Page 127 of Never With You
“Speaking of getting married,” Camila says. “Did I tell you guys that my little sister is engaged?”
“Whoa.” My eyes widen. “She’s only been dating that guy for a little while.”
“Two months.” Camila’s voice is stern. As my friend who doesn’t believe in marriage, I’m sure she’s not a fan of the quick timeline for her baby sister. She’s always been a protective older sister. I can only imagine the amount of friction this is causing between them. “This engagement is ridiculous and will never last if I have anything to say about it.”
“Maybe it will.” Emma shrugs with a hopeful smile.
“I doubt it.” Camila huffs. “They’re having an engagement party in a few weeks. One of those destination weekends to celebrate. But instead of celebrating, I’ll be trying the whole time to convince her this is a mistake.”
“That’s awful!” Emma frowns. “You need to be a supportive sister.”
“That is me being a supportive sister.”
Vinny turns his focus to Nate. “When are you two going to get married?”
Nate’s smile tips into something adorable as he looks at me. “As soon as I can convince this woman she can’t live without me.”
“You’ve already convinced me of that.” I meet his sparkling eyes before turning to the group. “But for now, we’re just taking things slow and trying to get to know each other better.”
“And by that, Carly means they’ll be engaged by the end of summer and married next year.” Juliet laughs.
“Hey, that’s not a bad idea.” Nate puts his arm around me. “Maybe I’ll propose on the cliffs of the rope swing in Moab.”
“Are you guys doing that?” Blair asks.
“Yeah, I’m taking Nate next month. He’s never been. It’ll be our first official adventure as a couple.”
“What was Thailand?” Juliet asks.
“Thailand was fake,” I answer.
“No.” Nate shakes his head. “Thailand was the beginning. Every other adventure is forever.”
I smile, liking the sound of that.
* * *
I can't helpbut roll my eyes as Nate holds his phone up to show me a picture of a restaurant. “This is the place. It’s a little far, but it’ll be worth it once we get there.”
“We didn’t need to find a restaurant. My itinerary had plenty to choose from by our hotel.” I lean back in my seat, feeling tension creep in. “But instead, we’re riding all the way across town for some place you saw online.”
“Don’t be mad. Or be mad because you’re so cute when you’re grumpy.” He nuzzles close, his usual carefree smile spreading across his face. “Trust me. You’ll thank me later.”
My lips roll together, fighting a smile. I look out the window, watching the city of Tokyo rush by, but all I can think about is how much I’d rather be exploring back in the city by our hotel. Anything but sitting on a bus for what feels like forever.
The bus jerks a little, and I look up to find the driver pulling over to the side of the road. My stomach drops. This is exactly the kind of adventure Ididn'twant.
“What's going on?” I mutter, more to myself than to Nate.
The driver pops the bus door open, hops out, and checks the engine. Local passengers begin gathering their stuff and exiting the bus like they know something we don’t. I watch as they walk past my window, leaving us in awkward silence as we sit there.
Out of nowhere, Nate starts laughing. Not just a chuckle, but full-on, gut-deep laughter. I blink at him, and something about the irony of the moment makes me crack. I laugh too, uncontrollably, and soon we’re both just sitting there, wiping tears from our eyes. The whole situation is ridiculous, but I can’t stop.
“Well, that didn’t go as planned,” Nate says through his laughter, still shaking his head.
“Yeah, no kidding. We should’ve followed my itinerary,” I tease, but there’s warmth in my voice. I’m not mad anymore. How can I be? It’s us, together, on a broken-down bus in the middle of nowhere. It’s the kind of adventure I love.
“Maybe we should get off too. I don’t think this bus will start again.” Nate grabs my hand, and as we step off onto the roadside.
