Road Tripping

by Noelle Adams

  But she was. Feeling it. Tenderness.

  “I hope you aren’t pitying me.” His voice was as smooth and cold as ice, and his eyes had narrowed as he watched her.

  Ashley was not going to tell him the truth. It certainly wouldn’t do for her to admit to having sweet and tender feelings for Ethan—who had gotten himself into his own mess, after all.

  “Pity you?” she asked, pleased that her voice only reflected astonishment. “Why would I pity you for that? It’s your own fault you don’t have anyone you can trust.”

  Ethan’s jaw fell open. “My fault? How is it my fault?”

  “Well, you’re the one who dropped all your old friends to hang out with moonshiners. What did you expect?”

  He glanced at her quickly before he looked away. “Good point.”

  She couldn’t tell if he was upset or not. “Plus, if you wouldn’t be so smug and obnoxious, people might be able to stand being around you.”

  Ethan chuckled at this. It transformed his face in a startling and compelling way.

  She enjoyed the sound of it and the unexpected warmth on his face, until she realized it was doing strange things to her insides.

  So she pretended to go to sleep once more.

  ***

  They had been driving for about two hours when they reached the outskirts of Charleston, West Virginia.

  “I’m getting hungry,” Ashley said, looking at the road signs advertising various restaurants.

  Ethan shook his head. “It’s not even lunch time yet.”

  “Well, we didn’t have breakfast. I have to have some sustenance if I’m going to be stuck all day and night in this car with you.”

  “It will have to be inexpensive. We can’t waste all our money on filling your infinite belly.”

  Ashley let out a squeak of outrage and peered down at her stomach. It wasn’t perfectly flat, but it looked pretty good. Her body certainly went in at the middle—a lot of guys liked her shape.

  Ethan was shaking his head again and evidently reading her mind. “I wasn’t insulting your body. Just your appetite.”

  “Oh,” Ashley said, feeling ridiculously relieved. “Anyway, I’m used to eating cheaply. It’s not like we’re rolling in money, you know. Especially now.”

  “What do you mean, especially now?”

  “Especially after the thing with Mark. It was really hard on our family, including on our bank account.” She felt a surge of resentment again towards Ethan, overwhelming any soft feelings she’d had before. “We can’t afford million-dollar boats, you know.”

  “That boat didn’t cost a million dollars.” His voice was natural, but his expression was stiff. She hoped he felt terrible, remembering what he’d done to Mark, who had always loved him.

  “That’s not the point. The point is you’ve obviously made plenty of money in a really horrible way, while you’ve hurt a lot of people—including us. And then you act like we don’t exist—even Mark, who was supposed to be your best friend.”

  “You think it would be a good idea for you and your brother to hang out with me for the last year?” His tone sounded a little strange now, like it was edged with something he couldn’t express.

  “No. Of course not. But that should be our decision. Not yours. You and Mark were friends since you were four years old. Don’t you even miss him?”

  She missed her brother. A lot. And she missed Ethan too. At least, the Ethan she used to know.

  Ethan was looking at the road and not at her now. “Yeah. I do.”

  Her heart skipped a beat at the poignant note in his tone. “So why did you drop him that way?”

  He opened his mouth but didn’t say anything immediately.

  She waited for his response, her heart again pounding wildly, her breath coming out in strange little gasps. It felt like something was about to change the nature of her world, but she didn’t know what it was.

  Held her breath. Waited.

  And waited some more.

  “Ethan?” she prompted sharply, irritation rising once more like a tide.

  He was studying his rearview mirror. “There’s an unmarked police car behind us,” he muttered.

  Ashley made a choked sound of frustration, “Of course there is. They’re coming to arrest us. You stole a fucking car!”

  As if in response to her words, the blue lights started flashing behind them and the siren blared.

  “Damn it!” Ethan exclaimed, slammed his foot on the gas, and swerved off onto the exit that they had almost passed.

  Ashley moaned and laid her head back against the seat. “Another car chase. This is the second one in two days.”

