Page 112 of Imogen

Imogen

Music blasts out of the speaker as I belt out the lyrics to a Taylor Swift song at the top of my lungs. Because if anyone deserves the theatrics, it’s the mother of all music.

Ben shakes his head as he pulls into the space at a service station and hears Hayden, Madison, Hope, Ciara and Amelia doing the same.

It’s how we roll. Maddox, Mark, and Liam are all driving with Clay, so I decided to jump in with Ben. If he stays with me after my off-key singing the entire ride so far, then he’s a keeper. Charlotte is the only one of us who can hold a real tune but she isn’t coming up until tomorrow—with Drew, Landon, and Paisley.

Hayden throws open her door, “My sex is on fire.”

“Go to the doctors then, you freak,” Liam yells back.

“He does realise she brought her bat, right?” Ben asks.

“Um, she won’t use it,” I promise him.

“Why are they giving Clay and Amelia money?” he asks, pulling his attention away from Liam.

I hand him a twenty. “Um, we’re kind of banned from going inside so I need you to get me a burger and fries.”

“How do you get banned from a service station?”

I lower my gaze. “You just do. It was Aiden’s fault, in case you want to know. We had nothing to do with it.”

“I’m sure they won’t remember you,” he tells me.

“You can’t come in here,” a frazzled man calls out, racing over with a black bag in one hand and a litter picker in the other.

Hayden jumps on the hood of Hope’s car as I get out. “Calm down, old man. We aren’t going in there.”

“You can’t be out here,” he tells her.

“No. The letter clearly states we aren’t to go inside the premises. We’re outside. And the quicker you leave us alone, the quicker we can leave,” she tells him.

“How?” Amelia breathes as she clutches Maddox’s hand.

“It was all Aiden,” he swears as Ben meets me at the front of his car. He lifts me up so I can sit on the bonnet.

“You chased me around the car park,” the man accuses.

“You took my food and I wasn’t finished. I wanted it back,” Maddox argues.

“I’ll go get your food,” Ben mutters and kisses my cheek instead of taking the money.

Amelia races off after Ben, probably thinking the same. The quicker she gets it, the quicker we can leave. “Do not leave without me,” she orders, pointing at them.

“We aren’t going anywhere,” Hayden promises and grins over at me. “How’s he taking the live concert?”

“Like a champ,” I beam. It’s the only way we know how to travel. Belt those tunes out and if the set list isn’t finished, we drive around until it is.

As Ciara pulls her into a conversation along with Madison, Hope comes to sit down next to me on the car bonnet.

“You glad to be out of Coldenshire for a little bit?”

“Yes,” I confess. “I want to believe Zach has backed off, but now that he has, I feel more on edge, like the other shoe is about to drop.”

“I knew he would take a break up hard if it was you ending it, but I never thought he would go to this extreme. It’s crazy. He’s crazy. But we’re here for you. You know that.”

“I know. And I love that you guys have had my back.”

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