“No,” he murmured to himself. “This detour is a good thing.”
After that, he made a quick run into the men’s room, and when he came out, he found Chelsea at one of the self-checkouts. As he got closer, his eyes grew wide.
“Hey,” she said, smiling.
“What the hell’s all this?”
“Snacks.”
“For how many people?”
She looked at him like he was crazy. “For us,” she replied. “Why?”
“A six-pack of soda, a six-pack of water, grapes, trail mix, snack cakes, M&M’s…are you sure you didn’t miss anything?”
“Cookies! Oh, my gosh, how could I have forgotten the cookies? Quick, go grab some chocolate chip ones!” She gently shoved him and he nearly tripped over his own feet.
“Hey! Stop that!”
“Then go grab the cookies so I can do this all in one transaction. Hurry!”
Another shove and he walked away just because he was tired of having her hands on him.
Liar…
That thought completely stopped him in his tracks. Where the hell had it even come from? And why now? Chelsea wasn’t being coy or flirting with him; if anything, she was an annoying mess who was solely responsible for ruining his weekend.
“Drew!” she called out. “The cookies are in aisle eight! Go!”
So he went and grabbed a package of chocolate chip cookies.
And some Oreos for himself.
When he walked back up to the self-checkout where she was waiting, she saw what he had and grinned.
“See? Now you’ll have something you like to snack on too.” She paid for everything and once they were back in the car, she got everything situated. They had a few things up front with them and the rest within reaching distance behind the seats. “I should have grabbed a small cooler or something, don’t you think?”
“At the next stop,” he said, knowing it would come in handy. “Now let’s go get you some chai tea and me one of those caramel Frappuccinos. I love them. They’re like crack.”
Chelsea settled in the driver’s seat and Drew in the passenger one. It felt weird to be a passenger in his own car, but he really needed a few hours not to be the one driving. But first things first…
“What are you doing?”
“Canceling our hotel rooms. No point in keeping them if we’re not using them. Especially since you said there’s a lot going on there this weekend.”
“Oh, that makes sense.”
He nodded.
“Ready?” she asked.
“As I’ll ever be.” He waited for her to start driving, but…she didn’t. “Chels? You okay?”
“I think so.”
“You think so?” he asked incredulously. “Now what’s wrong?”
Her shoulders sagged but she didn’t look at him. “I feel bad.”
“Why?”
“I’m causing this trip to take forever.” Then she did turn to look at him. “Although, you’ve certainly done your part in that department.”
What could he possibly say to that?
“I guess I just hate how I’m this weirdo who can’t handle something as simple as going over a bridge. How lame is that?”
Well…crap.
“You’re not a weirdo, Chelsea. It’s a legit phobia. There’s a name for it, isn’t there?”
She nodded. “Gephyrophobia.”
“Wow. That’s a mouthful.”
She laughed softly. “Yeah, it is.”
“So, what do you want to do?”
He found himself holding his breath while he waited for her answer, and for the life of him, he had no idea what she was going to say.
“I guess we detour and see where we end up.”
“Sounds like a plan,” he said right before he yawned. A nap was definitely in his future, and with any luck, his next turn behind the wheel would be a short one.
6
“Drew?”
Panic had Chelsea by the throat.
What the hell was I thinking? Why would I do this?
“Drew?” she asked with a little more force. The damn man had fallen asleep ten minutes after they left the Starbucks. She’d never seen anyone fall asleep so fast in her life. And apparently, he was a deep sleeper too.
She had driven for thirty minutes–berating herself the entire time–when she decided to be brave. Bold.
Stupid.
And turned the car around and drove straight toward the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.
Like an idiot.
“Drew!”
He started to stir and made a low humming sound that bordered on being a growl and was quite possibly the sexiest sound she’d ever heard.
Okay, now what the hell am I thinking?! Focus!
Reaching over, she slapped him on the chest and did her best not to let her hand linger because damn, the man had some serious muscles.
Unfortunately, he simply shifted and rolled away from her.
“Son of a bitch,” she hissed.
Her heart was racing, her throat felt dry, and any minute, she was going to throw up. She shouted his name and was relieved when he sat straight up.
“What? What’s going on?” he barked.
“I’m going to be sick, but there’s no place to pull over.”
It took him a moment to get his bearings and when he realized where they were, he cursed. “What the hell are we doing approaching the bridge? We were going the other way! How the hell long was I asleep?”
“Long enough for me to make the worst decision of my life! Again!”
Drew looked around frantically and she knew exactly what he was seeing.
Cars.
Lots and lots of cars.
There was no way for her to stop without creating a dangerous situation for all the normal people just trying to get home or to wherever they’re trying to go. She couldn’t just stop the car and jump out! With her luck, she’d either get hit by a car or fall over the bridge when she went to lean over and vomit.
Either way, I’m screwed.
“What do I do?” she cried.
