Page 20 of Passenger Princess

AVA

Jaime picks me up bright and early from my apartment and helps me haul my shit down to the SUV. I ended up fitting it all into the two suitcases and one smaller duffel, a purse, and a "car bag" stuffed to the brim. I did my best, really, I did.

When everything is in, I grab my car bag and start to set up the passenger seat for myself, pulling out my fluffy pink blanket.

"What are you doing?" he asks, his hand on the top of the car door, watching me as I drape my blanket over the seat just in case I get chilly.

"What?"

"Get in the car. What are you doing?"

"I'm setting up my seat. We've got, like, a four-hour drive."

Reaching into my bag, I pull out my water bottle and place it in the pocket on the side of the door, followed by a few snacks for easy reach. Finally, I take out a book, my clear and pink pouch with a letterAon it stuffed with pens, tabs, and highlighters, my headphones, my Nintendo Switch, and my phone before finally sliding into the seat and buckling in. He continues to stand here, hand-on thedoorframe, showing off arms I definitely should not think look delicious.

"A real passenger princess, aren't you?"

"The only real way to travel," I say with a smile.

He rolls his eyes, checking to make sure nothing is hanging out of the car before slamming the door shut.

And then we're off on our adventure.

Jaime is silent as we drive to our first stop in Connecticut. Each time I attempt to start a conversation with him, he grunts out the most basic reply before going completely quiet again, the only noise in the car being the sound of the GPS giving the occasional direction.

Finally, I set down my game and sigh. “I’m bored.”

“We’ve only been in the car for an hour.”

“But it’s been aboringhour.”

“You’re in for a boring summer if you can’t entertain yourself for an hour on a road trip. We’ll be doing a lot of driving in the next three months. Weren’t you just playing a video game?” he asks, and I frown.

“Yeah, but I need to make a pink flower, and I can’t figure it out.”

“What kind of game are you playing where you need to make flowers?”

“A cozy faerie game,” I say with a smile.

“No wonder you’re bored,” he says under his breath. and I roll my eyes before shifting in my seat, smiling at the big man beside me.

“Let’s play twenty questions.”

“What?”

“Twenty questions. I get twenty questions to ask about you.”

There's a pause before he responds. “I don’t think that’s how you play that game.”

“We’re playing twenty questions,Ava’s version.” He sighs, and itmakes me smile wider. Something about knowing I’m getting under his skin makes me giggle and fills me with sunshine.

“Why do you want to ask me questions?” he asks.

“I’ve decided I want to get to know you, Jaime Wilde.”

“What?”

“We’re going to be stuck together for the entire summer, a lot of it will be spent with just the two of us. Shouldn’t we know a bit about each other?”

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