that settles it then, she said.
what in the world does that settle, I asked.
She didn’t respond, which made me nervous, because it was Frankie and she was crazy. I locked the phone and let it fall in my lap. I waited but no answer came so I tucked the phone back into my purse.
“Who was that?” Kai asked right next to my ear, startling me.
“Oh, my best friend.”
“Is she hot?” he asked.
I smiled. “Totally.”
“That’s rad. What’s her name?”
I studied Kai. “What does it matter? She lives so far away from you.”
“Kai is a girl aficionado,” Ezra chimed in, surprising me. I was still stunned every time I heard him speak.
Ezra and I shared a look and I smiled timidly, but instead of smiling back, he whipped his gaze back toward the road, confusing me.
I turned toward Kai. “Is that so?”
“I-lok-em-alawt,” he said, his eyes glued to the ceiling.
“You’re a dork,” I teased.
He was ready with an infectious laugh again. “I know.”
“So, tell me, what’s up with your cousin over here?” I asked point-blank. Ezra’s whole body tensed. I didn’t think there was any sense beating around the bush. We were going to be driving for days on end together and I wasn’t about to tiptoe around him just because he was so obviously tortured.
Kai’s eyes blew wide. “You don’t pull any punches, huh?”
Ezra white knuckled the steering wheel, and I bit my lip wondering if I’d made a bad move.
“Ezra got his heart broken right along with his legs in the accident.”
“Kai!” Ezra shouted, swinging his head toward him. He looked incensed.
“Hey, hey,” I soothed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything by it, really. I was just curious. Please, let’s change the subject,” I offered, angry at myself.
Kai fell into his seat and the car got really quiet, thanks to my big, fat mouth. After twenty minutes, I tested the waters again.
“How old are you, Kai?” I asked softly, turning around in my seat again.
“Nineteen,” he answered.
“Go to school?”
“I’ll be starting my sophomore year at the University of Chicago.”
“That’s cool.” I paused. I threw my head toward Ezra. “Did he tell you how I roped him into giving me a ride?”
Kai fell back into his seat again, his arms spread across the top of the bench. I was discovering that was his favorite way to sit.
“Nuh-uh. Enlighten me, why don’t ya?”
“I’m a klutz,” I began, making him laugh. “Anyway, I was late for my class because I’d been dawdling, daydreaming, really,” I said. Ezra swallowed. “I started to run and collided with Ezra.”
“Really?” Kai asked, glancing at his cousin.
“It was epic,” I told him. “Papers strewn everywhere, people screaming, children crying, paramedics puking in the corner.”
Kai laughed. I bit my bottom lip, glanced Ezra’s way, and noticed a small smirk. I internally sighed in relief that he didn’t appear to be mad at me.
“And?” Kai asked, eyeing me with genuine interest, like he’d only just really seen me.
“Well, Ezra bent to help me scoop up all our papers, but his acceptance letter got mixed in with my lot.”
I bit my lip again, mentally chiding myself to stop the annoying habit I’d picked up every time I looked at Ezra Brandon.
“But how did that land you in that seat?” Kai asked, pointing.
“Well, I was going through my papers, trying to organize them, when I noticed the letter. I was confused. I’d left mine at home and didn’t know how it’d gotten into my satchel in the first place.” I looked at Ezra once more. “That’s when I figured out it was actually Ezra’s letter, not mine, and came up with the devious plan to trick him into taking me with him,” I joshed.
“Huh,” Kai said, confusing me.
“What?” I asked.
“Small world is all,” Kai practically whispered, eyeing his cousin with scrutiny. Ezra watched me and I smiled nervously at him. “You know who you kinda look like?” Kai asked.
“Penny Lane?” I asked, not realizing how stupid that was until the muscles in Ezra’s shoulders constricted. He sat up, his back ramrod straight, and my cheeks heated to an impossible warmth.
“That’s right,” Kai said, sounding astonished. He looked at his cousin again but smiled this time.
Ezra narrowed his eyes at Kai through the rearview. The leather on the steering wheel whined from the pressure of his grip.
