Page 16 of The Road to Finding Us

And if sitting in silence with my own worst enemy isn’t enough, we’re stuck in the morning commute traffic. Aspen’s brakes make a screeching sound as we inch our way down the highway.

“If we would’ve left five minutes earlier,” I mumble, picking at the thread of my shorts, “we wouldn’t be in this situation.”

Aspen abruptly stops tapping on his steering wheel. He’s hidden his eyes behind a pair of Ray Bans so I’m unable to see the look in them, but by the strain of the muscles in his forearm, I can tell he heard my commentary. “Maybe if I didn’t have to spend those five precious minutes shoving your suitcase in the back, we wouldn’t be in this situation.”

“Maybe if you told me your car doesn’t have the ability to play music we wouldn’t be in this scenario,” I fire back, wiggling my butt in the seat in an attempt to get comfortable.

“That makes absolutely no sense,” Aspen responds, leaning forward to look in the mirror on the side of his car.

I think my words through, scrunching my nose in the process. He’s probably right, the lack of music playing through the speakers isn’t the whole reason we’re driving ten miles per hour. But damn it, I’m annoyed I can’t play the rad playlist I slaved over.

“That makes absolutely no sense,” I mock, trying my best to match Aspen’s tone.

The car shifts all the way into the left lane before he glances over at me. “Did you just copy me?” A smile tugs at the corner of his lips.

“No. I simply restated what you said.” I go back to picking at one of the loose threads on my denim shorts. When I look at the car next to us, I see an old man and woman both peacefully smiling, acting as if the traffic doesn’t faze them at all. I wish I could say the same for us.

“AKA copying,” Aspen points out.

“Pish posh,” I respond, turning my attention to him. I’m shocked to find a smile still on his face. It shows off one of his deep dimples. I want to stick my finger in it.

“Is it in your nature to argue? Or do you ever just simply have a normal conversation without it escalating there?” There’s a small bit of humor in his voice.

We’re happily met with the rumbling of Aspen’s death trap—I’m sorry, Gladys’s engine. We’ve officially broken free of the bumper to bumper traffic and are now picking up a steady pace.

“You know, most of the time, I’m able to have a simple conversation. The problem is, when it comes to you, I can’t help but argue. You infuriate me that much,” I reply simply, before pulling my feet up onto the seat with me.

He looks at me from the driver’s seat for a moment before turning his eyes back on the road. “Ever think about why you feel the need to argue with me?”

“Probably because I hate you.” I aim a big smile his way, showing off all my teeth.

“Tread carefully, Lily. There’s a fine line between love and hate.” His words take mine away instantly. With one simple sentence, he shuts me up.

My teeth snap together quickly. I refuse to look at him after he’s put those words out into the universe. They catch me off guard because he’s right. I toed the line between loving and hating him for a long time. There was a brief stint where I jumped right over it, choosing to love him instead of hating him. The only difference here is that I’ve promised myself to never do that again.

No matter how thin that line is, I refuse to cross it.

“Oh, so that’s the trick to shutting you up?” He lifts his hips, adjusting his position on the seat. “I’ll have to keep that in mind for next time.”

I go to shoot him a glare, but I’m met with his huge grin. Instinctively, I reach across the center console and flick him right in one of the hollow dimples in his cheeks.

“Ow!” he howls, rubbing the spot where I just flicked.

“You deserved it,” I say with a huff. I let my head fall against the head rest, looking out over the dashboard to gauge the progress we’ve made.

Unfortunately, the traffic really set us back and we haven’t traveled very far in the time we’ve been in the car.

I want to ask Aspen when he thinks he might make a stop and where we’ll be sleeping tonight, but that would mean starting another conversation with him. Which right now, I’m not really feeling.

My phone chimes from the cup holder between us. I pick it up, finding a missed text from Veronica.

Veronica: Checking for life…

Lily: It’s YOUR life you need to be worried about here.

Lily: When I see you, it’s game on, bitch.

Veronica: I’m terrified.

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