Page 12 of Open Road (Tattooed Hearts Duet 3)

“Yeah, I think that will do just fine.”

“Come on. We better help pack before Lenn makes us start to color coordinate.”

Panic crossed my face as I quickly zipped up my pants and grabbed his hand. “Shit, you’re so right. I’m not going to wear all blue again.”

Simon snickered at my expense, remembering our ill-fated Halloween costumes, but he followed along, making my heart full.

I might complain about missing my bike, but I’d give it up forever if it meant I got to do life with them. Lennox and Simon were my forever, stupid van and all.

ChapterEight

LENNOX

Kissingmy brother on the head one last time, I promised my parents to give them calls and texts every few days on our progress. I’d almost made it out the door when my dad pulled me back into his arms, hugging me tight again.

“Be careful, pumpkin. I trust Slade, Simon, and Thane, but be careful.”

“I will, Dad. You know they won’t let anything happen to me.”

He huffed, making a noise before kissing my forehead and finally letting me go. Taking the chance, I stepped outside as quickly as possible, so I wouldn’t be pulled back into another hugfest. Thankfully, Bubba had only required two hugs before he let us go, promising to look after the shop. It felt weird leaving it, but I knew that sometimes you couldn’t let chances pass you by or you’d miss them, and this felt like one of those moments.

Zane leaned against the van, having escaped my parents much quicker. Stepping into his waiting arms, I leaned against his chest, just listening to his heart in the warm air. A door shut, and I peered over, watching Simon and Slade as they left Si’s parents' house. They were carrying bags of goodies, and I laughed, knowing they hadn’t made it out without a mountain of food. What was it with southern moms that they had to load you up before you went on any trip?

“Does any of that need to be cold?” Zane asked.

“Yeah, some,” Simon sighed. “I told her we didn’t have room.”

“Might need to get a second cooler, not that we have much room to put one,” Slade said, huffing as he opened the back and looked into it with all our bags and totes full of supplies. “We should’ve gone with the RV. We have no room for all of our stuff.”

“It’ll be fine. Just put the cold food up front so we can eat it first,” I said, letting go of Zane and opening the side door. I made a few adjustments, bending over as I shoved things under the seats. When I peeked back up, I found all three staring at my bum.

Laughing, I shook my butt a little, enjoying their stares on me, and they looked up, one by one, to meet my eyes. The heat reflected back at me never got old, and I momentarily debated stopping back at home and having a quickie. The sun shining in my eyes reminded me that we wanted to get to St. Louis before it was too late. With a four-hour drive ahead of us, it was best to get on the road since it was already mid-afternoon.

“Keep those thoughts for later, but I think it’s best to get headed on our journey. Who’s driving first?” I asked, looking between all of them.

Slade rolled his eyes like I’d asked a stupid question and pulled the keys out of his pocket. He walked over to the driver’s side and got in, not answering. Simon rolled his too, but smiled as he grabbed my hand and pulled me into the backseat with him, leaving Zane to sit up front with his brother. It was quiet as the journey began, and Slade took the ramp onto the interstate.

“This will be the first time I’ve ever been anywhere outside of Kentucky or Tennessee,” I said, watching the hills blur as they sped by.

“Well, Slade and I are pros at checking out the hotspots. Between Babs’ list, the competitions, and our own curiosity, I think we’ll be able to have some fun,” Zane affirmed, smiling at me.

“I’m excited. I’ve only been to Florida with my grandparents, which wasn’t the best trip. So, to travel as an adult and do what we want sounds heavenly,” Simon piped in, squeezing my hand. It had been our dream to travel together growing up, and now we were getting to. I guess I owed it to Babs for making it happen.

“Now that we’re on the road properly, we need some road trip music,” Zane stated, pulling out his phone. Slade had informed us that the radio was busted, but I’d had a Bluetooth adapter that plugged into the auxiliary outlet allowing us to play whatever we wanted over the van’s speaker system.

Music began playing, a fun and upbeat tune, making me want to dance. So I did. Simon laughed as I twisted to and fro, raising my hands in the air. When the lyrics started, I began to sing along, no longer feeling shy about singing in front of people. Simon began to sing with me, and we made up our own dance as we shimmied our shoulders to the beat. When the song ended, we fell against one another, laughing.

“You’re not too bad, Si, but Peach, you gotta enter one of those contests. I love listening to you sing,” Slade said from the front.

Catching his eyes in the rearview, I saw the sincerity. Some of the old panic at singing in front of others who could judge me began to crawl up my throat, and I shook my head.

“No, I like just singing for fun. I’ve accepted that about myself. Let’s leave it at that.”

Something in Slade’s eyes told me he wouldn’t be dropping this anytime soon, so I turned and looked out the window. Pulling out a journal, I read the letter again and looked over the map as I jotted down some of the places to visit in St. Louis.

“Where’s the first competition?” I asked Si as I began to make an itinerary.

“It’s in Branson, Missouri, which is about four-ish hours, I believe, from St. Louis.”

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