  Ethan ignored her and concentrated on driving, even though he couldn’t possibly know his way around the city. He sped through the streets of Charleston, taking random turns and darting out in front of traffic.

  There was only one police car on their tail at the moment, but Ashley had no doubt that soon there would be more. Maybe they’d make the evening news.

  Ashley cringed a few times but managed to hold herself together pretty well until Ethan turned the Ford the wrong way onto a one-way road.

  “Ethan!” She hid her eyes as two lanes of oncoming traffic advanced toward them. Ethan moved into the right lane (the left lane for the traffic going the correct direction), and three cars swerved frantically out of the way.

  The Ford was about to be trapped. Traffic had pretty much stopped in all lanes, so there was no way to get through. And the police car was directly behind them.

  Off to jail, Ashley thought. She wouldn’t even have good hair for her mug shot.

  But before she knew what was happening, Ethan had veered into a narrow alley, screeching the tires with the suddenness of the turn.

  Unfortunately, the police car was still behind them.

  “We need to find a big parking lot,” Ethan said curtly, steering them out of the alley and onto a main road. Ashley heard squeals behind them, as drivers tried to slam on their brakes.

  Not even asking what Ethan had in mind, she just kept her eyes out for the requested parking lot. After Ethan made a few more turns and caused a few more near-collisions, she spotted something.

  “Mall. To the left,” she said briefly.

  Ethan moved over into the left lane, without even checking to see if the lane was clear, and ran a red light into the mall parking lot.

  The police car tried the same maneuver, but didn’t manage it so easily. So, as the cop tried to extricate himself from a minor traffic tangle, they were able to get a very small head start.

  Ethan was going about 60mph around the mall. As he circled, he barked out a series of orders to Ashley.

  Under normal circumstances, she would have objected to his bossiness, but since this was a crisis, she paid attention as carefully as she could.

  “I don’t think they got a good look at our faces.” He tore off his camp shirt and said, “Wipe every surface you can find with this. My fingerprints are in the system.”

  She did as he said, wiping the dash, console, and door and then passing it over to him so he could wipe the driver’s door and steering wheel as he kept driving.

  He used the shirt to hold the steering wheel and said, “Grab me that hat from the back.”

  Ashley did as he directed.

  “I’m going to pull into a space. As soon as we stop, you need to jump out. We’ll have about thirty seconds before the cop catches up. As soon as we’re out and away from the car, we’ll act like a normal couple going shopping. We’ll try to blend into the crowd.” Ethan turned down one of the parking rows in front of a department store.

  The cop was still a good distance behind them. Maybe Ethan’s somewhat tenuous plan could actually work.

  Ashley unbuckled her seatbelt and grabbed the door handle, preparing to jump out as fast as she could.

  Then she wished she still had her seatbelt on when Ethan careened into an empty parking space without really slowing down. He screeched to a halt.
>
  As soon as he slammed it into park, Ashley leapt out of the car, taking a few sprinting steps between the parked cars into the next row. Ethan was right behind her, now wearing the cowboy hat to hide his distinctively reddish hair.

  The police car came roaring up, and people making their way back to their cars with shopping bags all gaped as the cop stopped in front of the stolen Ford. The now empty Ford.

  The police officer got out of his car and peered around at the crowded parking lot. Ashley thought she might pass out with fright as his eyes came to rest on her.

  Ethan put his arm around her, pulling her against his side. “Let’s hope they don’t find a fingerprint. Stop looking so scared. I don’t think he can recognize us. Act like we’re one of those couples who go on romantic dates to the mall.” He leaned over and gave her an impersonal peck on the lips. “Your hair looks quite remarkable today, honey.”

  She knew an insult when she heard one.

  As they kept walking toward the department store, Ashley forced herself not to hit him and instead tried to play her part of the act. She reached up, patted Ethan on the cheek, and gazed at him in a very mushy way. Smiling tenderly, she said, “You look absolutely ridiculous in that cowboy hat, my love.”

