six-week adventure was going like I had planned. I hadn’t checked out any of the must-see attractions in the Big City. The exciting dates Derrick built up had been a bust. And a cocky shithead of a guy I was starting to fall for just told me he manipulated a situation that hurt my feelings for his benefit.
His declaration of wanting to spend time with me fought with my sense of what was right. I squeezed my eyes closed.
Startled, I sat up again. Derrick knew.
20
Jurnee
“I’ll drive.”
Anderson had the audacity to stand with his hand outstretched for the car keys. Those two words were the fourth and fifth words spoken since last night’s revelation that Anderson was manipulative, and my best friend was complicit. Without a word, I walked past him to the driver’s side of the rental.
“Or you can drive. You’re going to have to talk to me, eventually.”
I tossed my bag in the backseat, slammed the door, and climbed in behind the wheel.
“Can we go?” He made me break my silence.
Finally in the car, Anderson pulled the seatbelt across his body as I peeled out of the driveway. No part of me was ready to speak to Derrick about the text he sent me after I stormed to my bedroom. I only hoped to get on the road well before he would expect us to depart for the airport.
With the click of the buckle, Anderson turned his body to look at me. “I’m sorry. It was shitty of me to touch your personal property and cancel a date. Jurnee, I messed up.”
He stopped talking. I glanced over at him. He appeared to be looking through me like his thoughts had captured him, and he was deep in thought. We drove to the highway in silence.
Stopped at a red light, I tapped the screen to wake up my phone—no missed calls, no voicemails, no texts. I opened my best friend’s text from the night before.
Derrick - Make sure you know who you’re mad at and why.
“It’s green,” Anderson warned as the car behind me laid on their horn.
Pressing the accelerator to the floor, the car jerked forward and sailed onto the on-ramp. “Why?”
“Uh, I assume you’re not asking why the light turned green.”
Merging into the far-left lane, I set the cruise to eighty-seven but didn’t dare look at my passenger. “Why did you do it?”
Anderson rubbed his hands over his face and moaned. “I have been asking that question since it happened.”
“And?”
“I don’t know. I saw the message, and I just didn’t want you to go.”
“It was a shitty thing to do.” The anger inside me bubbled close to the surface. “You, who has to turn his phone off for an hour every day, because that’s when all your perspective hook-ups line up for you to select your flavor of the moment.”
“I have not gone out with anyone since I met you.” His words came out like a sword pulled from its sheath. “I’m literally here with you, right now. Not with anyone who might text.”
“I’m not sure who is here with me right now. Did you sabotage the first date too?” Shit.
I knew that question was irrational, and he pounced on it. “No, Jurnee, you were actually stood up that day.”
The lane opening to my right was a gift from above that I couldn’t leave unopened. Tapping the button to cancel cruise control, I darted into the next lane and onto the last bit of the exit’s on-ramp.
I need air. I can’t freaking breathe.
As I parked the car in the Starbucks parking lot, I noticed Anderson’s hand around the Oh Jesus handle. That dose of pride hit me as I stepped out of the car and headed into the coffee shop. Thankfully, Anderson stayed in the car.
Standing in the bathroom with the water running, I placed my Starbucks order on the app. Funny, there was no hesitation for me to order Anderson a coffee. As I looked in the mirror, a ping ran through my body. Why aren’t you furious? I’m so mad at you, Derrick. Who am I supposed to talk to now?
A cold, damp paper towel to my face and a promise of a yummy treat got me out of the bathroom. This crowded coffee shop had been a regular stop as it was a little over the half-way point to Detroit. I was moving to NYC, so this could be one of the last times I stopped at this, my new favorite, Starbucks.