Page 51 of The Summer of ’98

“Oh well, never mind.”

“I’m not opposed to locking those two out, though,” he leaned his forehead against mine. “Trust me, it’ll be the favorable option. Those two will hit it whether we’re in the room or not.”

I winced and hoped he was joking around. I knew that Cass was a bit looser once she was drunk. But we were going out of town and I didn’t think we would have access to alcohol.

“Stop overthinking things.” He tucked a piece of hair behind my ear, his knuckle tracing down the edge of my face. “Tonight will be great.”

I smiled. “I know.”

The road trip was peaceful for the most part. We stopped for gas and three bathroom breaks for Cass, who had eaten an ice cream sandwich before we left. Besides that, we had fun, listening to music with the windows rolled down. It wasn’t until we arrived in Colorado Springs that things took a turn for the tense.

“I’m telling you; it was the street that we passed two minutes ago,” Noah shouted from the backseat. Leroy gripped the steering wheel and glowered in the rearview mirror.

“No, it’s farther up and around the bend. Like it said on the fucking map!”

Noah lunged forward and appeared between the driver and passenger seats as he waved at the windshield. “The map clearly said that the hotel was off Roderick and you just passed Glensmith and Roderick came before Glensmith!”

“It came after Glensmith!” Leroy shouted back.

“No! Before Glensmith and it comes after Bradley.”

Cass snickered in the backseat. “Typical Bradley. Always coming first.”

Noah banged his head on the driver’s seat. “Cass, not now.”

“You come first, too, you selfish prick.”

“Damn woman, how much have you had to drink?” Noah shouted.

“She’s been drinking?” Leroy twisted in his seat before he peered in the rearview mirror. “What the hell?”

“Focus on the road!” Noah snapped.

“I’m trying but you two won’t shut the hell up!”

“She’s the one talking shit.”

“Whatever you say,” she mumbled, and I heard the clink of a bottle from the backseat.

“Did she steal the booze from her mom?”

“Does it matter?” Noah said as he waved his hands about. “She brought enough to share. Except she was supposed to be saving it for the hotel.”

“I’m right here,” Cass clipped with a sarcastic tone.

“How could we forget?” Noah muttered.

“Excuse me, asshole. That’s not how you’re meant to talk to your girlfriend.”

“I wasn’t talking to you, I was talking about you!”

“You are about to get—”

Noah bit down on his fist and clenched his eyes closed. “I’m sorry, baby. Just . . . just shut up for a second, okay? Thanks, babe.”

“There it is!” Leroy interrupted with a loud voice. “I told you it came after Glensmith.”

Noah sighed and retreated from between us, falling into the backseat. Leroy pulled into the underground hotel parking lot and gave me a quick glance as he paid the fee. “Sorry about that.”

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