  Except for a few grumbled words from Ethan, they made it into the mall without incident.

  ***

  Since they were now without a car, Ethan finally broke down and followed Ashley’s advice. They were sitting in the food court of the mall. Ethan was searching the newspaper for very cheap cars for sale, since they didn’t want to get caught in a stolen car again. Ashley was happily munching on his French fries. She had already finished her own.

  “Hey,” Ethan said, finally noticing what she was doing and swatting her hand away. “Those are mine.”

  Ashley snatched one more fry. “Any cheap cars for sale?”

  “There are a couple of possibilities. I’ll make some calls. And we’ll hope whatever car we end up with can actually make it to South Dakota.”

  Ashley stood up. “You make the calls. Do you think you can spare a little of your cash so I can go into that drugstore and get a toothbrush and some other stuff? This is turning out to be a longer trip than we’d anticipated, and we can’t go indefinitely without some basic necessities.”

  Ethan nodded distractedly, pulled out his billfold, and handed her a fifty-dollar bill. “Get stuff for me too, will you?”

  She stared at him. “I don’t know what you use.”

  “Just get whatever,” he said impatiently. “It’s hardly going to matter for one more day.”

  She shook her head and trudged toward the drugstore.

  Since he had given her fifty dollars, she assumed she could use it all. So she merrily filled a basket with toothbrush, tooth paste, deodorant, soap, shampoo, comb, razor (since she was going bare-legged) and cheap pressed powder and mascara. She managed to resist the base makeup, lip-gloss, and hair spray, but she was sorely tempted by the hair dryers. Particularly after Ethan’s remark about her hair, which was admittedly not looking good.

  She glanced at the row of sanitary products, and quickly counted back the days of the month. She sighed with relief when she realized she still had at least two weeks before she would need any of those supplies.

  She didn’t know if she could deal with Ethan paying for her box of tampons.

  She grabbed some stuff for Ethan, although for most of it, she was guessing. It felt strange, since she wasn’t used to buying men’s toiletries. Then she tried to rack her brain, thinking if they needed anything else. If only they sold panties at the drug store. She would really like to change hers, and Ethan probably wouldn’t go for a stop at Victoria’s Secret.

  She walked back to the medicine aisle and picked up some aspirin. Headaches were a very real possibility on this trip.

  After picking up a few more items, she paid for her loot, using up most of the bill Ethan had given her. When she returned to Ethan, he was staring at the floor glumly.

  “What now?” she asked, lowering herself into the chair next to him. “No car?”

  “Maybe a car. But we can’t see it until first thing tomorrow morning.”

  Ashley groaned. “So we’re stuck in this horrible city for the rest of the day?”

  “Unless you have any better ideas.”

  She shook her head. “Stealing cars didn’t work out too well for us. We’ll try to get one in a legitimate way. So it’s another motel tonight?”

  “It’ll have to be a cheap one, and I hope you don’t mind sharing a room. We’ve got to conserve our cash. Where’s my change, by the way?”

  Ashley told him cheerfully that there wasn’t any change from the fifty and tried to stifle her laughter at his outraged expression.

  ***

  That evening, Ashley jumped into her bed and pulled the covers up to her neck. Then she pulled off her shirt. She only had one outfit, and she refused to sleep in her top. She kept her skirt on however. It was already wrinkled, and she didn’t have any panties on.

  She had rinsed out her panties before she got into bed, and they were now hanging in the shower to dry. She briefly wondered what Ethan had thought when he saw them, but—privacy be damned—she wasn’t going to go around in dirty underwear.

  Ethan had been in the bathroom. When he came out, he had taken off his shirt but not his pants. She didn’t know about his underwear. He turned out the light and got into the other bed.

  The afternoon had been uneventful. Almost boring. And they had finally ended up in this very cheap motel after a greasy supper at the diner next store.

  “Surely tomorrow will be better,” Ethan said into the dark room.

