Page 13 of Inked Devotion

“Oh, I’m telling Lee.” He pulled out his phone, and I snatched it. “No phones.”

“Really? No phones for the entirety of the trip, so I don’t mention the casual remark you just made?”

“Okay, we can have phones. Just don’t tell him.”

“I won’t. I was never going to. Do you want me to drive?”

I narrowed my eyes. “Excuse me?”

“Not right now, as I got into the passenger seat, but touchy much?”

“Sorry,” I mutter.

“I meant in general. You sent me the road trip plans, and we have GPSs and phones that should be good to go, but you do not have to drive the entire time if you don’t want to.”

“It’s a long drive to Virginia.”

“It’s going to be a twenty-seven-hour drive? Then we’re taking breaks.”

“It’ll be worth it. I hope.”

“I don’t mind. We have the week.”

“A little over.” I let a breath. “I guess we should go.”

“I guess we should.”

We started out on the road, and I told myself to calm down. There was no going back now—time to think, breathe and take a friend to a family reunion.

“Are you’re letting me pay for half the gas?”

“Yes, though I have a hybrid.”

“And a beautiful hybrid it is,” he said, admiring it, and I beamed at him. “It’s the first big thing I got after my business did well.”

“It’s a great car.”

“Your truck is a gas guzzler,” I muttered, then winced. “Sorry.”

“You’re right, it is, but it’s what I need for work. I was thinking about getting a small sedan or something to save on gas, but I don’t fit in them very well.”

He shifted in the seat, and I raised a brow. “I’m not making a comment on your size again.” He laughed outright, and I smiled. “This is turning out to be an okay drive.”

“Glad I could help.” He paused, let out a breath. “Thanks for letting me come. You never asked why I wanted to go with you,” he said, after a minute or two on the highway.

“I didn’t need to. You said you needed to be here, or wanted to, and I didn’t mind.”

“I guess I should tell you. I need to tell someone, and I can’t tell my family because then they’re going to have opinions, and I’m not in the mood for that.”

I glanced at him and he let out a breath. “Okay then, we’re not even out of the state, and yet I don’t think I can keep it in.”

“Are you okay?” I asked, my heart racing.

“I am. At least I hope so, considering what someone asked of me.”

I settled on the cruise control, with my hands on the steering wheel and my eyes on the road, even though most of my attention was on him.

“What is it?”

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