“Oh, well, Ezra mentioned it once to me,” I told him, trying to prevent whatever it was that was going on. The tension in the car was almost palpable.
“Is that so?” Kai asked.
“Mmmhmm,” I answered.
“Why isn’t your seatbelt on?” Ezra asked. I was stunned at his almost desperate tone.
“Huh?” I asked.
“Your seatbelt, Jupiter.”
I glanced down at myself. “Sorry, I didn’t even realize. Guess I was distracted.”
Ezra threw a small glance at his cousin. “Please put it on?” he asked me politely, but there was a warning undertone there, whether it was for me or his cousin, I didn’t know.
I slid the belt across my body with a click, the sound deafening throughout the car.
“Should we play a game?” Kai asked.
“No,” Ezra said.
“Yes,” I said at the same time.
I laughed a little. “Come on, Ezra,” I prodded.
He glanced at me. “Fine then. What game?”
I turned toward Kai. “What game?”
“Dance or Die!” he said.
“No, I’m not doing that,” Ezra said.
Kai laughed. “He’s a spoilsport.”
“What’s Dance or Die?” I asked.
“Okay, it’s when the driver yells ‘Dance or Die!’ and yanks his hands from the steering wheel. He can’t put them back until everyone in the car is dancing in their seats.”
My eyes bugged. “Kai, you so crazy!”
He laughed. “Come on! You too?”
“Yeah, me too! I will never play that, Kai,” I said, laughing a little.
“You’re no fun, guys. Sometimes it’s fun to drink the Kool-Aid every now and again. You know, taste the forbidden fruit.” He wagged his brows at Ezra and Ezra threw an arm into the backseat, hoping to connect with his cousin, but he barely missed him when Kai slid out of the way, laughing.
“You two,” I said. “I can tell this is going to be one wild ride.”
Kai winked at me. “To borrow your word from earlier, it’s going to be epic.”
Chapter Seven
I’d drifted off, my head resting against the window. I hadn’t a clue how long I’d been out, but when I finally became aware, Kai and Ezra were arguing.
“Shh! You’re gonna wake her, dumb ass,” Ezra said.
“You’re transparent, dude,” Kai said quietly.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Kai.”
Kai snickered under his breath. “You know exactly what I’m talking about. Best be honest with yourself before you do something to ruin it.”
“Whatever,” Ezra answered.
I wasn’t supposed to hear this, but I didn’t want to embarrass Ezra so I shifted my body a little to let them think I was just coming to. They stopped talking so I sat up, stretching my arms above my body then rubbing the goosebumps on my legs.
“Cold,” I said, my voice scratchy from sleep.
“Here,” Ezra said, reaching behind my seat and pulling up a reversible sherpa throw, the plush side a dark purple velvet.
I took it from him and ran my hands over it. “This is incredible,” I said, bringing the velvet to my face and running the fabric over my skin. I removed my lace-up boots, kicked them to the car floorboards, and unfolded the throw, covering myself in
the luxurious feel. I giddily snuggled in with a sigh.
My face grew warm when I noticed both boys staring at me as if I’d grown two heads. “I-uh, I like the feel of fabrics and textures.” I cleared my throat. “Thanks for the blanket.”
Ezra shifted in his seat as if he was uncomfortable that I’d thanked him, which I found strange. “No problem,” he said.
I laid my head on the back of my seat and caught Kai from the corner of my eye forming a finger gun and pointing it to his temple, pulling the imaginary trigger, all the while smiling at Ezra, but Ezra didn’t react save for the slightest tick in his jaw. I wished I’d known what was going on between them.
“What time is it?” I asked, yawning.
Ezra’s definitive smirk made an appearance and I made a mental note to memorize it. I couldn’t believe I was riding in a car with this guy. I’d grown up with Ezra, yeah, but although Ezra had been cool with every clique at Endicott, he was still untouchable. He touched others, but no one could really reach him the same way.