“How the hell should I know?” And yeah, he was pissed. Out of the corner of her eye, Chelsea saw him rake both his hands through his hair. “Why would you do this?”
“I thought you’d be happy! Now we don’t have to lose six hours on a detour!”
“I was fine with the detour! Dealing with you driving while hysterical, not so much!”
“Okay, a little less snark would be really helpful right now!” she countered. “Talk to me!”
“I thought I was!”
“No, you’re yelling! I need you to talk to me! Distract me! Tell me I’m not going to throw up all over your car or how I’m not going to die while driving over this ridiculously long bridge!”
“There’s a tunnel too…”
“Seriously, Drew? What the hell? I’m trying to freak out less, not more! What is wrong with you?”
“Me? I’m not the one choosing the worst time humanly possible to try to conquer a phobia!” He muttered a rather colorful stream of curses before he seemed to calm down.
She was trembling and sweating and her heart was racing like mad. All Chelsea could do was hold onto the steering wheel in a death grip and do her best to remember to breathe.
“Can you just be a normal person for once and distract me?” she said, her voice growing more and more breathless with each word.
Raking a hand through his hair, he let out a long breath. “Okay,” he began. “You’re doing great.” His voice was oddly soothing. “This is just a straight run and I want you to keep your focus straight ahead.”
“Any chance we can switch places while the car’s in motion?” she asked with a nervous laugh.
“Afraid not, Chels. But you’re going to be fine. You’ve got this. We’re already five minutes into it.”
“We haven’t gotten to the scary part yet, but I know it’s coming.”
“It’s not as bad as you think it’s going to be.
Trust me.”
“Ha! Says the man who’s done nothing but lie to me since last night.”
“I’m going to let that slide because I know how upset you are. But in my defense, I was doing it to protect a friend.”
“And if I wasn’t paralyzed by fear right now, I might think that was nice,” she commented. After taking several deep breaths, some of the nausea subsided. “Okay, tell me about yourself.”
“Seriously? We’ve known each other for over a year. What’s there to tell?”
“Honestly, lots. I don’t really know anything about you other than you being Jimmy’s annoying friend who cocky and arrogant and is a pathological liar when it comes to protecting his friends.”
She could feel the weight of his stare. “Wow, you managed to insult me on multiple levels in one sentence. That’s a fine quality.”
“Drew…”
“Okay, okay, okay,” he said wearily. “So here’s me–I’m thirty, born and raised on Long Island, I have two brothers, and I own my own company.”
She tried to glance at him, but she couldn’t. “What kind of company?”
“How can you not know? I talk about work all the time when we’re out.”
“And I usually tune you out because you have a tendency to be obnoxious,” she explained. “And conceited, and sometimes just the sound of your voice irks me.”
“Ouch.”
“Sorry,” she said quietly. “Your company?”
“Oh, right. I’m in cybersecurity.”
“Cybersecurity? You mean like…software?”
“That’s part of it. I get contracts to go into big corporations and work with their tech departments and train them on the most up-to-date programs and help them keep their files secure and how to identify any leaks or weaknesses in their systems.”
“Wow, I’m kind of impressed.”
“You don’t sound it.”
“Aww…does somebody need his ego stroked?” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she was mortified. It sounded a lot dirtier than she intended. She was going to try to make light of it when she realized the tunnel was coming up. “Uh…Drew?”
“Yeah?”
“The tunnel’s coming up.”
“It’s okay. You got this. You’re doing great.”
“Yeah, but…maybe there’s a spot to turn off? Just a quick stop so we can switch places.”
But he shook his head. “That’s for authorized vehicles only.”
“But this is an emergency! Certainly no one would stop us if I was sick!”
Drew reached over and placed one large hand on her knee. “You’re not sick, Chelsea. You are doing this and you should be proud!”
“I hate underground tunnels as much as bridges,” she murmured. “And I’m slightly claustrophobic…”
“No wonder you’re still single…”
“Hey! That was uncalled for!”
He let out another weary sigh. “You’re right. Sorry.” Pausing, they both watched as the lanes narrowed down to two as they approached the tunnel.
“Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod…”
“Deep breaths, you’re going to be fine. This will be short. Traffic is flowing fine. We’ll be through it in no time.”
Unable to help herself, she slowed down. The speed limit was fifty-five, but she slowed down to almost half that. The walls felt like they were closing in on her, and all Chelsea could think of was all the water surrounding them. What if there was a breach in the walls? What if water started to leak in? They would be doomed! There was no way to…
“You know, the slower you drive, the longer we’ll be down here,” he said mildly, and Chelsea’s foot pushed hard on the gas, sending him flying back against his seat. “Jeez! Be careful!”
“We need to get out of here! You said it yourself–the slower I drive, the longer we’ll be down here and more of a chance of us dying!”
