Page 21 of Embrace

Blaze tittered. “Su, get your paranoid ass on. You trust me right?”

“Yes, I trust you with my life.”

“Then trust that I ain’t gon’ let you crash out. I got you.”

“Fine.”

He replaced his hands on the wheel with his knee. Then he grabbed the lighter and lit the blunt. He rested the blunt against his lips while he tossed the lighter back into the center console and used his left hand to hold the steering wheel. Once he’d gained control of the situation again, he held the blunt in his right hand and passed it to me.

“What do I do?” I asked in a high-pitched voice.

“Put it against your lips and suck in with your mouth. Inhale as deep as you can and then breathe out.”

The first time I’d inhaled too fast and ended up coughing up a lung. I grabbed one of the many water bottles Blaze kept in his car and cleared my throat.

“Try again,” Blaze encouraged.

“What if I get massive munchies?” I questioned.

“I got enough money to go crazy on some late-night grubs. Focus on getting there first.”

It took me several tries to get a good groove. Once I’d gotten it together, we drove down forty-five and ended up in Galveston. It was dark, and the waves crashing against the shore looked scary as hell.

“Do you want to go out onto the beach?” Blaze’s suggestion would have been happily accepted, but I was too paranoid.

“What if there are tiny crabs waiting for me to step into the sand so they can dig their claws into my flesh?”

Blaze hooted and hollered. “You’re out of there, Su.”

“Maybe. However, I don’t think a dark beach is a good idea.”

“I’ll head back. We can stop by Cheddars on the way back.”

Cheddars was closed, but we went to a nearby wing bar and Blaze ended up paying a three-hundred-dollar bill because we wanted to taste all the flavors.

“Your big hungry ass ordered the whole menu that night,” I reminisced.

“Nah. It was you who encouraged the shit. Yeah, B! All of it sounds so good. Order enough for me too. Ain’t that what you were saying the whole night?”

“Suddenly, I can’t remember.”

Blaze did exactly what I needed him to do. He’d distracted me long enough to get through the two-and-a-half-hour flight. When we’d landed, I was high as hell and ready to get up and stretch my legs.

“Thank you for keeping me cool during the flight. The trip down memory lane was exactly what I needed.”

“Anything for my wife,” he replied.

“This is beautiful!” I exclaimed as we entered our room at the resort. The king-sized bed called my name. We had a beach cabana that had a hammock out on the front porch with a beautiful view of the sea.

“It is.”

Blaze placed our suitcases near the futon couch and made a motion to plop down on the bed.

“Blaze, no! We have to shower first before we lay down. You know how I feel about outside clothes in the bed.”

He frowned. “This not even your bed, for real.”

“I still don’t want to lay on the bed in our plane and shuttle clothes and transfer all those germs.”

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