The Road That Leads to Us (Us 1)

His fuzzy gray brows furrowed together as my receipt printed. “Palatka seems like a strange place to stop on a road trip.”

I shrugged and pointed at Dean. “He made me close my eyes and point to a place on the map. We ended up here.”

The man looked up and took note of Dean. “Your boyfriend?”

“No!” I cried, my neck growing hot. “He’s my friend.”

The man stared at me for a moment and then harrumphed in disbelief.

I glanced over at Dean with wide eyes and the jerk was laughing his head off.

I smacked him in the arm.

I grabbed my things off the counter and moved out of the way so Dean could check out.

“Enjoy Palatka,” the man said as we started to leave.

I said nothing in reply. The stranger was currently on my shit-list for implying that something was going on between Dean and I.

“Can we head back to the car to drop these off?” I asked him as I lifted my bag in the air and gave it a little shake.

He nodded. “That would probably be a good idea.”

It didn’t take us long to find the car. We set our bags in the backseat and Dean grabbed his guitar case.

“I saw some signs for a dock. I thought maybe we should check it out.” He said as he locked up the car.

“Sounds good,” I added a few more coins to the meter. “Are we staying here tonight?”

“I figure we might as well.” He shrugged, toying with his sunglasses before putting them back on. “We should relax tonight. Have a nice dinner.”

“What’s wrong with McDonald’s?” I joked.

He made a face, which in turn made me laugh.

“Maybe we’ll find somewhere to stay right around here,” I commented as we strolled down the street, “it’s cute.”

The town was adorable, with an old-fashioned vibe that made me feel like a horse and carriage might come barreling down the road at any second.

“We might,” Dean agreed, looking around.

The town sat right on a river and in no time we found a dock leading out onto the water.

We took a seat and I swung my legs back and forth.

“This place is beautiful. And to think, we might’ve never found it if it weren’t for you and your map.” I bumped his shoulder with mine and smiled at him.

He grinned down at me and reached up to swipe a hand over his stubbled jaw.

“And your pointing skills,” he added.

“I don’t know,” I remarked, “I just closed my eyes and jabbed at it.”

He chuckled and laid his guitar case down so he could unzip it.

He rested the guitar on his lap and searched for a pick.

Once he located one he flipped it between his fingers and smiled lopsidedly. “Will you sing with me?”