“I didn’t exactly say that…”
“But it’s true! Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod…”
Up ahead, she could already see the light, and relief washed over her. They were going to survive. Once they were out of the tunnel and out on the bridge again, she felt like she could breathe.
“Thank God that’s over.”
“Why don’t you tell me about you now?”
“You already know all about me.”
“What? No, I don’t.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, according to Bianca, you guys talk about me all the time–saying things like how uptight I am, how boring I am, and I believe it was you who mentioned I just needed to get laid.”
“What?!” he cried. “She told you that?”
“So you’re not denying it?”
He looked ready to argue, but thankfully, he didn’t. “I may have said that.”
“And you wonder why I don’t like you…”
“It’s beginning to make some sense now…”
“Gee, what a relief.”
“Okay, but again, in my defense, I was only going on what little I knew of you and what I observed. And you have to admit, you’re usually…you know…kind of uptight. Just like you are now.”
“Right now I’m terrified because I’m driving over a death bridge!”
“It’s not a death bridge. Dramatic much? Sheesh.”
Chelsea read the signs as they drove by and groaned. “Is there another tunnel coming up?”
“Um…maybe?”
“Why wouldn’t you warn me?”
“Because the last time I warned you, you got pissed because I warned you!” he argued. “Man, there is no pleasing you!”
“Oh, my God…here we go again…”
“Just remember to keep going the speed limit and we’ll be out in a minute.”
“It will feel like an eternity.”
“Like this entire trip has,” he muttered.
“Hey, no one forced you to take this trip. It was all your idea. If you had just left me alone, you wouldn’t be suffering right now.”
“I promised Jimmy…”
“That you’d torture yourself so he wouldn’t have to worry?”
“Something like that.”
They were already halfway through the tunnel and she was counting down the seconds until they were out. “After the tunnel, how much farther is it until we’re back on regular roads?”
“Not far. I think just a few miles.”
Nodding, she made a mental note to pull the car over at the first opportunity once they were off the bridge. Maybe she’d get sick, maybe she wouldn’t, but there was no way she wanted to drive any more today.
Sunlight was streaming in and she was almost giddy. “Almost there…”
“If you slow down…”
“Nuh-uh. You told me not to slow down. You told me to keep doing the speed limit. We’re almost out and almost done with this scary as shit bridge from hell with its stupid tunnels. There’s no reason to slow down.”
They were out of the tunnel and some of the tension eased from her shoulders.
“Yeah, but if you had slowed down, there was a rest area right at the exit of the tunnel. We could have stopped and switched places.”
Now she did turn her head and glare at him. “And you just thought to mention that now?”
He shrugged. “I did try to tell you, but you wanted to argue.”
“You know what? Just…stop talking! Every time you talk, bad things happen!”
“Hey, you were the one begging me to talk!”
“And now I’m the one begging you to shut up!”
Up ahead, she could see land. In just a few minutes, she could get out, breathe some fresh air, and put a little distance between her and Drew before she strangled him.
There were two lanes heading south once again and she found herself picking up speed. Her heart rate was picking up because they were so close to being done and she was anxious for this part of the trip to be over. Once they were off the bridge, it was anoth
er mile before the first exit. She took it and pulled into the first rest area she could find–practically turning the car on two wheels. Slamming it into park, she whipped off her seatbelt and flung herself from the car.
And directly into Drew’s arms.
It wasn’t his intention to hold Chelsea; he was simply walking around to the driver’s side.
She just happened to land in his arms.
It took all of three seconds for him to realize how hard she was shaking. Gently, he pulled her in close and carefully rubbed his hand up and down her back as he did his best to calm her down.
“You did it, Chels,” he said softly. “You totally faced your fear and you made it across.”
He felt her nod right before she started to cry.
Unsure of what exactly to do, Drew simply held her while she cried. It was weird, but…it was the first time he noticed how petite she was. Whenever they were out, she was in heels and somewhat dressed up, but today she was dressed casually and wearing sneakers and jeans. She fit perfectly against him with her head tucked beneath his chin, and holding her wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be.
It actually felt kind of nice.
After several minutes, she seemed to calm down and pulled back a little. “I’m so sorry.”
“You have nothing to apologize for,” he promised. “We’re good.”
“God, you must hate me,” she murmured, stepping out of his embrace. “All you wanted to do was help Jimmy and you got stuck with a woman with way too many issues.” Turning toward him, she looked devastated. “You didn’t deserve this. Any of this.”
And damn if he suddenly didn’t feel like shit for all the negative things he’d ever thought about her.
“Hey,” he said softly, “come on. It hasn’t been so bad. If anything, we’ll have some funny stories to share with everyone next weekend, right?”
Unfortunately, that just seemed to make her cry again. Her face scrunched up as she turned away.
Berating himself, Drew walked over and placed his hands on her shoulders. “C’mon, Chelsea, don’t cry. I was just trying to make a joke to lighten the mood. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
Wrong Turn: Road Tripping Series Page 7