Page 69 of I Choose You
Seb: You’re fucking nuts, dude.
Wyatt: Just drive safe. And get off the road if you need to.
I put my phone away. When did they all become somepansies? It was a little snow. I knew how to drive in winter conditions. Hell, I spent two winters plowing for the town. We didn’t get much for snow, but I was out there during all of it. I could handle myself. And I would never put Claire in jeopardy if I thought it was dangerous.
I picked Claire up the next morning, surprising her with two coffees. I hadn’t realized how long it had been since I had been in Flour Power until I stepped foot in there this morning. Kayleigh wasn’t working, but it wouldn’t have mattered even if she was. She had obviously been the reason I stopped going in there months ago, and then Claire started picking up coffees, so there hadn’t been a reason for me to go there. I felt lighter somehow. Even though I hadn’t run into Kayleigh, just knowing that I could have made me realize that I didn’t care anymore. Kayleigh didn’t hold a place in my mind or in my heart.
That spot was taken up by someone else. It seemed crazy. I never expected to fall for her, but she blew into my life and blew apart all of my defenses. I knew without a doubt that I was in love with her. Whatever the future held for us, I didn’t know, but if right now was all we had, I would gladly take it.
“Oh, boy,” Claire said when she saw the box truck. “This should be a comfortable ride.”
I just chuckled and helped her into the truck. She wasn’t wrong. It was going to be a rough seven hours on the road.
The truck bounced along the highway as Claire sang along to the music. She’d plugged her phone into the auxiliary port so she could put on her playlist, which meant she knew every word to every. single. song. She was absolutely adorable, but my head was starting to pound behind my eyes.
Snow was coming down in small flakes. My dad always saidsmall flakes meant big snow, big flakes meant small snow. I wasn’t sure how true that was, but it looked like it held weight today. The wind started picking up about four hours into the drive, causing the less-than-aerodynamic truck to jerk and sway with the gusts.
The snow continued to fall harder and faster. Almost no one else was on the road except for the plows and sanders. Visibility was turning to shit.
“Hey, do you think we can turn that down for a bit? Not that I don’t love your voice,” I smirked. It was hot as hell in here, but I couldn’t turn the heat off, otherwise the windshield would fog up instantly. I put the window down a bit to try to get some air, pulling the sleeves of my sweatshirt up to my elbows.
“Are you alright?” she asked, turning off the music entirely.
“Yeah, you don’t need to turn it off. I just have a headache.” It was probably from trying to stare out this windshield through the accumulating snow and keep this sailboat of a truck on the road.
“You don’t look very good. Why don’t we pull over and switch spots?”
I laughed with mock outrage in my tone.
“I’m serious. Pull over and let me drive for a bit.”
“No chance. This thing handles like shit on a good day, and we’re in the middle of a fucking blizzard.”
A chill swept through me, causing me to shiver. I pulled my sleeve down again and rolled up the window.
Claire tapped around on her phone for a minute. The robotic voice of the GPS lady spoke out, telling me to take the next exit in four miles.
“We should still be hours away,” I said.
“We’re getting off now and checking into a hotel.”
“I have a cabin for us a few hours away. Let’s just get there.” Even as the words came out of my mouth, I knew I wouldn’t make it. I was suddenly extremely tired. My head felt heavy yet drained. My body was heating up again, and I had to roll down the window a bit. Shit. I was in no condition to drive, especially through a blizzard like this. If I lost focus and something happened to Claire, I would never forgive myself. I put on my blinker and took the exit.
Claire rubbed my shoulder as I maneuvered down the town streets to the hotel she had plugged into her GPS. The roads looked like they hadn’t been touched by a plow or a sander. The box truck trudged through inches of piled-up snow, leaving the only trail of tire tracks visible.
The hotel came into view, and I pulled into the parking lot a moment later. I took a deep breath, my tired body dreading having to get out of the truck.
“Stay there,” I told Claire. I grabbed both of our bags and tramped through a foot and a half of snow to get to her door. She wore winter boots, but they weren’t going to be tall enough to protect her jeans from getting soaked. “Are you going to be okay to walk in this?”
“Yeah. Let’s just get you inside before you collapse,” she said. I wanted to laugh at her exaggeration, but it felt pretty damn accurate right about now. Claire took her bag from my grip and slung it across her back. Holding it with one hand, she gripped my hand with the other. I wasn’t sure if I was supporting her or if she was supporting me.
The front desk was empty, but only a minute later, a woman came out from a back room to check us in.
“What’s the name on the reservation?” she asked.
“We don’t have a reservation. We were passing through when the snow got to be too much. Do you have anything available?” Claire asked.
The woman looked to me and then back to Claire. “I’m sure I can find you a room,” she said kindly. “Hold on one second.”
