I Am Free
Page 19
He held the blue raspberry lollipop out for me with a crooked smile. “Been saving all of these for you.”
“My momma always told me not to take candy from a stranger,” I quipped, taking the lollipop anyway—there was no way I was passing up blue raspberry. It was my favorite.
“Guess it’s a good thing I’m not a stranger.” He winked.
I unwrapped the lollipop and stuck it in my mouth. “Mmm,” I hummed, “that’s good.”
He laughed and grabbed one for himself. Sour apple.
We grew quiet for a moment, and then he broke the silence. “This feels good. It feels like you never left.”
I sighed, looking down at the worn ends of my shoes. “I wish I’d never left,” I muttered.
“Is it really that bad?” He asked. “College, I mean.”
I pulled the lollipop from my mouth. “I don’t know whether it’s college or me.”
“Ah, I see.” He nodded.
“You know me,” I continued, “I hate being confined. I thought once I graduated high school I’d be free to wander the world and do what I wanted, but then I felt like I needed to go to school, and maybe it is what I need but it’s not what I want.”
“So…maybe you take next year off,” he suggested.
“But I don’t know if that’s what I want. That’s the problem. I’m so confused.”
“What’s something you do want?” The white end of the lollipop stuck out between his lips.
“Well,” I slid the barstool back and kicked my feet up on the counter, “I wanted to go on a road trip and my so-called friends bailed. Assholes.” I muttered the last part under my breath.
He chuckled, crossing his arms over his chest. “Because you’re such a delight to hang out with twenty-four-seven.”
I stuck my now blue tongue out at him.
Sobering, he walked around and sat on the empty barstool beside me. “Why don’t we go on a road trip?”
My eyes widened in surprise. “Me and you?”
“Sure, why not?” He shrugged, crunching down on his lollipop and chewing the candy. “I mean, we’re friends, I just finished restoring my Mustang, and getting out of here for a little while wouldn’t be the worst thing ever.”
“Would your dad let you take off work for that long? My plan was to head south and then west all the way to California to visit Liam,” I said, referring to my cousin who was only a few months older than me and like a brother, “and then come back up the northern route.”
“My dad won’t care.” Dean shrugged, tossing the lollipop stick in the direction of the trashcan. It hit the edge and bounced off. Dean never had much aim. It was a good thing he stuck to fixing cars and playing music. I didn’t think he went anywhere without his guitar.
Excitement flooded my body, nearly bubbling over.
“Are you sure?” I asked him one last time.
“Positive.”
“We’re really going to do this?”
He nodded.
“Thank you!” I squealed, nearly falling to the floor in my haste to hug him.
“Whoa,” he grunted in surprise when my body collided into his. He wrapped his arms around me, hugging me back.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” I said a thousand more times before smacking a kiss against his stubbled cheek. “This is going to be epic.”
Before he could respond, I was out the door and down the steps.
I had a road trip to pack for.