Page 32 of Untouchable

“Basically—”

Tabitha holds a finger up to stop me. “Ah, ah. Nobasically, noin a nutshell. I said every detail. I know your short-term memory isn’tthatbad. Come on.”

I let out a sigh, sitting on the bed next to her to properly recall the conversation. “I told him that days like yesterday make me want to get out of town. That it brings up memories that I find are easier to run away from. So he saidwe should.When I asked for clarification he said that we should hit a highway to nowhere so I can teach him how to sit with his feelings.”

Her hands fly out to rest on top of mine. “Oh my god!” she coos.

My face falls, my eyes rolling on instinct. “Yeah, then he invited Mikey and Bodine to go with us.”

Her face scrunches. “Oh…why?” she whispers as if she should somehow know the answer already.

I toss my hands up. “I have no idea. Maybe they’re a throuple.” Her head falls back in laughter, causing me to do the same.

“Could you imagine?” She barely gets the words out through her laughter and gasping for air.

“No. But they’d be the hottest throuple ever.” I tease, making us both double over in laughter again. The sound of my phone going off causes us to finally regain our composure, and I pick it up from the bed.

Ace

How long do you need to do laundry and be ready to hit the road?

Me

I haven’t even told my dad that we’re planning to go yet, can we leave tomorrow?

Ace

Sure thing.

Me

I’ll be the sleepy looking blonde with a jam packed duffle bag on the sidewalk.

Ace

I’ll be the one with coffee in hand and a bandana on.

“Oh my gosh, is heflirtingwith you?!” Tabitha yanks my phone out of my hand, startling me.

“Or trying to make sure I don’t fall asleep on the back of a motorcycle.” I yank it back, re-reading the texts with a new perspective.

She rolls off of my bed, stopping in the doorway. “Keep denying it all you want, Kat, but that man just invited you on a road trip as his backpack and is fully flirting with you in those texts. Once you finally choose to see it, it’s impossible to ignore.”

She finally dismisses herself and I fall back on my bed, looking through the texts between Ace and me—no matter how few they are—trying to see if there may be any truth to her words. The fact is, things can be interpreted any way you want to see them. I mean, stalkers have to get their fuel to think someone loves them from somewhere. As much as I’d like to think Ace may be showing a softer side of himself to me, I won’t know for sure until I feel it in my gut. Right now things are still teetering on the line of him just being the friendly, loyal to my father, club VP who was my best friend once upon a forever ago, and the man who might actually be seeing me with a fresh pair of eyes for the first time ever.

I suppose only time will tell. And I’m about to have plenty of that as Ace’sbackpack—as Tabitha called it. I can’t fight the butterflies of excitement I feel over this trip the more I think about it. Which is a refreshing surprise, seeing as how my feelings are usually cemented between anxiety and depression when I prepare to run from the past. This time, though, I’m taking a little piece of my past with me. A piece that doesn’t hurt quite as badly as the rest—a piece I never fully let go of—and I’m excited to see what happens when we’re together for longer than a few hours, and not in the midst of a full-blown tragedy. I hop up, grab my laundry basket, and put my headphones on, trying to focus on the task at hand, and not on the texts from Ace that Tabitha has me overthinking.

Tryingbeing the keyword.

It should not be this big of a deal to decide what underwear to pack, or what clothes I’m going to sleep in—but I’m going onthe road with three guys, and for the first time ever those things seem of high importance.

Stop overthinking it, Kat.

I dump the entire basket into the washing machine, shaking my head as I start the cycle and run to my room to get ready for dinner with my dad. We haven’t had dinner together in what feels like forever, and while I’m super excited to get the chance, I’m also insanely nervous to tell him I’m about to be going on a road trip with not one butthreeof his guys. With no known destination or expected return date. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if he locked me in my old bedroom and told me that would be happening over his dead body. Here’s to hoping he trusts me enough to make my own decisions.

“Hey Sweetie, I’m glad you suggested dinner tonight. It’s been too long.” I take a deep breath as my dad wraps his arms around me.

“I know, I feel like it’s been ages since I’ve been home.” My childhood home hasn’t changed since the day I left. Mom always loved the way the old wood floors creaked, so they’ve never been replaced. The rugs she picked out for every room get cleaned every few months, and Dad keeps her favorite plants watered, only replacing them when they throw a fit and die anyway. The blue and white Chinoiserie decor she collected still sits around the house, and I always make it a point to bring fresh flowers for her favorite vase Dad keeps in the center of the dining table. Basically, Mom is still all over this house. It brings me a sense of comfort and longing that I can never seem to balance quite right. Because while I know she’s gone, it always feels like she shouldbe walking through the door any minute to tell us all about the day she’s had.

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