“You know, me, Kendall, Shauna, Robbie, Alex, Jimmy, and Drew.” She shrugged. “And we all think you need to relax a bit. You’re way too uptight and you can really be a bit of a downer. And seriously, all the talk about books is incredibly boring.”
“Alex said we should just give you a break because he knows how obnoxious the guys can be,” Bianca explained.
“Oh, well…that was nice of him.”
“But Drew thinks you’re just uptight and need to…” She paused and blushed. “Well, never mind. In that one instance, he was a little crude.”
“No, please…tell me what…Drew,” she said through clenched teeth, “had to say.”
“He might have mentioned something about…needing a good…you know…just a night of hard…” She stopped and cleared her throat. “There are a ton of studies on the importance of a good orgasm, Chels. Have you read any of them?” Then she had the nerve to giggle. “Maybe that’s the kind of book you should be narrating!”
“Okay, that’s not what I meant. Not exactly,” he clarified. “It’s obvious you can’t stand me or Jimmy, so I just choose not to…you know…poke the bear. It’s one night a week that I go and hang out with my friends; why would I choose to try to chat someone up who clearly can’t stand me?”
“And yet here we are taking this stupid trip together! Why would you even offer to do this? Although at this rate, the only thing we’re going to be seeing is both coasts of Long Island.”
And yes, that was a dig!
“We’re going to see more than the Island! Jeez, who knew you could be a drama queen too? I thought that was all reserved for Bianca.”
“Hey! Stop picking on her!”
“Just stating the facts,” he argued lightly. “I call them as I see them. And from what I can see…shit!”
“Now what?”
“I missed the exit to the Grand Central because I was too busy arguing with you!” Another colorful string of curses was out before he seemed to calm down. “Look, can we just agree to drive in silence until we get to the airport?”
“Fine by me. I’m not the one who’s directionally challenged, and talking with you only leads to things going wrong so…” She made a zipping motion across her lips and decided the best way for her to spend her time was to look for other flights. It didn’t matter if he got them turned around and onto the correct parkway, there was no way they were going to park and get through security in time.
But if Captain Know-It-All thought they could make it, who was she to argue?
And really, what would be the point?
So far, everything was going to plan.
Get Chelsea lost going to his place? Check.
Go to the wrong airport? Check.
He already knew all the available flights and knew exactly how he was going to handle things once they arrived at LaGuardia. But for now, he was going to relish the peace and quiet. He knew Chelsea was fairly talkative, but normally there was a group of people around and she rarely directed any conversation toward him. Having to be in this constant state of chattiness with her was already grating on his nerves.
And they’d only been on the road for an hour.
How the hell was he supposed to survive the weekend at this rate?
Jimmy’s going to owe me big time…
Taking the next exit and turning around to get back to the Grand Central exit, Drew wondered if he was really going to be able to pull this whole thing off. It was one thing to make a couple of wrong turns and go to the wrong place; it was another to pull it off all weekend long. At some point, she was going to either call BS on him or she was going to argue with him to the point that he pulled over and let her out of the car.
Who was he kidding? He wouldn’t do that. Oh, he’d fantasize about it and probably wish a thousand times over that he could, but the bottom line was he wasn’t a douche. No matter how much she provoked him, he would get through this weekend.
And then he’d consider finding some new friends.
To pass the time, Drew began to think of all the things he was going to ask from Jimmy as payback.
Season tickets to the Ranger games.
A weekend in Vegas.
And maybe, just maybe, he’d make Jimmy pick up the bar tab and all their meals for a year.
Yeah, all of them were great options and he liked having a plan.
He started seeing the signs for LaGuardia and had to bite his tongue to keep from pointing them out or making any kind of small talk. If he could get them parked–temporarily–then he could put the next phase of his plan into motion.
If he weren’t driving, he’d be rubbing his palms together like the evil genius he was.
Drew Russo…super genius.
It had a nice ring to it.
There was the usual congestion as they approached the airport, and by the time they got to the parking garage, he could tell that Chelsea was dying to reprimand him. Rather than engage, he drove at a leisurely pace until he found the perfect parking spot. Once they were parked, he turned off the car and looked at her.
“Okay, you ready?”
Her hazel eyes grew wide. “Ready? For what? The flight leaves in fifteen minutes! It will take that long just to get to out of the parking lot and to the terminal!”
“I think that’s a bit of an exaggeration.”
“Seriously? You picked the farthest spot humanly possible!”
“So we’re not even going to try?” he asked, doing his best to sound incredulous. “I thought you said you wanted to get to South Carolina as soon as possible. That’s not going to happen with your crappy attitude.”
Pulling out his phone, he checked the time, and sure enough, there was no way they would make it. But just to play it safe, he pulled up the airline app and double-checked to make sure it wasn’t delayed or something.
“Damn, it looks like it’s on time. That almost never happens,” he said. “What do you want to do?”
