Page 26 of Side Trip

Dylan spun the paper so that he could read it. “What was that one?” He flipped it back around.

“See the Grand Canyon.” She lifted her hands, gesturing around her.Duh.

He wasn’t so sure about that. “Truth?”

“Is that another dare, as in you dare me to listen to what you really think?”

He shrugged.

Joy folded her arms on the table. “Okay. I’m all ears.”

Dylan leaned forward. “You seemed bored out of your gourd today. A grumpy grandpa at a rock concert shows more enthusiasm than you did out there.”

Joy’s face fell. She looked away and Dylan silently cursed.Dick.“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. It’s just ... I don’t know.” He shrugged and leaned back in the chair. It wasn’t his place to judge.

“No, you’re right,” she said, looking back at him. Her eyes glistened, and Dylan felt rotten. He’d put those tears there.

“This wasthe somethingJudy had always wanted to do.” She ducked her chin and picked at her half-finished burger. “I never had any interest.”

Dylan gave her a moment before he asked. “If you wrote a bucket list, what is something you’ve always wanted to do?” He genuinely wanted to know.

Joy rested her chin in her hand. “When I was younger, my friend Taryn and I hung out at the skate park a lot. We did all the tricks the boys did, if not better. Kickflips, heelflips, pop-shove its, you name it.”

Dylan grinned. “I have no idea what you just said.”

Joy smiled. “My favorite was when I’d push my board straight up a wall and catch air. There’s this split second of weightlessness and I’d hover above the ramp before I dropped hard. My heart would be in my throat and my stomach in my chest, and I’d wonder: Can I land this? It’s that spot, right there beyond the boundary of chaos and control that I craved. Same with Taryn. It drove us to the park every free afternoon.”

She stopped talking, her gaze far off, her mind remembering, and Dylan just stared, absorbing this new-to-him side of Joy. A side he suspected she kept under wraps.

“You never answered my question,” he said. “What is something you’ve always wanted to do?”

“Skydive.”

Really?

He grinned. “You’re a risk-taker, Joy. Who knew?”

Her eyes glittered. “Have you done it?”

“No, but I want to. The rush would be incredible.”

“Better than skateboarding. Someday, maybe.”

“What if today is someday?”

“Impossible. We don’t have time. I don’t have the money either.”

Dylan’s gaze tracked down her list, landing ondo something dangerous. He remembered the last time he and Chase were in this area touring with their dads and the guy they’d met at a bar. He pulled out the road map he’d been forced to use on this trip. Damn, he missed Google Maps.

“Is that a real map?”

“Rare as they may be, they do still exist.” He grinned and unfolded the map.

“You can borrow my phone.”

“I’m good.” His gaze skimmed the map grid until he found what he was looking for, a two-hour drive from where they currently were. It would then take them another six to get to Albuquerque, assuming they could do what he had in mind before sunset. Still, they wouldn’t roll into town until somewhere between midnight and dawn.

Dylan refolded the map and set it aside. “I want to take a side trip.”

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