over and for some reason, annoyed at this turn of conversation. Time to change it. “With us being so fixated on perfection, it’s no wonder we both ended up as game testers. Obsessed with finding and cleaning up every imperfection.”
He smiled in agreement. “I doubt the devs see it that way.”
“Ah, fuck ‘em. They’re all a bunch of whingers.” I snorted.
For the first time during our entire trip, Lucas threw his head back and laughed. “You get half my next paycheck if you tell them all that to their face when we get back.”
As we left the greater Sacramento area, the radio had clicked over into an oldies station. I’d paid little attention to the songs until the familiar synthetic beat of one started up. Yup, it was the crooning of Rick Astley to his lover, vowing he was never going to let her go, disappoint or leave her.
I couldn’t resist. I turned up the volume and sang along before elbowing him. “Dude, they are playing our song. Doesn’t it get you all misty-eyed and nostalgic about our burger shop wedding and all the fancy dancing we didn’t get to do?”
He sneered. “I fucking hate this song.”
“Lean into it, Lucas! It’s our wedding song. You just don’t like it when the QA geeks plot and make it their life mission to rick-roll you whenever you annoy them the schedule and deadlines. They need some sort of harmless retaliation for when you kick their incomplete bug reports back to them.”
He shrugged. “The curse of perfection.”
“Speaking of weddings, I have to admit that I saw some of the pics of your first one on the internet. I mean… how many small villages could you have supported for a year on that wedding budget?”
“Not my idea. And the fact that you Googled me is creepy, by the way.” He straightened his shoulders and tossed his head like a haughty woman throwing her hair around. “Why are you so obsessed with me?” he asked, imitating Regina the Mean Girl’s voice.
I doubled over immediately, gasping for air. He smiled, seeming satisfied I’d found him so amusing. These times had been rare up until lately.
“That impression was uncanny, by the way.” After I wiped my tears, I turned down the radio volume, sparing his ears any more suffering.
“I do have a bone to pick with you, though. You told your friends about the noble title.” His voice was flat and his face dead serious.
Oh shit. Well that got back to him fast. I bit my lip turning to him. “I’m so sorry. Are you mad?”
He threw me side eye, then quirked a lopsided smile. “Well, I’m not entirely happy about it. But no, not exactly mad. Just don’t do it again.”
I frowned. “Who ratted me out?”
“Jordan.”
I let out a breath. “Completely unsurprising. I will find it necessary to get revenge on him.”
I shook my head. “Not ‘til after I get my new job, please.”
“If I absolve myself of all culpability?”
“Cranberry, you have a shitty track record with keeping secrets so far.”
My mouth twisted. Hmm. “Good point.” He hit a bump and suddenly with a rush, my bladder did its level best to remind me it was there and it was full. That damn Big Gulp was already coming back to haunt me. “So, uh, don’t be mad but… I need a pit stop.”
With an exaggerated roll of his eyes, he acknowledged my request. “You’re getting to be more and more of a pain, you know that?”
I held out a placating hand to him. “I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”
I dark brow shot up fetchingly. God, he was hot. “Hmm. I’m interested. How?”
“I’ll figure it out. But it will be good.”
At the next turn off, he exited the highway and found a tidy and nearly deserted rest area in almost no time. My bladder was ever-so-grateful for it.
We were now just about a half hour out from the vineyard, so Lucas informed me when he checked the GPS. We both took the opportunity to stretch our legs a bit. Lucas didn’t seem in much of a hurry to get to our destination any earlier. Kind of like a condemned man facing his doom.
On the way back from the washroom, I bought him a small box of Lemon Oreos from a nearby vending machine and presented it to him. “Behold, my making it up to you.”
To be honest, I had zero idea if he liked Lemon Oreos but I’d become addicted to them since coming to