Road Trip with a Nerd - Stephanie Street Page 0,33

Grant in the rearview mirror. It was true. I didn’t deserve him. And we both knew it. That’s why he pulled away. He was right. Emotions had been running high since I first stepped foot into Grant’s beat-up old farm truck. That’s all this was— a reaction to stress.

Stress caused by me.

I’d been selfish. If I hadn’t dragged Grant into this, he wouldn’t be standing out there in the rain, changing a tire. His window wouldn’t be broken. He wouldn’t have spent the last—how long had it been? Good heavens! Thirty minutes making out with a girl who still had a boyfriend.

I wasn’t any better than Matt.

A few seconds later, Grant emerged from behind the truck, his biceps bulging as he carried a spare tire in one hand and a jack in the other. The truck bounced as he leaned the spare against the side. Without hesitating, he laid down on the wet ground to position the jack under the truck.

I should get out and help him.

Sliding out the driver’s side door, I remembered the lock. I’d made so many mistakes in the last twenty-four hours. Heck, the last year. If I’d had the guts, the confidence, I’d have dumped Matt a long time ago. I’d have decided where I wanted to go to school. I’d have stood up to my sister and told her how I really feel, that I loved our hometown and I loved Indiana. I didn’t have to move to Utah or anywhere else if I didn’t want to.

If I’d done those things, I would never have gotten that text from Bria. I would have stayed in Utah with Jenny. I would have never seen the real Grant Baker, and the thought of that shattered my heart. How could I have fallen so hard, so fast?

I had no idea.

All I knew, I wished I’d realized what kind of person Grant was a long time ago. I wished he’d been my boyfriend all along and that we’d taken this trip together because we wanted to and not because, well, because my life sucked and my boyfriend and my best friend betrayed me.

But didn’t that mean Matt and I were broken up? To me, it did. Now, it did. Even if Matt apologized up and down, this way and that, and back again, I still wouldn’t want to be with him.

“Can I help?” I asked once I finally got out of the truck.

Grant bent low over the flat tire. He’d already jacked up the truck. His muscles tightened as he worked to loosen the lug nuts. I’d never had to change a tire before, but my dad made sure I knew how. Still, I wouldn’t be much help to Grant, who was completely capable.

“Here.” He held out his hand. I reached out, and he dropped a few of the lug nuts into it.

As he worked, I started to say a million different things but stopped myself. In the end, it didn’t matter. Settling things with Matt had to come first. Anything else wouldn’t be fair to Grant.

It didn’t take long for Grant to exchange the flat tire for the spare. Soon we were back on the road again, damp from the rain still sprinkling outside. The passenger’s seat had been soaked by the storm, but I planned to sit there anyway. Before I could scoot all the way across, Grant caught my arm.

“Don’t. It’s okay. Just sit by me.” He sounded defeated, and more than anything, I wanted to reach out and touch him, but I didn’t.

I could only hope that when it was all said and done, he’d let me tell him how much I cared, how much I wanted him and only him.

We drove for fifteen minutes before Grant veered off the interstate and pulled into a gas station. After pumping gas into the tank, we both went inside to use the restroom. Grant waited in the short hallway outside the bathrooms for me to exit before heading toward the convenience items. He picked up a sheet of plastic, a roll of silver duct tape, and a large blanket with a picture of a wolf on it. Before going to pay at the register, he grabbed a bag of chips, two sodas from the coolers, and a packet of Sixlets. My favorite.

The man behind the counter rung up the items while Grant tapped his debit card on the cracked surface. Guilt ate at me as the total went up and up. A gas station convenience store