Page 35 of The Road Trip Romance

“For the love of…” I mutter as I check to make sure I’m still in my lane.

“Are your headlights on?” Penn asks.

“No. It’s the middle of the day,” I state as I shake my head. What the hell is he even talking about?

“Oh, yeah, sometimes they like them on…you know, as a courtesy,” he says.

I shake my head and turn on the lights. “OK, but I’ve never heard of that in my life.”

Just as my mind begins to go back to Sophia once more, another truck honks.

“What the fuck is going on? Did the back not lock? Is there a dead body hanging out of the car? Did one of you idiots leave your baggage on the roof?” I say loudly.

There is complete silence in the car for about half a second and then all four of my passengers burst out laughing. I turn my head to look at them and Penn pumps his fist up and down in the international sign you give to truckers to ask them to honk their horn.

I grab a handful of M&M’s from the center console and chuck them at my friends.

“You are cleaning that later!” Sophia yelps in between laughter.

“Five-second rule,” Rex says as he grabs a few from the ground and stuffs them in his mouth.

“That is nasty, man! Penn’s feet were there two days ago,” Jordan says as he tries to pick up a few stray candies near his feet.

“Hey! My feet are gorgeous! Even Paris Fashion Week reporters agreed,” he protests.

“Fuck off, Penn! They all agreed those sandals were gorgeous. Your feet did not land you the title of Sexiest Man Alive,” I point out.

Rex holds out his hand to Jordan like he has a microphone. “Penn Baker, can you tell us what it’s like to have feet that gorgeous?” Rex mimics a young woman’s voice.

“Well, not everyone can have perfect feet, Robin. It’s just…a gift,” Jordan tries to mimic Penn’s voice.

This causes Sophia to lose it. She’s laughing so hard she starts crying.

“Oh no, you guys broke Sophia,” Penn teases as he tosses her a box of tissues from the back.

“Plus, we all know the real foot favorite is Tate,” Rex states as Sophia wipes her cheeks.

“Why is that?” Sophia asks as Rex hands her some Pringles.

“You haven’t heard what the ladies say about our Tate?” Penn asks with a giant smirk.

Sophia frowns.

“OK, that’s quite enough of that,” I state with a pointed look.

“What?” Sophia whispers.

“I’m right here,” I groan.

“That Tate is perfect…everywhere,” Penn whispers loudly.

“Everywhere?” Sophia asks. I look in the rearview mirror and we lock gazes.

“Everywhere,” Penn mutters.

Now it’s me that smirks because I’m a jackass and I can’t help it. Sophia’s cheeks turn red, but she doesn’t turn away as we continue to stare at each other for a long second. When I finally look back at the road, I’m left wondering what Sophia’s body looks like. My imagination kicks into overdrive as I listen to her singing along to a hip-hop song. From the little glimpses I’ve seen, and if it’s anything like her voice, then her body must be perfect. And I should definitely stop thinking about it. But I can’t. And fuck me, I don’t want to stop thinking about it either.

CHAPTERFIFTEEN

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