Page 8 of Ride By Your Side

“Hey, I smile,” I say, defending my honor. Okay, no, I’m not exactly the smiliest person out there, but that’s not my fault. If anything, it’s the world that’s screwed me over and never given me much of a reason to want to smile.

I also can’t help that I have whatever the man's version of resting bitch face is. It’s just how my face looks, and beyond that, when it comes to the life I was dealt, I don’t exactly feel as though I was given the easiest hand. If I had something worth smiling over, I would, but most of the time, I just don’t.

“Then why did you stop the moment I called you out on it?” she challenges, reaching into her giant bag of goodies and pulling out a Red Vine as she taps me on the shoulder with it.

I grunt in response before letting out a small huff of air as we near the exit of her world-famous thermometer. “Are you really serious about stopping?” I ask instead, nodding toward the thing that looks even more ridiculous and junky the closer we get.

“Of course I’m serious. That thing is a true landmark, and it must be admired for its grandeur and beauty,” she declares before biting into her treat, which I’m sure is also filled with way too much red food dye and sugar.

This has to be one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever considered. It feels like a complete waste of time, but given that we’re not on any sort of schedule... What the hell, why not? Atthe very least, taking this detour puts more distance between us and those creeps who were leering at Veronica, so there’s that.

As we hit the exit, I feel a new smile tugging at my lips as her excitement seems to build. She’s practically bouncing in her seat, and as much as I hate to admit it, her energy is strangely contagious. “Oh, come on. Admit it,” she pressures. “This is exciting, and you know you’re dying to stop.”

“I wouldn’t go as far as calling it exciting, but I suppose I am interested in getting a bit closer to see what all the fuss is about.”

“You’re going to love it. I promise,” she says. But as I look at the rundown town of Baker, I’m even less sure what she sees in this place. To me, it looks like a total dump, but as much as I hate to admit it—even to myself—if this puts a genuine smile on her face, I’ll do it.

Pulling into a small rundown lot, I put the car in park. “So, what now?” I ask, still completely unimpressed, especially since, as we stare up at it, I can actually see that it is, in fact, a giant-ass thermometer.

“We get out,” she says, unbuckling her seatbelt before running to get as close to it as she can, given the small fence around it.

I follow her lead and unbuckle. “This is seriously the weirdest fucking thing I’ve ever done in my life,” I mutter to myself.

“Oh, come on, you love it,” she calls back to me over her shoulder as she continues to race toward it.

“Quite the opposite, actually. I hate it,” I deadpan.

She giggles, turning to face me as she stands next to the fence. “You know you fucking love it. Actually, I’m pretty convinced this is going to be the highlight of our entire trip.”

“I hope not, because if that’s the case, you’re not exactly selling the rest of this vacation.”

“Come on, Broody Bennett, can you at least pretend to enjoy this?” she asks, jutting out her hip as she places her hand on top of it.

“No,” I say, especially since not only is this large-ass thermometer not living up to the hype, it’s also windy as hell here, evidenced even more by the fact that her hair is blowing all over the place. But unlike me, she doesn’t seem to mind as she pulls out her phone and begins to snap a selfie.

As much as I want to head back toward the car, I stick around and let her have her fun as I place my hands in my pockets and watch.

“Would you mind getting a picture of me?” she asks, pouting her lips as she looks up at me from under her lashes.

I let out an annoyed breath as I pull my hand out, phone and all. “I’m only taking one. I’m not Blair, and I’m not going to sit here looking for the perfect light and angle. You get what you get,” I warn, turning on the camera app on my phone.

While I love my sister to death, I have nowhere near the same kind of patience that she does. She sees pictures as a form of art, but taking or even standing for photos just isn’t my thing and it’s something I avoid at all costs.

I suppose I can somewhat understand the need to capture a memory that you can hold onto forever, but given my history, I have very few memories I care to preserve. Even more so, standing in front of a weird hunk of stone that doubles as a giant thermometer is yet another thing I don’t see myself caring to remember.

Posing for the photo, Veronica raises her hands above her head and smiles, a magnetic one that almost makes me want to smile back at her, but I resist. I click the small circle on my phone to capture the image before sliding it into my pocket. “Alright, got it.”

Her face falls, looking less than amused as her hands drop to her sides. “You’re not even going to let me see it?” she asks.

“No, because I’m not going to chance you hating it and somehow convincing me to take another.”

“Oh,” she starts, tilting her head as a devious grin appears on her face. “So you’re saying that you could, in fact, be convinced?”

“No,” I promise her, realizing just how much that particular word keeps popping out of my mouth. But while I’ve done my best to be nice, a guy can only do so much.

“Fine.” She sighs, thankfully giving up. “But what about posing next to me and the two of us taking a selfie to commemorate the moment? I mean, how else in the world would I ever convince anyone that I got you to stop and take a picture in front of such a ridiculous landmark?”

“You know, you aren’t exactly selling this to me, especially sinceifyou did somehow convince me, there’s no way I’m letting you post that anywhere. I don’t do social media.”

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