At his peak, Ezra was phenomenal. His lacrosse was on point, earning him a scholarship. He was intelligent, as evidenced by a stellar GPA, but Ezra wasn’t just smart, he was also wise. Common sense was a theme in so many of his answers during open forums in class. His girlfriend, Jessica West, was the ideal—her tall statuesque figure, brilliant almost coppery brown eyes, and hair to match. Ezra loved her, anyone who watched them for even ten minutes could have figured that out. He looked at her with a devotion I would have killed for. At times he didn’t seem real.
“It’s eleven in the morning,” Kai remarked, staring down at his phone, texting someone. I nodded my thank you, drinking in the qualities that made up Ezra Brandon.
I pulled down the vanity mirror above me and checked myself quickly. No, I could never compare to Jessica West. We were different types of pretty. She was classically so, while I was defined by something entirely different. I pushed the mirror back into place and laid my head down once more.
Ezra ran a hand up and down his upper thigh, cringing at the obvious pain there, but continuing nonetheless.
“Does it hurt?” I asked him.
He peered over at me. “Yes,” he said succinctly.
“I’m sorry,” I told him and meant it.
Over that Christmas break, he had broken both legs in the accident and, as you know, he changed. He had grueling physical therapy for weeks while coming to school in a wheelchair. All of us thought his change in attitude and personality would adjust as he improved, but it did nothing of the sort. He’d grown dangerously introverted, in an unhealthy way. It wasn’t unkind, just unavailable. Eventually no one tried to get his attention or his friendship anymore. Eventually people forgot about Ezra Brandon. Eventually everyone did. Except for me.
“Pull over,” Kai said, “you need to stretch your legs, walk a little.”
Ezra didn’t respond but found the nearest exit and pulled into a gas station. He pulled next to a pump and turned off the engine. I hopped out of the car and let Kai out. All three of us stretched. We’d been driving for four hours without stopping.
Ezra went to the pump and started to fill his tank as Kai stalked off inside the store. I walked over to Ezra and leaned against the back of the GTO.
“What does it take to fill this thing?” I asked.
“Why?” he asked defensively.
“’Cause I’m kicking in some cash, yo.”
“Uh, no, you’re not.”
I stood up. “What?” I asked, outraged. “Why not?”
“Because I don’t take money from girls.”
“What in the heck are you talking about? I asked you if I could hitch a ride, remember?”
“Exactly. I was going this direction anyway,” he said, his smirk making yet another appearance.
“Uh, Ezra, that’s cool as crap that you’re offering, but I would feel like absolute crud if you didn’t let me cover my half.”
Ezra rested his backside on the fender of the car, his right hand clenched on the pump handle, his left grabbed at his right shoulder, the muscles straining under the cuff of his T-shirt, and turned his head toward me. His eyes grazed me from my boots, crawled up my legs, cutoffs, and halter, before stopping on my face. The action made my skin heat to an unnatural warmth, my toes curl in my boots, and my stomach churn with butterflies.
“No,” he said.
I shook my head. “Is it because you think I’m poor?” I asked. He laughed, incensing me. “Listen, I got a job explicitly over the summer to help with my share, dude. Let me do this.”
“Uh, no. Not happening, Jupiter Corey,” he said. His using my name like that felt strange to me for some reason, a little intimate. Stupid, but it did.
“That’s insulting,” I told him, stomping over to the passenger side. I got in and swung the door closed.
Ezra shoved the pump handle into the pump, replaced the cap, and got in beside me. “It’s not,” he insisted, starting the engine.
My blood boiled. “It is, Ezra! I’m not a damn charity case!”
“I wasn’t saying you were,” he insisted, peeling out of the gas station.
“Then let me pitch in!”
“I can’t, okay? I just can’t.”
“You are infuriating!” I said, as we entered the on-ramp to the highway.
“Listen, I would feel like shit taking money from any girl, okay?” he said, checking his blind spot as we got on the highway. “It hurts my pride, all right? Just stop arguing with me, damn it!”
I huffed in my seat, crossing my arms over my chest, peeved he was acting so chauvinistic. I turned to get Kai’s opinion, but he wasn’t there. I idiotically searched the floor behind my seat as if a six-foot guy could have hidden there.
