Page 49 of The Fast Lane

I tried to hop off the picnic table, but Theo stopped me with a hand on my hip. A jolt of warmth radiated from the spot, and it made me even angrier. Because I was mad at him and I didn’t get mad, and even though I was, he still had this stupid power over me, a power he didn’t even realize he had.

“Are you okay?” he asked me; his eyes seemed to reach right inside my head.

I forced a stiff smile. “You know all my secrets and I’m beginning to think I don’t know any of yours.”

TWENTY

Note to self:

Fighting is dumb.

Making out up is better.

Theo beat his fingers on the steering wheel, playing some anonymous drum solo. The sound rode my nerves, but I tried to ignore it. Mack was no help in the distraction department. He’d slipped in some earbuds, pulled up a WWII movie on his phone, and proceeded to pretend we weren’t even in the car.

Everything about the last two days was a jumbled mess in my head. I tried to parse it, pick out the important threads and throw the broken ones away but it was all a mess, impossible to untangle. Plus, I didn’t like being angry with Theo but, dang, it stung. This was all so confusing.

I rubbed my forehead, feeling a headache coming on. That incessant finger tapping was not helping. “Okay, you have to stop. I can’t take it.”

He tightened both hands, the knuckles turning white. “Sorry.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“You’ve been tapping your fingers for almost forty-five minutes. You do that when you’re anxious or nervous.”

“I do not.”

I rolled my eyes. “If you say so.”

With a huff, he shifted in his seat. “I don’t like that you’re mad at me.”

“I’m not mad at you,” I lied. “I’m fine.”

“That never means fine,” he muttered.

“Excuse me?”

“Nothing,” he said. “Abe thought it would be better if you weren’t in the middle of him and your parents. He asked me not to tell you and…” His voice trailed off. “I trust you, Ali. More than almost any other person I know.”

I barked a humorless laugh. “Really? Because it doesn’t feel like it.”

Theo opened his mouth and then closed it, pressing his lips together until they turned white at the corners. The silence between us was heavy and uncomfortable. We’d been on this trip for just over a day and it was becoming more and more apparent—shockingly so—that I didn’t know Theo at all. We’d never had an argument. Oh, sure, good-natured ribbing, verbal sparring, but nothing like this. I’d happily strangle him right now, and I prided myself on never getting angry. Yet, here I was, angrier than Peter that one time someone placed an online ad selling ostrich eggs and told interested parties to text his number for information.

“I was serious. I trust you. You’re one of the most important people in my life.” His voice was all soft and thoughtful and it made my insides all gooey. Jerk. “I don’t want to ever lose you. And, you know, our friendship.”

That took most of the bluster out of me. Dang him. “I’m not going anywhere.”

He nodded once. “Good.”

“Great.”

“Did we just have our first grown-up fight?” he asked.

“It didn’t involve water balloons or shaving cream, so yeah, I guess so.”

The corner of his mouth tipped in amusement. “Who won, do you think?”