I shrugged. “Well, we still have to duel. Rock, paper, scissors?” I held up my hands.
“Best two out of three?”
I shook my head. “One round, buddy.”
“But you always win!” He groaned, throwing his hands up in frustration.
“You snooze you lose.” I placed my fist on my open palm. “You’re the one that wanted to duel.”
He grumbled under his breath but held his hands out like mine.
“One, two, three.” We counted together.
I put my hand out in a scissors gesture and he held his in paper.
“Ha!” I cried, pretending to snip at his hand. “I win!”
He threw his hands up in the air again and started towards the car. “I can never win.”
“Poor baby.” I mock-pouted.
He slid behind the driver’s seat. “Cullman, Alabama here we come.”
“I don’t think Alabama is ready for all this awesomeness.” I shimmied my hips and grabbed the map off the car before sliding into the passenger seat.
“They’re probably not.” Dean agreed as he slid his sunglasses on. “Ready, Will?”
I grabbed a lollipop and stuck it in my mouth. “Now I am.”
***
Day Four of our road trip was about as uneventful as it got.
Cows.
So many fucking cows.
I’d long since stopped counting them.
Dean stopped at another hotel, the third we’d tried so far this evening, to see if there was any vacancy.
He parked the car at the front and headed inside while I waited. Based on the number of cars in the lot I wasn’t optimistic on there being a room available.
Dean came outside not even a minute later and shook his head.
He looked absolutely exhausted. The purple rings under his eyes had grown darker by the hour and his shoulders were slumped.
He sat behind the wheel and leaned his head back, letting out a pent up breath.
The sun was setting and I knew he was too tired to continue.
“Dean,” I prompted, putting my hand on his shoulder. He jolted at my touch and his weary gaze met mine. “I can drive.” He opened his mouth to protest, so I hastened to add, “I think I’ve got the hang of it, and it’s obvious you’re tired. Please, let me drive for a bit and you can sleep if you want while I look for a hotel.”
He sat staring at me and I knew he was mulling over my words. His lips pursed like he tasted something sour, but finally he nodded. “Yeah,” he said, “that wouldn’t be a bad idea.”
I grinned triumphantly and all but fell out of the car in my haste to get to the driver’s side.
Dean reluctantly switched places with me.