of him to wish we could get naked and fuck each other senseless.
Bad idea, though. Marques had a boyfriend, and even if he didn’t, we were stuck together for the duration of this road trip. No point in making things weird.
I’d steadfastly refused to ogle him or fantasize about him while I’d been with Tanya. I may have been unhappy, but I wasn’t a cheater. Did I notice him? Sure. I noticed a lot of people. I just didn’t let myself linger on the possibilities if we were ever single, naked, and horny together.
Now I didn’t have anyone expecting me to be faithful. I could ogle and fantasize about whoever I wanted. I wouldn’t be obvious about it because I didn’t want to make things weird with Marques, but steal glances at him? Imagine the hot possibilities? That sounded a hell of a lot more fun than wallowing in the relationship I should’ve ended months ago.
So I’d just keep my mouth shut, continue my road trip with Marques, and quietly enjoy the scenery.
Chapter 6
Marques
When we climbed into the truck the next morning, Armin looked like hell. It was hard to tell if he was pale, or if that was because he hadn’t bothered shaving. His beard was as black as his hair, and every man in the Jahani family got five o’clock shadow that made it look like they hadn’t shaved in days, so maybe that was it. Except I didn’t think he’d had those circles under his eyes yesterday.
As I started the engine, I studied him. “Did you forget to sleep last night or something?”
He laughed, which somehow made him seem even more exhausted. “I tried.” Groaning, he wiped his hand over his unshaven face. “That bed was just…”
Okay, the beds in this place hadn’t been great. I’d give him that. And I hadn’t slept so hot myself. But I’d literally seen him doze off with his head on his folded arms in the gallery’s spare office, and one time when we’d all been there super late getting ready for an opening, he’d straight up fallen asleep across some metal folding chairs. Dude didn’t exactly need a Sleep Number bed if he was tired enough, and last night, I was pretty sure he’d been as tired as I was.
Something was off, but if he didn’t want to talk about it, I wasn’t going to drag it out of him. I knew him—he’d bring it up if he wanted to, and not a minute sooner.
We swung into a gas station on the way out of town, and after we’d topped off the tank, we hit up the shop for… Well, “breakfast” was probably being generous. A whole lot of cellophane-wrapped garbage is what it was. But we did get coffee, so…breakfast. Don’t tell my mom.
I took a sip of coffee and turned to Armin, who had his head pressed back against the seat and his eyes closed. “You okay?”
“Yeah. I’m good.” He rubbed his face, then reached for his own coffee. “Fucking tired, man.”
You don’t say.
He tilted the cup toward the windshield. “Weather report said it’s going to be like this all the way to Calais, and probably all the way back to Virginia Beach.”
“Ugh. Of course it is.”
“So which way should we go?” He picked up his phone and opened a traffic app. “With the weather this shitty, traffic will probably be—yep. Thought so.” He turned the screen toward me. Big shock—all the traffic maps were black in every direction.
“Well, damn.” I started unwrapping a bear claw that promised a few minutes of deliciousness followed by an afternoon of heartburn. “Any ideas?”
Armin glared at the map. “I mean, it’s going to be crap whichever way we go, so…”
While we ate in the gas station parking lot, we debated a few different directions we could take to at least try to avoid New York, which was a mess and a half. Ultimately, all the bypass routes didn’t look much better, and we figured as long as we just stayed on the interstate and reminded ourselves to be patient, we could get through the New York crawl. Especially if we left now, which would get us there after the morning commute and before the evening crush.
“Let me know if you want to switch.” Armin put the phone in the console again. “Probably won’t be able to once we start getting into the city.”
“Eh. I’ll be fine.” I backed out of the parking space as the GPS helpfully told me to turn