“Sorry! Sorry! I’m really sorry!”
“Just call your sister before I lose control of the car again.”
I smiled at him. His smirk came about but he fought it, I could tell, with everything he had. I found my sister’s number and pressed the call button. I waited while it rang.
“You promised,” she answered.
“I know. I’m sorry but I got sidetracked.”
“But you promised,” she said, her voice breaking up like she was holding back tears.
“Aww, Mercury, don’t do that. You’ll make me cry, and if I cry then Ezra will cry; we’ll all be crying.”
Ezra threw an annoyed look at me, but I ignored it.
“What’s new there?” I asked her, trying to distract her.
“Nothing really. Have you been able to eat anything good yet?” Mercury and I were constantly scavenging for anything other than organic tomatoes. A bag of Cheetos in my house was worth two weeks of dish duty to the right person, and by right person, I mean Mercury.
“Yeah, actually, I ate a cheeseburger last night.”
“Cheese and crackers! You heinous brat. Tell me all about it.”
For the next ten minutes I described the cheeseburger I’d consumed the night before bite by bite, even going so far as to describe the various textures and temperatures of the pile of fries I’d hit Kai’s hand over once when he’d tried to pilfer one.
“All right, gotta go, Mercury.”
“You busy?”
“Nah, but I don’t want to talk to you anymore.”
“Okay, love you!” she said.
“Love you too. Remember, you’re the hottest planet, baby.”
“And you’re the heaviest.”
“Aw, man, I was trying to be nice, you punk.”
“That’s for not wanting to talk to me anymore.”
“Fine,” I said. “Bye, lint licker!”
I hung up before she could respond. I took a deep breath in satisfaction, my work done.
“Anyone want a cheeseburger?” Kai asked, making me light up inside.
“I should be a food critic, no?” I asked him.
He nodded with authority, which made me begin to question my life’s plans.
“I might change my major,” I told the car.
“What are you going to the University of Washington for?” Ezra asked.
He’d asked it so seriously, my whole body sobered. “Oh, I’m going to get a nursing degree as well as a nursing home administration degree.”
Ezra did a literal double take, which I thought was only possible in cartoons. “What?” he asked.
He hadn’t heard me apparently, so I spoke very slowly. “Me want to be nurse. Me also want to open a nursing home.”
“I heard you, smart-ass, I just— I just can’t…”
“What he’s trying to say is that he finds this an incredible coincidence, because he too would like to work with the elderly,” Kai chimed in.
“A geriatric physician,” Ezra explained quietly, studying me.
“Well,” I breathed, “that is interesting.”
Ezra stared at the road ahead of him. “I want to start something sort of different,” he continued.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“I want to start a joint nursing home and preschool. During the day the elderly could work side by side with the children, helping them, teaching them, giving them all something to work towards.” He glanced at me, the fire obvious in his eyes. “Preschool-age children have so much to gain from being around them, and they give so much love in return. It’s a win-win.”
My breath sucked into my chest. It was a brilliant idea, literally brilliant. “That is an incredible idea, Ezra,” I told him, thinking back on all my friends in my yoga class. They would have loved that.
“You think so?” he asked, that enchanting smile, the one that was so utterly Ezra’s, gracing his face.
“I think it’s genius, Ezra,” I told him quietly, and I meant it.
“Thank you,” he answered, making my heart skip a beat.
Please don’t fall in love with him. Please don’t fall in love with him.
Chapter Eleven
I slept right through entering Nashville, but woke in an unusual traffic jam right before the city itself, wrapped in that insanely soft blanket of Ezra’s. I buried my nose in it and breathed deeply. It smelled just like him and I closed my eyes, memories of growing up with Ezra assailed my mind.
My phone dinged so I threw off the top of the blanket and reached for it. It was a text from Frank.
what are you doing? she asked.