  “It has to be, doesn’t it?” she responded gloomily. “These have been the worst two days of my life. And I’ve had a lot of very bad days.”

  Ethan didn’t respond for a long time. She was starting to think he had fallen asleep when he finally said, “I’ll get you back home as soon as I can. Then you’ll never have to see me again.”

  She should have been happy about it—to get rid of Ethan and all of the mess and trouble he invariably brought into her life. She couldn’t be the good daughter her parents needed if she was with Ethan—in any way. But the words didn’t make her feel relieved. In fact, something about them made her chest tighten painfully. Because of this inexplicable reaction, her words were crisper than they would normally have been. “Good. I can hardly wait to be rid of you.”

  They were both silent for a long time, just lying in the dark.

  Then Ashley said randomly, “I don’t think ‘slunk’ is a word.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “Slunk,” she repeated. “You said yesterday you’d never slunk in your life. I don’t think that’s really a word.”

  Ethan let out a muffled bellow. “Of course it’s a word. It’s the past tense of slink. Today, I slink. Yesterday, I slunk.”

  Ashley snorted and then said just to annoy him some more, “I thought you said you never slunk.”

  He growled. It was definitely a growl.

  She wasn’t sure she liked the effect the sound had on her body. She peered over at him and could just see him in the faint light from the clock. He was lying on his back with his hands linked behind his head. The sheet was down around his waist, so she had a good view of his very nice chest. His skin almost seemed to be glowing.

  It was all very surreal. What was she doing here? In a cheap motel room in West Virginia? Sharing a room with Ethan Moore? And they were arguing about grammar? And his growly sounds were kind of turning her on?

  It was all so, so wrong.

  He turned his head and noticed her staring at him. Then he silently rolled over onto his side with his back to her.

  So Ashley rolled over herself.

  Think, she told herself. Think of all the reasons she had to resent him. He had gotten her brother arrested. He’d turned his back on all of them. He was the antithesis of the nice, cle
an, stable life she wanted to build for herself.

  He was bossy, and arrogant, and infuriating, and condescending, and presumptuous, and smug, and without compassion, and bossy…

  And he had looked so funny in that cowboy hat. And he had the most delicious laugh she had ever heard. And sometimes, like when he’d fake-kissed her earlier, there was a warmth in his eyes that was so unexpected, so breathtaking…

  She seemed to be getting off track. Better to just go to sleep. Surely she wouldn’t dream about Ethan.

  It was all so, so wrong.

  She might have a few stray, soft feelings toward him, but she still didn’t like him at all.

  She was in Charleston, West Virginia. They had traveled only two and half hours of their twenty-hour road trip. They had almost been caught by the police. They didn’t have a car—again. She had blisters on her feet. And she was only a bed away from Ethan’s bare chest.

  And it was the end of the second day.

  Day Three

  Charleston, West Virginia

  Ashley woke up when she heard someone come in the door.

  She sat up straight in her bed, startled and immediately terrified. It took her only a moment to realize she was alone in the motel room. Ethan was nowhere to be seen.

  No, that was wrong. Ethan was walking in the door. And he had—bless his dear heart—two cups of coffee.

  “Thank you!” she said, stretching out both of her hands for her cup.

  He shook his head and handed her the coffee. “I decided not to risk your wrath this morning and didn’t wake you up until I could face you with the appropriate provisions.” He seemed to be avoiding looking at her for some reason, but she was too absorbed in the caffeine to really care.

  “Thank you,” she mumbled again over the lip of the coffee cup. After a few sips, she realized what she was wearing. Or not wearing.

  She had taken off her shirt the evening before, and so she was only clothed in her skirt and bra. Since she was sitting up straight in the bed, the covers were very little protection from Ethan’s roving eyes.

  Not that they were actually roving. In fact, he seemed to be looking everywhere in the room except at her. Most guys would have at least snuck a few peeks. She supposed Ethan was so uninterested in her as a woman that he couldn’t even be bothered to check her out.