“Kai! We forgot Kai!”
Ezra whipped his head toward the back bench. “Shit!” he said, cutting across two lanes to exit and turn around.
“Jeez Louise, Ezra!” I yelled, my hand grasping the dash and the back of his seat to brace myself. “You’re crazy!”
He looked me dead in the eyes as he shifted gear. “You’ve no idea.”
I rolled my eyes at him just as his phone rang. He answered it. “Yeah, sorry, dude. I’ll be right there.” He hung up and dropped it in the space between our seats.
I clenched my teeth, feeling pretty angry at Ezra for the display he just pulled. It wasn’t that I couldn’t appreciate a guy wouldn’t feel right taking money from a girl, but it put me in a precarious situation. I would feel awkward around him forever now knowing I hitched a ride like a parasite on a hippo’s back.
“Stop,” he said as we approached the light to turn left toward the gas station we’d left poor Kai at.
“Stop what?”
“Stop doing the girl thing.”
I huffed. “What in the world does that mean, Ezra Brandon?”
“The girl thing. That girl thing. The thing you do when you feel like you’ve been slighted or whatever when it’s just something I don’t want to do, okay?”
My heart softened toward him. “Fine,” I acquiesced, “on one condition?”
“Depends on what it is.”
“Ezra!”
“Spit it out, Jupiter.”
I huffed. I was doing that a lot with Ezra, I noticed. “Let me pick up a meal once in a while?”
“No,” he said emphatically.
“Ezra Brandon, you’re starting to piss me off.”
Ezra laughed, really laughed. It was such a far-off memory, that gorgeous laugh, that it startled me, arrested me, took me a moment to gain my senses.
“I don’t care, Jupiter. This is my car. I do what I want.”
“Ezra flipping Brandon!” I yelled, as we pulled into the gas station.
Kai stood at the station’s entrance, his arms wide in a classic what-the-hell-dude pose. Ezra came to a halt right in front of him and I jumped out, pulling the seat back forward for him to get in.
“I’m so sorry, Kai,” I said.
He looked at me like I was insane.
“Ezra,” Kai said, acknowledging him as if nothing had happened.
Ezra turned around toward his cousin. “Sorry, dude.”
Kai laughed. “Don’t worry about it. You were distracted.”
Ezra narrowed his eyes at his cousin when I bent down to look between them. They were staring at one another hard. I’d missed something.
“What’s going on?” I asked them, drawing it out in confusion.
Kai began to open his mouth, but Ezra interrupted him.
“Get in the car, Jupiter.”
Chapter Eight
I tumbled back into my seat and shut the door before we ambled our way back toward the highway.
“Two hours until Orlando,” Ezra said after a very silent ten miles.
“Is that where we’re stopping?” Kai asked.
“Yeah, for the night.” My brows furrowed in confusion and Ezra noticed, his neck turning crimson. “I can’t drive for more than six hours at a time,” he explained. “My legs won’t let me go any farther.”
Understanding dawned on me and I chastised myself for not putting two and two together earlier. I thought it was a little strange he wanted to leave so early for school, but I assumed it was because he wanted to be extra prepared for classes, moved in, and comfortable. It never occurred to me he was limited because of his injuries.
“Oh, that’s cool,” I said, desperate to distract him from something that obviously embarrassed him.
We’d had one of Kai’s playlists going and when it had cycled through twice, I asked if I could play one of mine. Both nodded, so I took the cable from Kai’s phone and put it into mine, rummaging through my extensive sets of playlists until I landed on my favorite. I’d named it Ezra, not that I would have told him that or anything, but it had all my favorite songs on it so I named it after my favorite person, aside from Frankie and Mercury. If I was being blunt, it was a collection of the sexiest songs I had ever heard.
When the first song began to play, Ezra looked over at me and without realizing he’d done it, I think, licked his bottom lip. Electric waves rushed through me when he did this. “I love this song,” he told me.
“Do you?” I asked.