My mouth popped open again.
Emery eyed me from the driver seat, a shit-eating grin on his face as my eyes scanned the screen. Even Kalo seemed in on the joke, licking my shoulder, and I just tossed the phone back to him and crossed my arms. “You’re an asshole.”
“Is that a Gemini thing, too?”
I tried to fight it, biting my lip so hard I left an indent, but in the end I gave into a loud laugh, one that rolled through me in a mixture of embarrassment and amusement. “Jerk.”
Emery laughed, too, before tapping my chin gently with his knuckle. “Hey, you say you’re an Aquarius, I believe you. No judgement. To each their own.”
“Mmm-hmm.”
“I’m serious,” he said, and his eyes were more sincere then. “And for the record, you’re not stupid for having dreams and taking crazy risks just to see if you can make them happen.” He swallowed. “You’re brave. And you’re living. That’s more than most people can say.”
There was an honesty so real it hurt under that last sentence, his amber eyes searching mine, his hands tightening on the steering wheel. I wanted to ask him if he was living, if he had dreams, too.
But I didn’t get the chance.
Suddenly, Emery’s eyes narrowed, like something felt off, and as soon as he looked back to the road, there was a loud pop. I screamed like I’d just been set on fire. Kalo jumped from her spot, ducking behind Emery’s seat, and my heart raced in my ears as the car thumped along with the smell of burnt rubber assaulting my nose.
“Shit,” Emery mumbled, pulling off onto the shoulder. I was still trying to calm down when we finally stopped and he jumped out, jogging over to my side of the car and cursing again. “We blew a tire.”
Cars and trucks were still whizzing by us, each one rocking the car with force. I grabbed Kalo’s leash and we both got out, too, surveying the damage. The rubber on the back passenger tire was completely shredded, the car resting most of its weight on the bum leg. I sighed, peering up at Emery, who was already typing out a number on his phone from a card he held in his hand.
“Who are you calling?” I asked.
“Roadside assistance.”
I nodded, Kalo plopping down in the long, overgrown grass next to me. “What are we going to do now?”
Emery went to answer me but then paused, his call being connected to a human being. Once he was finished telling the person where we were located, he tucked his phone back in his pocket.
“They’ll be here in about thirty minutes or so, closest shop is right off that next exit, so we shouldn’t be too far behind.”
“And then what?”
Emery looked at me like the answer was obvious, shrugging his shoulders. “We grab dinner at a weird diner while they fix the tire.”
“But we have to pay them,” I pointed out.
“That’s usually how that works.”
“Okay, so…” I waited for him to connect the dots, but he didn’t. “We have to earn some money. We’ve got to do something crazy and weird to get back on the road, like how the girls in Crossroads did the karaoke contest.”
Emery watched me with a blank stare, blinking twice before he threw his head back in a laugh.
“I’m serious!” I defended, smacking his arm.
“I have my parents’ credit card, Little Penny. We’re fine.”
I scoffed. “But we can’t just charge it. That’s no fun, it goes against all the road trip rules.”
“Rules?”
“Yes, rules!” I started counting on the fingers on my right hand, tapping each one with my left. “Survive on potato chips and beef jerky, never pick up hitchhikers, and if you break down, figure out some crazy way to make the cash and get back on the road.”
“None of those are real.”
“They’re unwritten.”
Emery laughed, crossing one arm over his chest and balancing his elbow on it, hand finding his smooth chin. “It’s just a tire. It’ll take maybe two hours to fix, and that’s only if they have to go somewhere to pick up a part. And it’ll be like three-hundred dollars max.”
“Your point?”
He couldn’t stop smiling at me. “You’re not going to let this go, are you? You really just want to make this difficult.”
“The rules, Emery.”
I didn’t say his name often, and the sound of it, the way it felt rolling off my tongue made me pause, my eyes flashing to his, cheeks warming when I saw the same pause in him.
He tucked his hands in his pockets, looking down at Kalo before his eyes surveyed the car and the highway again. After a moment, he turned back to me, shaking his head with his signature smirk creeping out. “Fine. What’s our next move, game maker?”
I squeaked, clapping my hands together in excitement as Kalo popped her head up to look at me. My heart deflated a little when I realized I didn’t actually have any idea of what our next move was, but then the universe sent a sign, as it so often does.
My eyes locked on the billboard behind Emery’s head and I grinned. “Let’s get the car to the shop, and then I have a plan.”
“This is insane,” Emery said again as he opened the door for us, guiding us under the large neon sign that read Big Earl’s Wing House.
“Scared?” I teased.
He rolled his eyes, letting me lead as we made our way to the hostess. She was a middle-aged woman who reminded me of Tammy, except this girl was a little more round, and a lot more smiley.
“Hey, y’all! Booth or table?”
“Actually, I have a question about your wing eating challenge,” I said, and Emery shook his head beside me. I narrowed my eyes at him before continuing. “Can you tell us a little more about it?”
“Sure!” She balanced the menus in her arms, opening one up to the wing challenge page and showing us what it entailed. “There are twenty-five wings total, each one dipped in one of our twenty-five famous sauces. You have to eat all of them — including the one rolled in our hottest sauce, Big Earl’s Inferno. And if you can do it, your meal is free. Plus, you get this t-shirt to brag to all your friends.” She pointed at a framed t-shirt behind her that said I survived Big Earl’s Wing Challenge and flashed us a wide smile. “So, booth or table?”
“Wait,” I said, trying to piece it all together. “So you eat all the wings and they’re free, if not you pay for the meal… is there any…” I looked to Emery, who was just grinning, and I knew he would be of absolutely zero help. “Is there a cash prize or anything?”
The hostess looked a little appalled by my question, her brows pulling inward. “No, sweetie. Just the t-shirt.”
I chewed my lip. “Just give us a minute.” When I turned back to Emery, he looked smug, and I glared at him before pulling him to the side.
“See? They don’t even pay if you can do it,” he said. “Let’s just grab dinner and put the charge on my card.”
“There’s got to be a way…” I tapped my chin with my finger, looking around us like I would find the answer from one of the other patrons in the restaurant, or from the hostess who was watching us closely now, one eyebrow hooked up high on her forehead.