“Clothes. More clothes than you.” She looks at my bag again, then at me. “Did you pack going-out clothes?”
“Going-out clothes?” I laugh. “For Asheville? Have you been there? Where would we go? A dive bar? A brewery? I have jeans and sneakers or jeans and sandals. Trust me, I’m good.”
“Maybe I overpacked.” She purses her lips.
“I’d bet money you did.”
“I’m surprised you’re going.”
“I’m surprised you’re going.” I raise an eyebrow.
“I wasn’t going to, but then I found out you were going and I didn’t want to leave you alone over there with those wolves.” She scowls. “Is he going?”
“Is he going?” I ask at the same time. “Which he are you talking about?”
“Jagger.”
“Oh.” I shrug, feigning nonchalance, though it’s almost not a feign. I’ve rehearsed what it’ll be like to see him again and I think I’m good. “I don’t know. Is Mitch going?”
“Nope. I have it on good authority that he got snowed in and had to stay back in New York.” She winks.
“Who’d you hear that from?”
“I sent him a text and asked.” She shrugs a shoulder.
“Oh, you’re texting now?”
“Not texting, per se. We have texted though.” She pauses, glancing away briefly. “And we followed each other on social again.”
“Wow.” My brows shoot up. “I still haven’t re-installed any of those apps. I deleted them in case I felt tempted to look at what Lawrence is doing.”
“Do you care what he posts?”
“Not anymore.” I shake my head. I don’t, but Jagger? My stomach hurts just thinking about seeing him. I don’t know how I’m going to survive this weekend.
“Jagger hasn’t posted in a while,” my sister says softly.
“He also hasn’t texted.” I look up at her, hating the burning feeling in my eyes. “I mean, I haven’t been home in a week and he hasn’t even called to check in on me. As a friend, you know?”
“He’s a dick.”
“He is a dick.”
“Girls, let’s go,” Dad calls out from somewhere in the house, and I hop out of bed, grab my duffel, and rush behind Misty.
The last time one of us made Dad wait, he made sure we heard about it for months. I am not going to be responsible for that again. I’m trotting down the stairs, trying to go as fast as I can, when I hear his laughter. His laughter. I stumble on the last step, my duffel caught between me and the large wooden post. Misty shoots me a what the heck is happening? look and I shoot it right back.
“Girls, put your things in the van. Let’s go.”
“What van?” I frown. “We don’t have a van.”
“I rented one.” He shoots me a quick stop wasting time look before walking back outside.
Misty and I walk outside slowly, shocked, and see a big black van parked there. Not a regular van. No. This looks like one of those party buses you rent for a graduation or a bachelorette party.
“Does this van come with a stripper pole?” I ask, forgetting we have company, and quite frankly, past the point of caring.
Maverick laughs loudly. Jagger does not laugh. I’m not even sure if he’s smiling because I refuse to look in that direction. I walk forward, let my father take my bag, then Misty’s ridiculous suitcase, and walk inside the van and straight to the back. If I’m going to share a space with Jagger, it’s not going to be a close encounter. Misty follows, plopping down in the row in front of me.
“Are we expecting fifteen more, Dad?” she shouts.
“Settle down, girls. This was all they had.”
“We could have driven in separate cars,” I say, looking down at the ground as Maverick and Jagger climb into the ridiculous vehicle. One of them shuts the door to the back and Mom shuts the door to the front and claps.
“We’re off,” she announces proudly. “This will be fun.”
“Yeah, a ball.” I kick off from the floor when Dad starts driving and lie down across the four seats I have to myself. “It’s like going to Disney without the excitement.”
“Stop talking, Josephine, or I’ll drop you off wherever it is you’re living right now,” Dad warns.
I roll my eyes. “I’d gladly stay there.”
“Gladly shut up please.”
I shut my eyes and stop talking. After a while, I pull out my phone and open my Kindle app. I haven’t read a book in a while and this seems like the perfect time to catch up on my favorite historical romance series. Misty is taking a nap in the row in front of me and I don’t think either of us anticipate stopping at all for a three-hour car ride. I mean, we’ve gone down to Orlando and only stopped once, I can’t imagine he’s thinking of stopping for this. Despite my nerves and hearing Jagger’s voice ring out while he’s talking to his brother and my parents, I’m able to get lost in my book. That’s huge considering that his voice is cutting and his laughter? God, his laughter is making me feel like I’m drowning. But it’s fine. I’m fine. If I survived Lawrence, I can survive Jagger.