I am riding in a car with boys
lucky
dude things have been insane
sounds right up your alley
usually it is
okay spill
i’m a criminal. wanted by the law.
lol whatever
i’m not pulling your leg, I told her.
all right then cool
we started a fire on the side of the road
yowza
we put it out and nearly killed ourselves doing it
damn gina
then we left to get something to eat and drink and while we sat there this local news broadcast reported that a grass fire was encroaching on the nearby pines off the highway
oh my gato
i know
then what, she asked.
we filed
your taxes? lmaobyatwe
stupid automobile
What? Frank texted.
Stub stepfather!!!!
Jupiter?
*stupid autocorrect I just meant that we fled
????
what does lmaobyatwe mean, I asked.
laughing my ass off because you are terrible with electronics
touché one point to you
i gots to go buttercup love you and when they arrest you for arson remember to show them your left. it’s your better side
love you too brat
see you on the flip, she said.
I tossed my phone in my bag.
“Who was that?” Ezra asked.
“Frankie,” I answered, tossing a look behind me only to find Kai asleep, his big feet hanging out of the driver’s side window behind Ezra.
Ezra fidgeted in his seat, his hands roaming the wheel, tapping at its edges. He let his elbow rest outside the window, thought twice about it, then brought it back in. He was unsure of himself. Ezra Brandon was unsure of himself! It defied logic. Perfect people were supposed to be so confident. Damn him and his endearing ways!
“It’s really nice out today,” he finally said. I looked out my window to avoid showing him my smile.
My pulse quickened. Ezra Brandon wanted to talk to me. Though he chose the weather, I didn’t hold it against him. I ran with it instead.
“It really is. Nice clear sky, sun shining.” I took out my phone and searched Nashville. “A comfortable seventy-nine degrees. Tonight it’ll drop to seventy-three. Wind at two miles per hour. Humidity at a balmy fifty-two percent, but no chance for precipitation, so keep those umbrellas at home, folks. All in all, the makings of a great weekend. Back to you, Ken.”
Ken smiled back at me. “Shut up.”
“I’m sorry. Did you not want to talk about the weather?”
He laughed, really laughed, and my stomach sank into itself, flipping once and ratcheting up my already dangerous crush to an even unhealthier level. I took a deep breath. The tallies for making him laugh were starting to stack up and I was rewarded with that lopsided grin every time. Note to self: Buy a book of jokes. Look into improv classes in Seattle. Up your quip game. Ignore how stupid all these ideas are.
“Tell me a secret, Ezra,” I asked him.
He swallowed. “I have none.”
“Lie.”
A signature grin. “None worth repeating.”
“Another lie.” I smiled. “All secrets are worth repeating,” I whispered. I bit my bottom lip, wait
ing for it, but he said nothing, just glanced my direction and held my gaze for exactly three seconds. I know, because I counted.
“Tell me your secrets,” his deep voice commanded.
It was my turn to swallow. “Like you, I have none.”
“Lie,” he accused as well, looking at me, seemingly through me.
“How do you know it’s a lie?” I whispered, my heart in my throat.
“Because I know you,” he said.
“You don’t know me,” I responded, blood rushing through my head, making me dizzy.
“I know you well enough,” he said with a finality that made my stomach clench.
“Prove it then.”
He didn’t hesitate. “You don’t like your hair, even though I think it’s probably the prettiest I’ve ever seen. When the sun hits it, it turns this crazy gold hue. It’s such a unique color, I don’t even know what to call it. Let’s see,” he continued as if he hadn’t just paid me the best compliment I’d ever gotten in my life, “you’re funny as hell, but you don’t realize it. You do this strange jiggle dance when you’re happy and you think no one is watching. You actually argue with yourself out loud. You are fiercely loyal. You are often underestimated. You don’t like attention, which is why no one at school really knew how extraordinary you are. You smell like a cake baking.” He smiled. “And now I know that you like blankets,” he admitted. My heart thudded at the declarations.
