After making the rounds, going over everything with James and double checking with Cole that he will be back for the weekend, we’re ready to leave. I load all our bags into the back of the SUV and drag her by the arm to the car.
We’ve only been driving for thirty minutes of our five-hour drive when we stop at a gas station to fill up and grab a drink. I feel bad for already having to stop, but I didn’t have time to make sure the gas tank was full before we left. She’s been sitting quietly in the passenger seat of the car, her shoes shrugged off, one of her denim-clad legs bent so her foot is resting on the seat and her knee against the door. Her dark grey sweatshirt that says Mama Bear on the front is slipping slightly off one shoulder. Her curls are down, and her face is almost bare, only a bit of mascara on her eyelashes because she “feels naked without it,” and a shimmer of lip gloss that I know will taste like raspberries.
She’s the picture of relaxation, but I know she’s anything but. She’s already eaten probably half-a-dozen peppermint taffies. Definitely one of her comfort foods.
She’s thinking too much, probably about Grady, but also I’m sure she’s wondering how we’re going to spend a week together without the distraction of our lives getting in the way, or as a buffer, depending on how we look at it. I want her comfortable and being able to recognize that no matter what hills we’ve had to climb, we’re still us.
“Want a drink or something?”
“Yeah, coffee, please,” she says looking out the window.
“You got it. Anything to eat?” I ask, trying to draw out more conversation with her.
“No. I’m good.”
I head inside to the gas station, grab a cup of coffee for her and one for me, then I proceed to the candy aisle. She said she didn’t want anything, but I know my girl. If I present her with some chocolate, it might soften her up a bit. I find a Caramello, knowing she can’t resist the combination of chocolate and caramel, and make my way to the front to pay. I glance out the window as I walk and see her head rested against the window.
I hate that she looks sad. She looks like if she could allow herself to float up to the clouds and rest her head on the soft pillows for a decade, she would. Between the two of us screwing up and accusing the other of looking at another person romantically, everything with Grady and the last few months of friction, the weight of the world seems to be on her shoulders, and I swear on my life I will take the heavy burden from her and release her from the prison that she’s living in.
I had hoped that my surprising her when I asked her to come to the cabin with me would bring her back to me. And it did, partially. But I think she is still letting her head to get in the way and isn’t allowing herself to realize that we’re back. We’re going to be back to us again. We’re going to fix us.
The quiet of the car ride ends now. I know one surefire way to bring her out of her funk, so I dig into my pocket and pull out my cell.
Me: Hey pretty girl.
I see her startle from her thoughts and reach down into her purse for her phone. I see her shake her head slightly when she sees my text and a small smile lifts her lips.
Score.
This girl has had my heart since I was seventeen years old. She’s the one who taught me how to love. What love even looks like. Never have I felt love when she wasn’t a part of it. If I could find an actual picture of love, her face would be the only one I’d recognize. I’ve never once let her go and don’t plan to. Time to break out my wooing abilities and show her back to us.
My girl: Yes? Did you get lost?
Smartass little brat.
Woo. I have to remember how to woo her. I take a deep breath because I feel like I’m a stumbling seventeen-year-old again. I feel nervous, and my palms are sweating. I pray what I’m about to type doesn’t come out cheesy.
Me: To you.
I see her stare at her phone for a few seconds, which, to be honest, feels more like minutes. It’s not lost on me that I’m standing in the middle of a gas station, two cups of coffee stacked on top of each other in one hand, my phone and her candy bar in the other. I’m staring at my phone, praying that she doesn’t think my super corny line is as cheesy as I think it might be. But I feel like we need corny right now. Sometimes a little corny goes a long way.
My Girl: Barrett…
I take her non-answer as what I need. She doesn’t need any more than what I just gave her. That, combined with the fact that I see her head slowly lift as she looks toward the gas station, her face directed right at me, and I wish upon everything that I could see her eyes at this moment. I quickly move to the front counter, pay for our stuff, and walk with purpose out to the car. As I get closer, her window rolls down so I can hand the cups of coffee over to her to place in the cup holders, which I do. But before she can close the window again, I lean my large frame into the open window and take her face in mine.
“I love you, Tess. You need to understand that. You need to feel that. My soul is empty without yours attached to it. My heart, my love responds only to you. Even after I take my last breath on this earth, my love is yours.”
Before she can respond, I bring her lips to mine and possess her with all the fire and yearning that’s been building deep inside since we started our trip. Her breath hitches slightly and her mouth parts, allowing my tongue to invade and caress her own. I taste her salty tears, her raspberry lip gloss, and a hint of the peppermint taffy she’s been snacking on. I lean into the window farther. I pause ever so briefly, her tongue searching mine out in a passion that only she owns. I faintly hear the click of her seatbelt and soon she is on her knees, facing me and leaning out the window.
Chasing my kiss.
That’s right, sweet girl. Come to me.
I’ll chase you forever.
Chase me right on back.
I’ll let you catch me.
I let her catch me. Our mouths whisper our intense and never-ending love to each other, but no words are spoken.
We’re making out in the middle of the gas station parking lot, and I couldn’t care less. Making out like teenagers might just help us get back to ourselves. Find our roots once again.
Our kiss slows, allowing the ache in my chest to ease.
She’s back.
I pull back, and I see it in her eyes. I know it in that moment. She’s back. Now we just need to continue on this path and not waver. I look into her smiling eyes, the brightest blue I have seen in a long time.
She kisses me once more and says simply, “I love you.”
I grin at her and round the corner of our SUV and slide back into the driver’s seat feeling a million times lighter than I had just a few moments ago. She turns and faces me after I get settled, and I reach into my coat pocket and pull out the chocolate bar I bought with our coffees and hand it over to her. Her excited squeal makes me chuckle and shake my head.
“Gah! I’m not even going to pretend that I’m not excited. Barrett, I totally wanted some chocolate and this is perfect. My favorite. Thank you!”
I smirk. “So predictable.”
She leans over the console and kisses me on the cheek with a loud smack and sits back in her seat with a little bounce. We both buckle up our seatbelts, and I start the car up, put it in drive, and head out for the last leg of our journey to the cabin.
I hear her tear open the package, and she breaks off a square of the chocolate and places the whole thing in her mouth. She moans in delight and sinks farther into her seat, her eyes closed like the chocolate is damn near giving her an orgasm.