Where the Road Takes Me (25 page)

His hands drifted under my shirt and up my sides. He turned me onto my back and lifted my top over my head, all in one swift move. Leaning on his elbows and hovering above me, his eyes roamed my face and down to my chest. Then he descended, his mouth open against my nipple. My hands reached up, gripping his hair, holding him tighter against me. His palms flattened on my thighs, spreading my legs for him. We let out simultaneous moans when his hardness pressed into my center. His lips moved up again, tasting my mouth. His hand gripped my thigh, bringing it up and around him so he could get closer.

He started moving down my body again, his mouth now on my stomach as his fingers curled around the material of my sleep shorts and panties. His mouth moved lower, as did his hands, pulling both items of clothing down my legs and off my feet.

He stood at the end of the bed, his eyes burning with lust as he took in my bare-naked form. “Fuck, you’re beautiful.”

He crawled back onto the bed, removing his shirt. He positioned himself between my legs, taking my mouth with his. We started moving, thrusting into each other. I wanted to feel him. All of him. Everywhere. On me. Inside me. My fingers trailed down his back. My hands raised and pushed against his chest. I rolled us over so he was underneath me.

And then it was my turn to taste him.

His neck. His chest. Every single dip of his abs. That perfect vee. I pulled on his boxers, freeing him. “Chloe,” he breathed. It was a question. An answer. I hovered on all fours above him.

“Chloe.” It was almost a warning. A plea.

I moved down and kissed him with everything I had, like my life depended on it. I laid my chest flat against his. “Make love to me, Blake.”

“Are you sure?” he asked, his eyes closed and his jaw tense.

“Yes,” I whispered.

He rolled us until I was under him and kissed my neck up to my ear. “I love you so much, Chloe.”

And then he moved.

And so did I.

And we were there.

Loving each other.

In this room.

In the middle of a road trip.

On an experience of our lifetimes.

And a journey toward my death.

If he felt my tears, he never mentioned it.

CHAPTER THIRTY

Chloe

“This is by far the greatest thing you’ve ever dragged me to look at.”

I laughed. “I know, right?”

“I’m not even kidding right now, Chloe. I mean, it’s a man-made UFO . . . to welcome aliens when they land on earth so they’re comfortable when they meet humans. How the fuck is that not the greatest thing in the world?”

“Wow!” I pulled out of his arms and sat on the hood of the car. “You’re really into this one.”

He followed and stood between my legs, shoving the lollipop back in his mouth. “Don’t you think it’s strange—” he mumbled around the stick. I took it from his mouth and put it in mine so he could talk properly. “Don’t you think it’s strange that we’ve been on the road for this long and we’ve only crossed one state border?”

He smiled when I laughed, squinting to block out the sun. I pulled his Duke cap farther down his forehead. “We should take another picture of us and send it to Harry.”

He nodded in agreement and took the phone out of my back pocket. “Have you figured out how to use it yet?”

“Yes. I haven’t been living under a rock. I just had no need for things like Facebook.”

He snapped the photo, tapped the phone a few times, and shoved it back in my pocket. “You’re the only eighteen-year-old I know that doesn’t know how to use technology.” He scrunched his nose in disgust. “You make me sick,” he joked.

But I was too busy looking at him, watching as the sun beat down on his face, making his eyes extrablue and the freckles across his nose darker than I’d ever seen them.

“What?” he asked.

I tapped my finger on his nose. “You. These freckles. You’re just so damn cute. How did I land you?”

He laughed and brushed my hand away. “Pretty sure I landed
on
you.”

I ran my fingertips across his nose again. “I’m in love with these freckles. I kind of just want to make out with them.”

He swatted my hand away, feigning annoyance.

Blake

“Okay, thank you, I’ll see you later.” She hung up the phone just as I took a seat in the booth at the diner we stopped at for lunch.

“Who was that?”

She shook her head and looked down at the table. “Um, just the bank, about releasing some of my money.” Then she raised her head. “We should go . . . before the bank closes.” She stood up. “You go pay the bill. I’ll wait in the car.” Then she was off, rushing out the door.

She was seated in the driver’s seat when I came out, which was odd, because ever since we’d picked up the Jeep, I’d been the one to drive.

I climbed into the passenger’s seat. “You’re driving?”

“Yup.” Then she sped off, tires spinning as she did.

“Where are we going?”

“Duke.”

“What?”

She shrugged. “It’s where the bank’s head office is.”

“Okay, you’re going a little fast. We’ll make it before the bank closes.”

Her eyes darted from the clock to the speedometer. “I know,” she said, bouncing in her seat. “I just don’t want to risk it.”

When she’d said we were going to Duke, I’d thought she meant Durham. Not Duke University. And definitely not Cameron Indoor Stadium, where she was pulling into. I eyed her sideways. “What are you doing?”

“Come on. We’re late!”

“Late for what?”

She unclipped her seat belt and then mine. “Hurry!” she squealed.

She took my hand after we stepped out of the car and rushed toward the stadium, looking at her watch every few seconds.

