fine and there is nothing to worry about.
Since I didn’t get much sleep last night, it isn’t long before I pass out in the back seat. Camden said he was in charge of the radio since he was driving and knowing the type of music he would play, I popped my earphones in and put on some Taylor Swift to drown out his ’90s rock. We jerk to a stop and the movement jolts me awake. My head hits the window when I’m thrown back.
“Damn, Camden, learn how to drive much?” I question as I rub the throbbing spot on my head.
He looks back and shrugs his shoulders. “Sorry. My girl had to pee and some guy cut me off trying to get the spot.”
Looking around, I realize we’re in the parking lot of a Publix. We must have made it to Florida already, so I’ve been sleeping for longer than I thought. The sun is high, so it must be the middle of the afternoon.
Blaire begins pushing on my shoulder from her seat in the middle. “Seriously, let’s go. He is being strict about the pee breaks again and this is the first one I’m getting.” After I get out, she takes off to the entrance, and I follow behind her at a normal pace. If this road trip has taught us anything, it’s that Blaire has the bladder of a child.
After using the restroom, I walk around to try to find the guys. Conrad said he was going to grab a drink. Going up and down the aisles, I keep an eye out for them. I snag a bag of chips and ginger ale while walking around. Heading to the front, I catch up to Conrad, Camden, and Blaire in line. Blaire has an armful of candies and chips.
Approaching them, I laugh at her variety of sweet and savory treats. “You think you have enough snacks for the rest of the drive?”
Blaire looks down and smiles. “I didn’t get a chance to go to the store before we left, so I’m making up for the first few hours. It’s not the same, reading a book on a road trip without snacking. Made the drive feel much slower.”
We all stare at her with perplexed looks on our faces.
“You’re really strange, you know that?” Conrad asks her with a small smile on his face, making it known he is not serious.
Blaire dumps her items on the conveyor belt. “Surprised you’re just now realizing that.”
Conrad laughs and grabs my drink and chips and places them on the belt along with his energy drink. He goes ahead of us and pays as the cashier scans the items. “You didn’t have to do that,” I tell him.
“Yeah, Con, I bought way too much for you to pay. Here, take some cash.”
She tries to hand him a few ten-dollar bills, but he pushes her hand away. “Don’t worry about it.”
Camden thanks him as he grabs the bags of his and Blaire’s sodas and snacks. Walking over, I wrap my arms around Conrad’s waist from behind. He stiffens but loosens up right after.
“Thank you, babe,” I tell him, placing a kiss between his shoulder blades before going to grab our one bag with our drinks and my chips.
We head back to the car and I take the middle seat this time, giving Blaire a chance to not be squished between a body and luggage. Instead of his usual rock music, Camden turns the radio to some sports station, and he and Conrad get to talking about a game that was playing today.
Blaire groans beside me. “Are we seriously having to listen to this crap?” She tosses a few sour gummy worms into her mouth.
Camden glances over his shoulder and points at her. “You want to drive?”
