Kiss King - Mickey Miller Page 0,86
on by him.
“Well, considering we’ve done it everywhere on campus…I was thinking we could go off-campus.”
“To the old brick factory everyone always talks about?”
“No,” Grant laughs. “To my family’s cabin in the northern woods of Wisconsin. And, we could also do that thing that you wanted to do.”
My mouth hangs open. “Magic mushrooms?”
He nods. “And my cabin would be the perfect spot to do it. Oddly, it might snow up there this month…”
“No matter! We’ll bring the heat.” He strokes my thigh and I sit up. “So, you’re not nervous about introducing me to your parents? Will they think I’m your…you know…”
“I don’t know, actually. My what?”
“Your girlfriend.”
His eyes widen. “No! You said the G word!”
I roll my eyes. “Come on. Your parents aren’t stupid. Bringing a girl up to your cottage? And they will be there the whole time?”
“They might not be up there the whole time, I’m just warning you about what you’re getting into.”
I run my hand over his chest. “You mean you’d bring a girl like me around your parents?”
“You’re right. You’re a very bad girl…but they don’t have to know that. And they never will. As naughty as you can be between the sheets, you’re quite a princess in the streets.”
“Which do you prefer?” I joke. “The naughty Maya or Princess Maya?”
“I like you as a package deal. Maya Waters, sometimes naughty, sometimes nice, and—I cannot stress this enough—always crazy.”
I burst out laughing. “What do your parents know about me?”
“They know that you’re my good friend. And that’s all they need to know. Right?”
“Right. So, when do we leave?”
“How fast can you pack?”
We get in Grant’s truck and head to his cabin, a multiple-hour drive that I would be worried about being bored if I were driving with anyone else.
With Grant? Never.
He puts on the Red Lemons album as we cross the Wisconsin border, taking small little country roads. It’s quite a scenic drive, and after a stop at a local grocery store for some food and supplies, we’re almost there.
“So, we’re going to do the mushrooms, and it’s going to clear my head,” I say. “Is there anything you’d like to warn me about, Mr. Shaman?”
“A good trip will make you confront your deepest fears. And teach you how to move toward the fear. If there’s anything you’re even slightly worried about, but maybe you’ve avoided, it will come up and you’ll be able to confront it. I’ll help you. Are you worried about anything right now?”
“Yes. I got a C-minus in my business class. Once my dad sees the grade, he’s going to flip.”
“That’s not like you to get a B, let alone a C-minus.”
“I know. But the truth is, I’ve been enjoying painting this term, and I just don’t want to do my Business minor. The bottom line is, I feel like I was steered into my degree path by my dad, and my heart’s not into it.”
“Well, what’s the worst that could happen if you change majors?” I ask.
“Well…he could decide not to pay my tuition again, and I’d be in the same exact position I was in last year.”
Grant laughs. “Remember that crazy brainstorm list we made for how to get you money?”
“Yeah. The only thing that would have made actual money was make a porno. And we’d never do that.”
“Of course, we wouldn’t. That was just cloud talk,” I say, then hesitate. “Not gonna lie, I’d like to record myself doing it just once, to see what I look like. Just for curiosity’s sake.”
Grant nods thoughtfully as he makes a turn at a country intersection. “I wouldn’t make a recording with anyone else but you.”
I add, “Grant, do you ever think we’ve made a big mistake? We can never go back to being ‘just friends’ after all this.”
“Why would we want to go back to being just friends?”
“Maybe after all this is over, and I go back to my old ways, I still want to be friends with you.”
“What are your old ways?”
“You know, just…keeping guys at arm’s length.”
“Interesting.”
“What’s interesting?”
“Do you ever wonder if you’re just scared to get hurt?”
I look out the window a few moments, then turn back to him.
“Isn’t everybody?”
Later that night, we arrive at the cabin, and the snow is really starting to fall.
“Just got a text from my family,” Grant says as we pull up. “They won’t be here for an hour or so, they think.”
Grant unloads the truck, carrying in all of our bags while I start dinner, my mom’s chicken soup recipe.
It