I gulped down the insane satisfaction I received from his notice of me. Not because it was a boy noticing me. No, because it was Ezra who’d done the noticing. I didn’t think Ezra noticed anyone, let alone me.
“I know a few things about you,” I admitted to him.
“Do you now?” his deep voice crooned. “Go on then.”
I sat up a little, pulling his soft blanket onto my lap more securely. Doing this made his face light up; I almost hyperventilated. I took a deep, steady breath. “You are kind. You always buy lunch for Jenny Miller because you know she doesn’t have the money for it, but you don’t let her know that you do it, preserving her dignity.” His face showed surprise. He opened his mouth to speak, but I continued over him, knowing I’d lose my nerve if I didn’t. “You are remarkably intelligent. You know all the answers in class, but you never offer them. I can tell because you wear them on your face. You don’t feel the need to let everyone know this fact about you. I don’t think you do this because you’re ashamed, I just think it’s in your nature to be humble. You draw a new meaningful quote on the bottom of your chucks every week, which means every week I’m looking up a new quote. I still haven’t been able to figure out how you get them clean enough to do it, but you do.” I paused as he stared at me. He knew where I was going, but I wasn’t going to let him stop me. “You had a terrible accident last year that altered you. You retreated away from your friends and school.”
Ezra shifted, his body language indicating he was done with our conversation, done with opening up to me.
“What happened?” I whispered.
He shook his head in answer.
“Tell me, Ezra.”
“Stop, Jupiter.”
I turned toward my open window, crossed my arms, and bit the nail at my thumb, staring into traffic. I’d treaded on some very sensitive territory with my big, clompy boots. I knew it was a sore subject for him, but I thought he could at least give me a little piece so I could figure out that facet of him, but I realized it was none of my business. I probably screwed myself out of any progress I’d made with him.
“I’m sorry,” I told him, afraid to look his direction. “I shouldn’t have said anything. It’s none of my business.”
“No,” Ezra said, surprising me. I turned toward him. He shook his head back and forth. “I’m just not ready to talk about it. I-I actually want you to know. It’d be nice for someone outside my family to know.”
“Oh,” I said intelligently. I cleared my throat. “Well, whenever you want to unburden yourself, I’ll be your sounding board, Ezra. I won’t offer opinions. I won’t offer sympathy. I will listen. Only listen.”
He didn’t reply, but that was good enough for me. I’d apologized and he’d accepted. I felt happier.
“Music?” I asked him, yanking up the cord.
“Sure.”
I put on a list I’d created labeled “Nashville.” Since I knew nothing about Tennessee, the list was basically a bunch of Elvis cover songs and Arrested Development’s “Tennessee.”
“You’re a dork,” he said.
“I know,” I agreed, laughing at my own stupidity.
The motel we were staying at was older, but again, clean and well kept. After we checked in, Kai and Ezra took a run around the property to work Ezra’s legs. I noticed him wincing toward the last fifteen minutes in traffic, but pretended not to notice. They invited me along, but I thought I’d give Ezra some space. I didn’t want him to feel like he was any less, so I let him work out his pain without a witness. Instead, I threw on my earbuds and laid in the sun by the pool, watching little kids in floaties practice their cannon balls. The big kids, i.e. the adults, did the same but in their muffin tops, wink wink. Also a floatation device, yet, for some reason not approved by the United States Coast Guard.
Afterward, I went back to the room and freshened up. We had plans that night. There was some club or bar or something Kai maniacally insisted we had to go to. Seriously, he was being a freak about it, so both Ezra and I gave in. Plus, Kai threatened to poison us in our sleep.
I’d asked him, “Why poison? It seems like a hard way to kill someone. They could wake up and fight you off. If they’re already asleep, why not just, like, whack ’em on the head or something?”
He didn’t think it was funny, but Ezra did and my heart soared into my throat.
