The Road That Leads to Us (Us 1)

“But I bet you’d do it again.” He started back towards the hotel and I followed.

“In a heartbeat.”

When I caught up to him his hands slid around my arm, down my wrist, and finally his fingers twined with mine. His hand was warm, but his fingers were roughened from many hours of playing guitar without a pick.

I rested my head on his shoulder as we walked.

Back in our hotel room we took turns showering before packing our bags to head out for another day on the road.

We loaded the car, but decided to grab breakfast at the hotel.

I loaded up my plate with eggs, bacon, and toast, while Dean grabbed a bit of everything.

I was surprised by how many tables were occupied with guests eating breakfast. It was still pretty early, so I’d expected the room to be empty.

Dean and I snagged a table in the center of the room, the only currently available table, and sat down to eat.

“Liam’s not going to shoot us or anything when we show up?” He asked around a mouthful of pancake.

“No,” I laughed, shaking my head. “Stop worrying, he’ll be cool with this.” I hope.

I didn’t see any reason why Liam wouldn’t be happy to see us. True, he was a bit of a recluse and liked his privacy, but I was family and Dean practically was too.

“My aunt and uncle might’ve told him we were coming,” I reasoned with a shrug as I slathered way too much butter across my brown piece of toast.

He looked at me doubtfully.

“What?” I batted my eyes innocently before biting into the toast. “It’s possible.”

“Uh-huh.” He wiped his mouth on a napkin and thankfully let the subject drop.

After having a second helping of breakfast, Dean finally decided he was full and we headed outside to leave.

I started towards the passenger side, but Dean veered in front of me suddenly and twisted his arm behind his back throwing the keys in the air.

I jumped, letting out a startled scream, but managed to catch them.

“I’m not driving!”

There weren’t many things that scared me, but crashing and destroying Dean’s car was near the top spot after the last mishap.

“Yes, you are.” He leaned against the side of the car and crossed his arms over his chest.

I glared down at the keys resting in the palm of my hands.

“I thought you weren’t afraid of anything,” he murmured, taking my chin between his fingers. “It seems I’ve finally found something that makes the infallible Willow Wade shake in her boots. Or in this case,” he looked down at my dirty white Chucks, “your sneakers.”

“Do you really trust me to drive?” I eyed him doubtfully and closed my palm around the keys. The abrasive edge of one dug into my palm.

He bent, his green eyes clear and untroubled. “I trust you.”

Inhaling a deep breath, my shoulders sagged. “Fine, I’ll drive. I don’t promise to be happy about it.”

“Trust me. You’ll enjoy yourself in no time. Plus we can use the app this time.” He waved his phone around with a silly grin.

“You suck.” I poked him in the ribs and moved to get in the driver’s side.

I had to adjust the seat and mirrors while Dean set up his phone so I could see it.