Page 33 of The First Time

“No service.”

“You’re serious right now?” he bites back at me.

I shoot him a penetrating look. “Yes, Josh. I’m freaking serious. I have no service. What do we do now?”

He glares at me. “I don’t know, Layla. Let me think for a second.”

He runs his hands through his hair and then grips the steering wheel. “Can you check the glove compartment? Maybe there’s a map in there.”

“A map? What arewe—explorers?”

He seems to be growing impatient. “Just open it, Freckles. I don’t have time for this.”

“Whatever,” I reply as I open the glove compartment. Sure enough, there’s a map sitting on top. “Here you go, Galileo.”

He opens the map and begins to study it like he actually knows where the hell we are on that ginormous thing.

“Ok. We’re right here,” he says, shocking me. “It looks like we could take this road for another fifty miles or so; maybe by then, we will hit an area with service to get us all the way back. Here, you look at the map; just get me to that highway.”

He shifts the car into drive and begins to drive along the road with far too much trust in my mapping abilities. I start to turn the map in circles, trying to understand if we need to take a right or left at the next road.

“What the hell are you doing with that map? Just keep it still.”

“Just let me read the damn map the way it makes sense to me,” I bite back at him. “Ok. It looks like you are going to go right up here at this stop sign.”

We somehow manage to get through a couple of turns, but I’m all lost in this damn map again as I get our direction mixed up in my head.

“What the hell, Josh. How could you let your phone die! This is insane. I can’t believe I’m reading a map in the middle of Italy with no backup if this goes south.”

He rips out his words impatiently, “I need you to please watch your next words. I’m trying like hell to behave here, to get us through this, but you’re not making it easy on me.”

I glower at him over my map. Instead of responding, I try to figure out our next turn. “Up here, you make a left.”

He begins to turn then I realize I had it mixed up. “Shit, no, a right. Make a right! A right!” I shout.

I fly forward as he slams on his brakes.

“Dammit, Freckles!”

“Ouch! Did you have to break that hard?” I ask, rubbing my chest where the seatbelt bit into my skin.

“That’s it,” he pulls to the side of the road and cuts the engine.

He gets out of the car and I watch him walk to the grass on the side of the road as he paces back and forth. What the hell is he thinking? We don’t have time to waste out here with him having a pity party. It’s getting dark, and I’m starting to freak out.

I push the door open and stomp over to him.

“What the hell are you doing? Get back in that car! We need to turn around and get back on the road.”

He ignores me as he continues pacing back and forth.

“Josh! Did you hear me?” I shout even though I’m standing right in front of him. “Josh!”

He stops in his tracks. “Don’t push me, Freckles. I’m doing my best not to lose my shit on you right now.”

“On me? What the hell did I do wrong? You’re the one who let his phone die while we’re in the middle of a foreign country with no cell service. I can’t believe you’re putting this on me…it’s so typical, just like,” I say but am cut off when his hand grips the back of my neck.

“I warned you not to push me, Freckles,” he says before he pulls me into him by my neck.

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