I wore my brown suede mini and a white embroidered tunic with my boots, letting my hair lay free down my back. Ever since Ezra had told me my hair was pretty, I couldn’t help but look at it in a different light. Ezra was good for the self-esteem. I looked casual but not too casual. I dabbed vanilla at my pulse points, reapplied my lip gloss, and stepped out of the bathroom to an audience of none.
I heard voices outside and thought they might be Kai’s and Ezra’s so I paced to the door, checking the peephole to make sure it was them before I threw open the door. It was, but before I had time to open it, though, Ezra pushed through, shoving me back. I tripped on something imaginary, because that’s what I do, I trip on nothing, and fell smack on my bum with an oof.
“Jeez! Run me over, why don’t ya!”
“Sorry!” Ezra said, picking me up by the elbow and righting me. “What were you doing there anyway?”
“I was looking out the peephole. I heard voices but wanted to make sure it was you guys before I just went sprinting outside.”
Kai came in after Ezra. “Were you spying on us?” he teased, trying to provoke me if his devious smile was any indication. It worked.
“I was not!” I protested.
“Oh, I think you were,” he argued.
Ezra looked at me like he just noticed me, making me feel uneasy. “What?” I asked nervously. “Listen, I was not spying on you. I have no clue what you two were talking about.” His eyes wandered over my face.
“Whatever, Mata Hari,” Kai insisted.
“You take that back!” I exclaimed before asking Ezra behind a hand, “Who’s Mata Hari?”
Ezra crossed his muscular arms, the rolled sleeves of his plaid button-up stretched to the point I thought they’d pop at the seams. He lifted a brow. “She was a femme fatale of sorts. Spied for the Germans in the first World War.”
“Oh,” was my very clever response.
Ezra’s hands fell at his sides. “So?” he asked.
“So what?”
“Were you listening?” he said. Just came out and said it! That bastard!
My mouth dropped open at the accusation. I turned and pointed to Kai. “You are a troublemaker.” Then I turned to Ezra. “I wa
s not listening to you.” I crossed my heart. “Scout’s honor.”
“Were you even a Scout?” Kai irked.
“Well, no, but I did play ‘Scout’ Jean Louise Finch in our seventh-grade production of To Kill a Mockingbird, and that counts.”
“That doesn’t count,” Kai argued.
“It does so! She is Finch stock. She is honest!”
Ezra placed a palm on his face. “I feel like the judge at a Spencer Pratt lookalike contest.”
“Who’s winning?” I asked.
“Jupiter!” he complained.
“Sorry. Are we done here? Are we ready to go?”
“Yes, get in the car, Jupiter,” Ezra said, shooing us out.
Kai opened the door and ran to the car like a little kid, bouncing up and down like an imbecile.
Ezra looked over at me, shrugging his shoulders in question. “What is up with you, Kai?” Ezra asked, suspicion lacing his tone.
“Nothing, okay? Let’s just go.”
“You better not have any shit on you.”
“I don’t. God! Ezra!” Kai complained. “Why you always gotta ruin everything?”
I laughed, opening my door for him. “Get in, Kai.”
He bounded into the backseat and I followed, pushing my seat back and getting inside. “What is this place we’re going to?” I asked Kai.
He sat at the edge of his seat, scooting forward and laying his chin on his hands on top of the front bench. “It’s a magical place of cash only and karaoke.”
Chapter Twelve
Santa’s Pub was a double-wide trailer surrounded by a twenty-year-old chain-link fence. It was a dive bar. There were giant and varying portraits of Santas painted on the face and sides.
“Kai,” I deadpanned when we pulled into the packed parking lot. “This is a dive bar. In a trailer.”
“She’s quick,” Kai said to Ezra, chucking his thumb my way.
“Is it even safe?” I asked.
Ezra looked around for a parking spot. “All I see are pickup trucks with gun racks here, Kai. Maybe this isn’t such a good idea.”
“No!” he yelled, startling us. “No, we have to go in here.”
Ezra studied him. “Are you going to tell us what exactly we’re doing here?” he asked.