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I finish packing my belongings, but given the one night we’ve spent here, it doesn’t take me long.
We pile into the SUV we rented to get around town and back to the airport. Unfortunately for me, since I’m the last to head out to the car, I get no choice in where to sit. As some sort of sick joke from the universe, the only free seat is next to Hannah.
I crawl into the car and squeeze in next to her. My arm brushes against hers, and Hannah tenses at the contact.
This is about to be the longest thirty minutes of my life.
“Did everyone have fun?!” Gen’s excited voice is like daggers on a chalkboard as I attempt to keep my distance from Hannah, even though we’re stuck directly next to each other.
“Yeah, it was great!” Savannah matches Gen’s tone, which thankfully pulls Gen’s attention in her direction.
Hannah is still tense as I try to scoot away from her, but Irealize quickly there isn’t anywhere for me to go. The floral scent of her perfume is far more prevalent than I remember it being last night, but it hits me just the same. It’s new to me, but for some reason it just screams Hannah, making it familiar.
There is a mark on Hannah’s neck that she appears to be trying to hide as she pulls her hoodie up over her head. I know I bit her there last night, but I didn’t realize quite how easily she would bruise. I hate the way the memory bathes me in heat, especially as Hannah glares at me as if she can read my thoughts.
“Stop looking at me.”
“I’m not looking at you,” I scoff.
“Are so.”
“What, are we twelve?”
A pregnant silence falls over the vehicle as we drive over gravel, the sound of the crunching snow a soundtrack to my misery.
My arm grazes Hannah’s once more, causing her to pinch my exposed skin, and not in a playful way. I bump my arm against her in an attempt to tell her to stop, but this only causes her to pinch me harder.
“Dude, stop!” I try not to yell, but it causes everyone in the car to turn around and look at us nonetheless.
“Move,” she demands.
“In case you didn’t notice—and I get it, it’s hard to catch the obvious with such a smooth brain—there aren’t any empty seats to move to.”
“Then switch with Sage,” she grits out through her teeth as she glares at me.
“No,” I nearly whisper, shifting from irritation to amusement at angering her. It’s a pastime that I know far toowell. If she’s going to be like that, I’ll happily serve it back to her.
“Guys.” Jackson turns around in his seat, pinning us both with a glare.
I raise my hands in a sign of surrender, but not to Hannah.
Gen turns around next to Jackson, her eyes fixing on Hannah for a long moment, clearly staring at my handiwork on her neck. Hannah lifts the collar of her sweatshirt in an attempt to hide it, but it’s too late.
However, Gen doesn’t say anything, especially not to Jackson. She just wears a faint grin.
As the airport comes into view, I feel a sense of relief wash over me, because I know that my seat on the plane isn’t next to Hannah. We pull up to the curb, the snow crunching below the tires and subsequently beneath my boots as I step out, slamming the door behind me in the process.
Hannah swings the door back open, her face flushed with rage.
“Asshole!” Her voice cracks, causing me to smile.
TWENTY-ONE
NINE YEARS AGO
HANNAH
I was hoping that as an adult—a whole-ass bona fide high school graduate—I would have even the slightest input on the family trip to the Parks’ beach house. I should be back home, spending my last summer with friends before leaving for college in a month and a half, but I’m not. I’m stuck sitting here in a folding pool chair listening to Jackson and Liam go back and forth on who to invite to the party they insist on throwing tonight.
