Page 8 of Risk It All

“You like The Front Bottoms?”I ask, hitting their latest album.

The music starts to play, filling the car and I start to hum along.We’re in the middle of nowhere, nothing but desert stretching out on either side of us.The rain picks up, turning torrential and I nudge Emerson.

“There’s a little spot on the shoulder that you can park at until the rain slows down.”

She nods, inching her way over to it with the hazards on.We pull off of the two lane highway and onto the shoulder.We leave the hazards on but turn off the windshield wipers.They aren’t helping much anyway.

“How was last night?”she asks me after a minute and I glance over to her.

“It was fine.I lost twenty dollars on some slot machines and walked around for a bit.The best part was the Bellagio fountains.”

“‘Cause I was there?”she asks and the joke catches me off guard.

I let out a startled laugh, surprised to find that she can be funny, but the truth is that she’s kind of right.The Bellagio fountains were cool, but exploring and wandering around with Emerson had been the best part of Las Vegas.Besides the open mic, of course.

“Yeah, because you were there,” I say.

She smiles over at me and suddenly it hits me how intimate this is.We’re alone, cocooned in her car, the rain pouring down all around us.I search my brain, trying to figure out a safe topic to bring up.

The weather saves me though.Just as quick as the rain had started, it’s stopped.

“Did you want me to drive?”I ask again and I can see her trying not to yawn.

“Yeah, that would be great.”

We climb out of the car, switching seats and I take off down the empty highway.Emerson and I talk about music for a little bit and she asks me about open mics tonight.I found a few that I could try to stop by and she asks me a few questions about comedy and coming up with jokes but I can see that she’s struggling to keep her eyes open now.

I turn down the music and Emerson is asleep within minutes.I sneak a glance at her, taking in how peaceful she looks as we drive down the deserted highway.

I had been shocked yesterday when I found out the person that I had been messaging and who I had agreed to drive across the country with wasn’t some twenty-something boring guy, but a drop dead gorgeous girl who looked to be just a few years younger than me.

Copper hair, bright blue eyes, and bee stung lips.She was a total babe.

I was used to girls fawning over me and as I had stared at her over the hood of her station wagon, I had thought that she seemed interested in me.Then I remember how it had seemed like she wasn’t going to answer me.I’m pretty sure that she wanted to drive off without me.Hell, she might still wish that she had driven off without me.

Why does that thought turn me on?

Emerson wakes up a couple of miles away from Denver and starts looking up hotels for us to stay at.I’m starving and I don’t really care where we sleep at.As long as it’s cheap.

“Are you hungry?”I ask as she continues to search for the cheapest place to stay.

“Starved,” she admits.

“There’s some barbecue place.Or a little Italian restaurant,” I say, reading out the signs as we pass them.

“Italian sounds good.And it will be filling since we kind of skipped lunch.”

“Sounds good to me.”

I pull off onto the off ramp and Emerson gives me directions to the restaurant.The place is only about half full and I check the time, surprised to see that it’s already almost eight o’clock.

CHAPTER5

Emerson

“We’re sharing a bed,”I hiss into the phone as soon as Layla picks up.

“What?”Layla asks and it sounds like she’s out somewhere.

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