Resting her head back against the seat, she sighed. “There are no other direct flights available today out of this airport.” Then she turned her head and glared. “If you had just listened to me an hour ago…”
“Why look back? Ancient history, right?”
“No!” she cried. “Not right! And there’s nothing ancient about it.”
He shrugged. “Whatever. It’s not going to change anything. What’s available out of…Newark?”
“Why can’t we check Kennedy? That was a fairly short drive. I know I’m not familiar with a lot of airports, but even I know that’s closer than driving to New Jersey. At that rate, we might as well just drive to South Carolina!”
Snorting as he shook his head, he said, “There is no way I’m driving all the way to South Carolina with you.” He shuddered dramatically. “At least flying would give us the opportunity to get up and walk away from each other–and the airport is a great distraction because we could each go and do our own thing! But a drive like that is easily twelve hours or more. No thank you.”
“You know, you’re not my fantasy travel companion either. I never should have stayed at the bar with you last night. I should have just gone home and figured this out on my own. If it weren’t for you, I’d be getting my beverage service right about now!”
“Hmm…that does sound good. I could go for some coffee.” He knew she had a weakness for Starbucks. “Or maybe some tea. I’ve recently started drinking chai tea and it’s really good. You should try it.”
Her eyes closed and he could tell she was losing her patience with him. “That happens to be my drink of choice and should we ever get to an airport, I’m most certainly going to get one for myself. But for now, can we please just focus on figuring out some kind of plan of action?”
“I guess I’ll look up flights out of Newark since you can’t seem to handle it,” he murmured before letting out a long breath. “I mean, for someone so anxious to get going, you would think you would have had all our available options at the ready.”
“I was! I was trying to find a flight out of here since this is where we already are!” she cried before she continued to mumble under her breath about what a complete moron he was.
He’d been called worse, so…
Drew already knew the flight options. And even though Kennedy was closer, and had several flights available, he wasn’t going there. He had a plan for Newark, and at this rate, he knew they’d miss them too.
“There’s a noon flight out of Newark. It takes an hour to get there so we’ll be cutting it close…”
“It’s sold out!”
“Is it? Oh, okay, let me keep searching…”
“There’s one out of Kennedy at one. We can easily make that one.” She was staring down at her phone and he waited for her to figure out why that one wouldn’t work. “It’s not direct and the connection would be cutting it close, but…”
“Nah, too risky. Flights are notoriously late taking off; we’d miss the connection for sure. Stick to Newark.”
“Ugh…why are you like this?” she demanded.
“Like what? Practical? A seasoned traveler? I’m speaking from experience here. The longer we sit here and argue, the less likely we’ll make the flight. Can we just go now? Please?”
“You’re the driver! If you want to leave, you’re the only one who can make it happen! Sheesh!”
After being overly cautious as they made their way out of the parking garage, Drew opted to take the long way to Newark, knowing Chelsea wouldn’t know any better. They naturally hit traffic, he purposely got off at the wrong exit, and by the time they parked, he knew they would be cutting it close.
Again.
“I hope they still have seats available,” he said, as he climbed from the car.
“Wait, you didn’t buy the tickets already? I thought that’s what you did back at LaGuardia!”
Shaking his head, he popped the trunk. “Nope. I wanted to make sure we made it here first before I lost even more money. I’m already eating the cost of the flight we missed.”
“Oh.”
Handing her suitcase to her, Drew grabbed his and began walking toward the terminal. It was really just another delay tactic, but he was ready to get out and stretch his legs anyway. They walked in silence the entire way and it wasn’t until they were through the doors that he stopped and cursed.
“What? What’s the matter?”
He felt around his body and made sure to look mildly panicked. “I…my wallet. I don’t have my wallet!”
“What?!” She took several paces away before facing him again. “Are you for real right now?”
“Of course I am!” he lied. “We have to go back to the car.” But when he turned to walk away, he noticed Chelsea wasn’t following. “I’ll be quick, I swear.”
Will not, but you don’t need to know that.
“How about this?” she began. “You go back to the car, and I’ll go get my ticket. And if you make it back in time, you can get yours and we’ll meet up on the plane, okay?”
What the…?
“Wait a minute! You can’t be serious.”
“Why not?”
“Because…because we’re doing this together!”
“I’m not the one who forgot my wallet,” she reminded him. “And frankly, I think you did it on purpose.”
“What?!” he cried. “Why would I do it on purpose?”
Now she did move in close. “Because we both know you’re not on board with me trying to talk Jimmy and Bianca out of this wedding. I think this is all a stalling tactic.” She let out a mirthless laugh. “You didn’t think I was that stupid, did you? The wrong address this morning…going to the wrong airport…missing exits…I mean, come on! It was almost comical!” She paused and shook her head. “It would have been much more believable if it had been only one or two things, but the forgotten wallet was just one step too far. Sorry, Drew, but I’m calling bullshit.”
For a minute, all he could do was stare. The little minx had figured him out. And much sooner than he thought she would. Now what?
It took less than a minute for him to come clean. Why? Because he already had a Plan B ready and waiting.
