Page 67 of Grounded
"Well maybe on top of a dinner date with Dylan, he'll pay for your deductible, too."
"I can't believe this. I need a car," she says while she frantically texts on her phone, no doubt asking her dad to come pick us up.
"Call you insurance and see if they'll send a tow truck."
"My dad will take care of it."
"Can't you do it?"
"I wouldn’t know what to say."
"You're almost thirty and you've never had to deal with your insurance company before?"
"My dad took care of all that stuff for me. Don't tell me your momneverdid things like that for you? Make doctor appointments? Force you to see the dentist?"
"No, never." I evade the truth well because, while she never made appointments for me, she reminded me to floss daily since I didn't have access to regular dental care.
"Shit, my dad can't be here for an hour. He and your mom are thirty minutes from home, which will take another thirty minutes to get here with all this traffic."
"Awesome. If you don't mind, I'm going to take a nap." I lean my chair back until it's horizontal and cross my arms over my lap.
"Umm, yes, I do mind." Amelia grabs hold of my wrist and yanks me up. Gosh she's strong. "I'm not sitting here in silence."
"So turn on the radio," I suggest.
"We're stuck in the same place with nothing to do, and you're going to sleep?"
"Would you rather go in the backseat and do other stuff?" I ask with a straight face.
Maybe she contemplates it for a split second, but she quickly objects.
"No! Can we talk about what the hell happened last night?"
Oh yeah, my truce. The cease-fire I planned on having with her. "Sounds like you fucked around and found out. I found out a lot, too."
"Okay, you caught me. You're fucking hot, and of course I am curious what you have going on"—she waves her hand above my crotch and I can feel myself getting thick through my jeans—"down there."
What I wouldn't give for a handjob on the shoulder of this busy highway right now.
"Was that a good idea telling you that right now? Probably not," she admits. "But seeing as how you cannot stand to be around me without declaring war, I figured maybe we should pretend we don't exist for the sake of our parent's feelings, or I'm finding a cheap hotel to stay in."
Oh hell no she's not getting a hotel. Over my dead body. I wouldn’t say we are buddy-buddy just yet, but we’re on our way.
"Our parents seem fine, if you haven't noticed," I say instead.
"Not my dad. Because you don't even give him the time of day. And don't deny it. I noticed. He noticed. And I think yourmomeven noticed."
Fair assumption because she's right. I don't like her father, and he will never take my dad's place. That will be a conversation for another day.
And it's here in this moment that a light bulb burns bright.
Why am I putting myself through all this when I don't even like Bruce? To see if I can conquer Amelia? Is she a test to pass or a notch in my belt? What the hell is my end game here?
"What do you want from me?" I ask her.
"I don't even know. I don't want to fight with you like this. Can you imagine how pleasant life could be if we got along?"
"Is that possible for us?"
