Beyond the Team (Out of Reach 4)

“Why are we waiting until this weekend?” he asks as we’re finishing up dinner.

I start to reply, but I don’t have an answer. “I don’t know,” I confess.

“I say we pack and get on the road.”

“You anxious to see your girl?”

“And make her mine.” He nods.

“Let’s do it.”

“Leave early tomorrow morning?” he asks.

“It’s around thirteen hours straight through.”

“We can take turns driving and napping. Hit drive-throughs for food.”

“I’m down. We’ll leave early.”

“Done.”

My cell rings, and I hit accept on the steering wheel. “Hey, babe,” I greet Peyton.

“Hi. What are you doing?”

“Oh, Oliver and I just hit a drive-through for some grub.” It’s not a lie. We did just hit a drive-through. What I don’t tell her is that my GPS says that we’re only about an hour from her.

“Nice. Karina just went to pick up Chinese.”

“Did you order your sweet-and-sour chicken?” I ask her.

“You know it.” I hear her rustling around on the other end of the line. “What did you all get?” She asks.

“Just some burgers and fries.” It’s not a lie, but I don’t want to tell her the name of the restaurant. She might know we don’t have them in Florida.

“Well, I’ll let you go since you’re driving. Call me later.”

“Okay. We’re going to just drive around for a while and chill.”

“I’ll be up,” she assures me.

“Love you.”

“I love you too,” she says and ends the call.

“She’s going to flip.”

“I know. Karina will, too, you know. Peyton told me last night that she’s really into you, but long-distance scares her. She’s been there as we’ve navigated it.”

“I know, but you two are rock stars. You’ve made it look easy.”

“It’s not easy,” I assure him. “I miss her every fucking day, but that’s over now.”

“But worth it, right?”

“So damn worth it.”

He moves, adjusting his position. “I’m ready to get there. I know that. Thirteen hours turned into sixteen by the time we get there.”

“Yeah, I wasn’t expecting a traffic jam, but we’re close. Grab a nap. I’ll wake you when we’re closer.”

“No way can I sleep knowing we’re almost there. You want me to drive so that you can?” he asks.

“Nah. No sleep for me either.” I glance at the dash. “Forty-five more minutes.”

We spend the last part of the journey talking about how we’ll surprise the girls, and we decide to just knock on the door. We’re both too exhausted to put more effort into it, and that’s going to be a shock to both of them. It’s simple, but it works.

Idle chitchat gets us through the last leg of the trip, and it seems like it takes hours before we’re pulling up outside of their apartment building.

“Finally,” Oliver says, climbing out of the Jeep.

I grab my phone and keys, and we grab our luggage, which is much more than we would need if we were just staying the week that the girls expect us. Together, we make our way to their door and knock.

I can hear movement inside, and Karina asks, “Who could that be?”

“Probably a delivery with the wrong apartment number,” Peyton replies as the door opens.

“Uh, Peyton, I think you need to see this.” Karina stands with her mouth hanging open.

“What is it?” I hear my girl as she comes into view. “What? How are you here?” She squeals and launches herself at me. I drop my bags and catch her with ease.

“Missed you,” I say, my face buried in her neck.

“Guys, let’s bring this inside.” Oliver laughs as he steps into the apartment. I lift my head in time to see him bend to kiss Karina on the lips.

Slowly, I lower Peyton to the ground and grab my bags. “We wanted to surprise you.”

“Well, you certainly did that. I’m so glad you’re here,” she says, closing the door behind us. “That’s a lot of luggage for a week.” She eyes our bags.

“About that.” I glance over at Oliver, and he’s smiling. “We thought we’d just stay the summer.”

“No. Way!”

“Wait.” Karina turns to look at Oliver. “You’re staying too?” she asks.

“If that’s all right.”

She launches herself at him, much like Peyton did to me when she opened the door. “That’s more than all right.”

“Oliver, it’s good to see you. Karina, I love you. We’re going to bed.” Peyton grabs my hand and tugs me to her room, our friends’ laughter following us down that hall.

“I should go get my bags.”

“No. What you should do is hold me. I’ve missed you,” she says, wrapping her arms around my waist.

“No more,” I tell her. “I’m here all summer to spend some time with you and to get to know your family better. Then we move back to Florida for school, and we will come back as much as we can.”

“We’re really doing this.”

“We are.” I kick off my shoes, strip out of my T-shirt and shorts, and climb into bed. “I’m exhausted,” I tell her.