Page 17 of The Road Trip Romance

“Come on, Cal,” Tate says slowly as the two of them walk down the stairs. Penn holds out the tablet and takes a selfie of their group.

“There you go, kiddo,” he says, handing it back to her.

“Thanks, my friends are going to freak out!” she exclaims as she shoves the tablet back into her bag.

“Uh, Cal, Lizzie, why don’t you go grab snacks for hockey camp? I don’t know if Dad had time to get any today,” I lie because I’m pretty sure Tate needs a minute with his friends.

“OK,” Cal says as he and Lizzie go into the kitchen, whispering excitedly to each other. Shit, it’s only going to be a matter of hours before our entire town knows half of Hollywood is in my house.

“How did you…did Carol tell you about my asking for Sophia’s address?” Tate stammers as he looks at his friends. I step back, wanting to give them privacy, but Tate steps behind me, essentially blocking me from leaving and also making me feel like a human shield.

“I may have bribed her. Also, you’re an idiot and took the bag we tossed that extra Air Tag in a few weeks ago,” Jordan says.

Tate swallows. “Listen. I appreciate you guys coming, but…you need to leave.”

“Tate, bro, we need to talk,” Penn says.

“No, no—” Tate starts.

“Holy shit! I thought you said it was just Tate Anders!” Mark’s voice comes from the front door.

“Who is that?” Tate snarls.

“That would be my ex-husband, here to pick up the kids,” I reply dryly.Thisis going to be interesting.

CHAPTEREIGHT

Tate

Sophia’s ex stares at me and then at my friends. I wish I could say this is an unusual response, but this is far from the only time we’ve left someone shocked. I still remember the first time we ever went out to dinner together. It was in LA and the waitress kept stuttering the entire time. I felt horrible for her. We left her a fifty percent tip.

To me, these guys are just my friends. We’re just normal people with jobs that make us well-known. I think seeing people’s surprise at us being together is more jarring than when it happens just to one of us because at least for me, when we are together, I feel like my old self, the one that existed before all this fame. So, seeing people shocked sort of pulls me out of my comfort zone amongst my friends.

Mark’s eyes find Sophia’s. She shrugs. “Sorry, we seem to have new visitors,” she squeaks. As much as I wanted to use her as a space between my friends and me a moment ago, right now, I want to shield her from her ex. Hell, I didn’t even know she wasn’t married until I got here. Is this guy cool? Should I be worried? I’ve known this woman for a whopping twenty-four hours, and yet, I feel compelled to protect her.

“Uh, I can see that,” Mark states as he looks at my friends and me.

“Oh, hey, Dad. Did you meet my new friends?” Lizzie’s voice calls out as she practically bounces back into the room.

Mark clears his throat. “Uh, yeah. Sort of. I’m Mark. Sophia’s…Lizzie and Cal’s dad,” he tries to explain. Lizzie runs over to him and wraps her arms around his waist, and he picks her up. She kisses his cheek, and he turns his attention to her for a moment, smiling at her as they rub their noses. I decide then that this guy is a decent human.

I reach out my hand, and he takes it, shaking it. “Tate Anders,” I introduce myself.

He chuckles. “I sort of knew that,” he says.

“Dad, did you get snacks? ’Cause I have these,” Cal asks as he holds up two baggies filled with chips.

“I have some yogurts,” Mark answers. He looks around at all of us again as if he is unsure of what to say.

Lizzie waves her hand in front of Mark’s face. “Earth to Dad? We gotta go. We’ll be late,” she says before giving a great pouty face.

“Right…uh, well, then, it was, uh, nice meeting you?” Mark stammers as he sets down Lizzie.

Everyone mutters responses.Fuck, this is awkward. Why are my friends here?I eye them suspiciously as Sophia walks upstairs and re-emerges a moment later with the kids’ suitcases. Cal and Lizzie grab their hockey bags.

Mark laughs at the suitcases.

“How much stuff did you guys need to bring? You know we have everything at our house, too,” he states as he looks between his children.

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