Page 70 of Stops Along the Way
Though I can’t see his face as clearly as I once did, I am without a doubt certain of the look he’s giving me now. One that saysI know there’s more to it than that because I know you.One that reignites the hope I’ve been keeping boxed up and hidden away.
“But we were getting along so well all of freshman year. I thought maybe—”
“Okay, I’ll admit that was part of the problem,” I confess, unwilling or maybe unable to hear him say what I’m almost certain he was about to. “At least on my end. Distance was probably a good thing.”
This time, the silence prolongs far past my comfort level. For the next hour, a full album plays through as we finally escape the city traffic to smoother sailing on the open road.
Declan nods ahead to an off-ramp. “We should fill up the tank.”
We wind off the highway and to an empty station. Declan rolls down the window and talks to me from the outside as he pays for the gas. It’s noisy, but when I squint and smile apologetically, he automatically knows he needs to repeat.
Declan leans against the car door and arches an eyebrow. “All right, what if we hash this out over a Rivalry match or something? Or collaborate again and develop an expansion pack for Stops Along the Way? The publisher might be interested in that since it’s still selling boxes.”
“I can’t fully believe that people actually have our game on their shelves with other real board games.”
He nods and steps to the side to put away the pump and close the tank. As he gets back into the car, he admits, “Alison asked me about it once and got a little weird when I told her that you and I had developed it together. Then, a few days later, she offered to alphabetize my game collection and basically pushed our game box all the way to the back.”
I cringe that he brought up his ex again. “That doesn’t seem great.”
“Looking back on it, no, it really doesn’t.”
I never met Alison, but from the light social media stalking I definitely did when they started dating—before I limited my exposure to his posts—I gleaned that they’re probably both statistics majors, so it seems likely that Declan will still have more classes with her before graduation.
Why am I feeling so jealous? Up until an hour ago, I thought they were still together, and that stirred up less jealousy in me than him talking about his former relationship now.
“Wait, did you want me to drive?” I ask before we can pull away from the station.
“Oh, sure.” Declan hops out of the car, and we walk around to swap seats, our arms brushing as we cross paths.
We settle back into the SUV, and I adjust the driver’s seat and mirrors. The traffic is dissipating even more, and we gained back an hour crossing into Central time, but our ETA is well after midnight.
“Another couple hours and then we can find some food?” I suggest.
“That sounds perfect.”
.....
We make small talk throughout the drive, the topic of wedding plus-ones and exes left many miles behind, and the ease of conversation makes it painfully apparent just how much Declan has been a missing piece in my life. When it’s time to grab dinner, he hears my stomach grumbling and takes the next off-ramp. “We could order in the drive-through,” he suggests. “But then eat in the car.”
“Like in the back seat or something?” I ask, not too keen to stay stuck in the SUV, although the view through the unwashed windows of this middle-of-nowhere restaurant doesn’t look particularly inviting, either. “I need a little change of scenery.”
“Yeah, that sounds good.”
We order, collect our food, and park beneath a streetlamp to the side of the building. Declan gets out of the car to walk around to the back while I climb over the seats to join him, having to lean forward again to grab my water bottle.
He pulls the burgers out of the bag, keeping the one without cheese for himself as he hands me the other. “Thanks,” I say, unwrapping the paper and reaching for the next easy topic of conversation that I’m surprised we haven’t broached yet. “How’s Grady doing? He always reminds me to vote in every possible election.”
Declan finishes a big bite and holds a few fries in his hand as he responds. “He’s working like three different jobs at once but claims he loves it. I don’t know how he’s going to manage to avoid burnout, though. What about your sister?”
I shake my head. “Amelia doesn’t seem sure where she wants to land next summer yet.”
“There’s still time until she graduates.”
“Have you figured out what you want to do for work after we finish school?” I rush to eat more of my burger, because if there’s food in my mouth, I can at least momentarily prevent myself from referring to me and him as aweagain.
“I’ve been narrowing in on scientific research, like analyzing data in the public health field most likely.”
“Interesting. I was wondering what you’d do with statistics.”