“Chloe, what the hell is happening?” She was practically running now, which was strange, because Chloe never ran.

“Oh thank God, he’s still here.” She stopped suddenly and flattened her hands on my back, pushing me closer to the building. My head was turned, trying to look at her, so I didn’t see the man who began chuckling in front of me.

“You must be Chloe,” he said, and my head whipped forward.

“Hey, Coach,” she said from behind me, as if the man standing in front of me wasn’t a legend whose very presence made me nervous. “I’m Chloe.” She pointed her thumb at me. “You already know Blake.”

He held his hand out.

I wiped my palms on my shorts and shook his hand. “C-C-Coach,” I stuttered.

Chloe giggled but stopped when I turned to glare at her. “Sorry.” She frowned and then turned to the head coach of the Duke Blue Devils. “So, I’ll come back in an hour?”

Coach nodded.

She smacked my ass. “See you in an hour, babe.”

We both watched as she walked away.

“Your girlfriend’s something else,” Coach said.

“Yeah.” I turned to him. “She’s kind of amazing.”

He smiled. “Let me show you around, son.”

For the next hour, I got something not many people get to experience. I got one-on-one time with the head coach of a Division I college team. He showed me around the center, the gym, the locker rooms, and the facilities. We ended up sitting in the stands, right behind the Duke Blue Devils’ bench.

“My coaching staff told me about your situation, Hunter.”

“Yeah.” I wiped my palms against my shorts again. He was intimidating as a coach, but this felt so much more nerve-racking. “I need to thank you for allowing me . . . I mean . . . for keeping the spot open for me. I know that it’s not common, especially given—”

“Hunter,” he cut in. “I know what it’s like to be in your position. You know my history, right?”

“Yes, sir.”

“So you know I’m ex-army?”

“Yes, sir.”

Then the familiar sound of a basketball bouncing on the hardwood floors echoed through the stadium. Followed by more bounces. Feet shuffling. Shoes scraping. I sat up in my chair and leaned forward, waiting for the moment the players walked out.

“You look like a kid that’s seeing his heroes up close for the first time.”

I laughed. “I am.”

“You could be someone’s hero.” He stood up and patted me on the back. “In fact, according to your girlfriend and the skateball league, you already are.”

I shook my head and let out a disbelieving sigh. “Chloe,” I mumbled.

“Chloe,” he repeated, throwing his hand out for me to take, “is probably waiting for you outside.”

I gripped his hand, and he helped me to stand.

“I’ll walk you out.”

She was sitting under a tree, earphones in, bopping her head. It reminded me of her in high school.
High school.
It sounded so long ago.

“I’d keep her,” Coach joked.

“I plan to, sir.”

She smiled and pulled out her earphones when I came into view. “How was it?”

I sat down next to her. “I don’t think I have the words right now.”

She reared back in mock horror, holding her hand to her heart. “Blake Hunter, speechless? I never thought I’d see the day.”

I nudged her side with my elbow. “We missed the bank.”

“Oh yeah, about that . . . There was no bank.” She batted her eyelashes.

I sat there, and I watched her, because I couldn’t take my eyes off her if I’d tried. I shook my head to clear my thoughts. But then I asked her something that’d been bugging me ever since I’d realized she’d chosen to take me there. “Why did you do this? Come here . . . organize all this?”

“I just wanted to give you the opportunity to make your own choices. That’s what you wanted, right? To be able to choose your own future?”

I couldn’t answer.

Her eyes narrowed in confusion, but she added, “I think your dad’s probably been drilling army into your head since you were a kid. It’s only been what . . . two years since you started taking basketball seriously? Or the other way around, really. Basketball started taking you seriously. I don’t know, Blake. I just thought if you were here, if you got to meet Coach, got to see the campus, got to see the facilities, maybe Duke would be on an even playing field?”

I just shook my head, unable to form any words. Unable to believe what she was saying, and what she had done for me. So I changed the subject. “What did you do while I was gone?”

She sat up straighter and scooted her crossed legs closer to me. “Actually, I went into town and looked around.”

“Yeah? Is there something you want to check out tomorrow?”

She sighed. “No, Blake. I mean I checked out houses and stuff, to live in, for me to rent. Or us. For us to rent.”

“What?” I wasn’t sure if I’d heard her right or if I’d just wanted to hear what she’d said so badly that I’d dreamed her words.

“If you want to . . . I was thinking, if you go to Duke, we could rent somewhere close. I don’t know if you want to live on campus, but it’s not really my thing . . . so if you want to, you can live here, and I’ll live there . . .”

“And if I choose the army?”

“Well . . . I checked out the area. I like it. If you do decide army . . . I’ll wait for you.”

“You’ll wait for me?” I asked. I had to make sure that I understood exactly what she was saying.

“Yes,” she said quietly, looking down at the space between us.

“Chloe. Are we doing this? Making plans?
You’re
making plans?”

She nodded.

“With me? You’re making plans with me?”

She nodded again. And she must have seen the elation on my face, because she smiled.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, Blake, I’m sure.”

“Best red-letter day in the history of the world.”