The Road That Leads to Us (Us 1)

It was a decent size, and did have a king size bed, with an attached bathroom. The room was decorated in soft blues and whites and the bed had some sort of flower/paisley design.

Willow kicked her shoes off and flopped on the bed. “Ah,” she sighed.

“Comfy?” I asked from where I leaned against the wall.

“Very.” She closed her eyes and let out this soft humming sound. She peeked one eye open. “How tired are you?”

“I’m okay.” I shrugged and picked up a round paperweight off the table, tossing it from hand to hand.

“Wanna help me practice driving some more?”

“As long as I get to have a steak for dinner.” I put the paperweight back down and fiddled with the information packet.

“Deal!” She cried, jumping up from the bed.

Even though I would’ve preferred chilling in the room for a bit I grabbed my keys and followed her outside to the car.

I ended up finding an abandoned parking lot a mile or so away and parked there so Willow could drive without the risk of hitting another car and damaging my baby.

After an hour or so of practice, she’d gotten the hang of it. The car still jerked from time to time, but I wasn’t scared for my life, so I figured that counted for something.

“Can I drive to the restaurant?” She asked.

I leaned back in the seat and eyed her. “Do you feel comfortable with that?”

She nodded her head eagerly.

“Then go for it,” I said simply. “You’ve got this, Will.”

She grinned at my praise and drove off the lot.

We’d passed a nice looking local restaurant on our way here so Willow made her way back towards it.

She parked the car and killed the engine. She immediately let out a high-pitched shriek and tackle hugged me. “Thank you for teaching me to drive it!”

I hugged her back and muttered, “’Course,” into her hair.

When she moved to get out of the car I looked up and saw a couple of young guys, probably my age, sitting in an SUV watching Willow with an appraising look.

Jealousy roared like a monster inside of me.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, silently reminding myself that Willow wasn’t mine and these kinds of feelings weren’t allowed.

Still berating myself I finally managed to heave my suddenly leaden body out of the car to join Willow where she stood impatiently waiting by the door and completely oblivious to the guys watching her.

The restaurant was definitely nicer than the places we’d been eating the past few days and my mouth watered.

I wanted a steak and a baked potato.

Mmmm.

“Hi, how many?” The hostess smiled pleasantly.

“Two,” Willow replied, holding up two fingers and wiggling them around.

“Right this way.” The hostess grabbed the menus and weaved through the restaurant to a booth in a far corner. “Enjoy your meal,” she said, grabbing the extra utensils off the table.

Willow slid into the booth and I sat on the opposite side.