“Fine. I went a bit overboard,” he admitted. “But you have to know I only did it out of respect for Jimmy. He’s happy and I just don’t want to see you hurt him. Just because you hate him doesn’t mean he isn’t a great guy.”
Her shoulders sagged. “Believe it or not, I don’t hate Jimmy. I just don’t think he’s the right guy for Bianca.”
“Yeah, I’m going to need to know why. You can’t just throw out a statement like that with no further information.”
“Drew, now really isn’t the time. I’ve got to go get a ticket…”
“Just tell me what your beef is with him and I’ll let you go.”
She eyed him warily. “Now you’re just trying to kill time.”
Unable to help himself, he smiled. And then, much to his surprise, she laughed.
Shaking her head, Chelsea said, “I don’t know whether I should be annoyed or seriously impressed.”
He leaned in and said, “Impressed. Always go for impressed.”
“God, you are such a jerk.” But she didn’t sound the least bit annoyed.
“I’ll make you a deal. Forget the flight. Forget about finding another one. Drive down to South Carolina with me. Talk to me about what it is that you don’t like about Jimmy and why you don’t want him and Bianca to get married. Help me to understand the whole thing. Then, when we get there, I promise I’ll have your back when you talk to them.”
She was quiet for so long that Drew was certain she was going to turn him down. He knew he was asking a lot; knew she had no reason to even want to be in his company for that long. But he also knew he was damn curious to know what was going through her mind.
Last night at the bar was the first time he felt empathy for her. And when she showed up at his house this morning, it was the first time in a long time that he took notice of her as a woman rather than just some annoying person who was part of his social circle.
Chelsea Cooper had the potential to be a serious distraction–all blonde hair and soft curves. Unfortunately, most of the time they were together, she was wearing a pinched expression and annoyed at someone or something.
Sometimes both.
And most of the time, him.
When they first met, he had thought she was attractive and even considered asking her out. He found out fairly quickly, however, they had little to nothing in common. There were times he found her to be flat-out bitchy. And yet somehow, he was always the one who tried to smooth things over when things in the group got tense.
Maybe this time away from their little group of friends was the perfect time for them to get to know each other. It would be nice if they could hang out without being so antagonistic toward each other. Not that he was expecting a miracle, but anything was better than the relationship they had right now.
“So what do you say, Chels? You up for a little adventure?”
“Um…”
“We’ve got about fifteen hours of driving ahead of us, so it’s not going to be easy.”
“Earlier, you said twelve.”
He shrugged and ignored her comment. “But if you say yes, I swear I’ll do my best to help you out with Jimmy and Bianca. What do you say?”
She moaned. “Last night, I told myself I was making a deal with the devil.”
“Hey!” he said, feeling mildly attacked.
Then she held out her hand with a slow grin. “But never let it be said that I back down from a challenge.”
Game. On.
5
“This is ridiculous.”
“It’s the perfect solution.”
“It’s wasting time, Drew! The GPS said the same thing! This was the longer way to go!”
“Well, it’s too late now!” he countered. “We’re here and that’s all there is to it.”
This argument was about their drive through New Jersey
. Yeah, they hadn’t even gotten out of one state since they’d made this stupid agreement and it was already a bumpy ride.
She had mapped out their route for the fastest way to get to their destination and no sooner had she announced it than Drew said he knew a better route.
And by better, he meant longer.
The bastard.
Right now, they were driving the car onto a ferry that left out of Cape May and would take them across to Delaware. It was a ninety-minute trip, not including the time it took to drive out of the way just for this singular purpose. And she knew it was planned on his part because he had a reservation that he clearly didn’t make while she was with him–something she planned on pointing out to him later.
Once they were on the ferry and could get out of the car, Drew led her inside to the upper level where there was a lounge and snack bar. It wasn’t fine dining by any stretch of the imagination, but she had to admit that she was starving. They placed their orders and found a table near the window to eat.
“This is great, isn’t it?”
“It’s sub-par fast food, Drew,” she reminded him. “I wouldn’t exactly call it great.”
“I promise I’ll make it up when it’s time for dinner. You can pick the place. I figure we’ll stop for the night in Virginia Beach.”
She choked on her drink and Drew had to get up and give her a couple of swift pats on the back before she could breathe again. “Say what now?”
“What?”
“Why are we stopping for the night? That’s crazy! We can drive right through! We’ll trade off on the driving!”
“No can do. This has been a long day already and it’s not even half over. By the time we hit Virginia Beach, it will be dinner time and the perfect time to stop. We’ll have a good dinner, get some rest, and start out early in the morning. It will be another seven hours from there.”
Pulling out her phone, she needed to confirm that for herself. It seemed like the time it was taking to get to South Carolina kept getting longer and longer and longer. If she didn’t stay on top of him, she had no doubt that she’d find herself either in Florida or somewhere in the Midwest with his choice of directions.
Wrong Turn: Road Tripping Series Page 5