15. Chapter 14
Chapter 14
BECCA
I finally caught a glimpse of Donna’s bright white hair and smile as she walked towards our group.
I grinned at her. “It’s great to see you again Donna! How are you?”
She hugged me and replied, “I’m doing great! So happy to be here.” Her deep wrinkles were written into her skin, holding the memories of her life. Her happiness— true happiness. I would guarantee that anyone that had ever met her felt her soul pull you in and you couldn’t help but feel the same way as her.
Looking around the group, I took a deep breath and said, “Alright, everyone. Ready to go?”
Donna interrupted me, “No! We still have one more. ”
I squinted my eyes at her. “What do you mean? We only have four on this trip.”
“No, I met someone on the plane who is also coming!”
Immediately, I grabbed the folder out of my backpack and opened it. I skimmed the list, stopping at a name written in blue ink at the bottom.
Shut the hell up.
Shyloh Mendoza.
I looked up from the list to see the bastard himself walking towards our group. “Am I too late?” he asked with his cocky-ass smirk.
His hair was longer, and his beard was fuller, but he was as handsome as ever.
I shut the folder, stuffing it into my bag and slinging it over my shoulder. “Nope. Just in time.”
“Oh good. I’ve heard such amazing things about you on the flight, I just knew you would be the perfect person to depend on.”
Wow. He did not just fucking say that.
“Or do you prefer to abandon your clients? I’m sure that’s a more reasonable–”
“Okay everyone! To the van.”
Getting everyone loaded into the van wasn’t a problem, but what was a problem was the fact that a man I didn’t want to see was staring at the back of my neck. I knew he was, because every few minutes I would glance in the rearview mirror, and his eyes were consistently locked onto me .
I cleared my throat. “Okay everyone! Tonight, we are going to set up camp near the meadow.”
Everyone cheered and we rode in silence except for Donna, who started chatting it up with Shyloh in the back seat. I thought he might be annoyed but his smile said otherwise. He was genuinely interested in what she had to say.
Damn him.
***
“I have to pee! Pull over!” Shyloh yelled from the back of the van. We’d been on the road for about two hours, and I wasn’t planning on stopping for another hour or so. But of course, Donna just had to chime in giving her sympathy to poor Shyloh and his pee emergency.
“Fine. I’ll get off at the next exit,” I said to the van and a collective sigh of relief rolled through the rows of seats. Apparently, Shy wasn’t the only one who had to go to the bathroom.
Once we pulled into the gas station parking lot, everyone in the van started pushing each other to get out. Shyloh didn’t move, he stayed right where he was.
“What the hell? I thought you had to go potty, big guy?” I smirked at him in the rearview, unbuckling my seat and reaching for the company card.
“Turns out, I didn’t need to go as bad as I thought.” Shyloh moved across the rows, closer to me, leaning over the side of my seat .
“I do love you calling me big guy , I think it’ll be my new nickname.” He chuckled and opened the door to the van, walking into the station along with everyone else.
I groaned against the headrest, closing my eyes out of frustration. My body knew exactly what type of frustration it was, but my head was fighting against it.
***
“You know if I didn’t know any better, I’d say that you might already know Mr. Handsome,” Donna chided with an all-knowing smirk.
I rolled my eyes, pulling the nozzle out of the van and placing it back on the stand. I glanced at her before twisting the gas cap back on.
Arms folded, I looked at Donna knowing damn well that she knew, but I was too prideful to let anyone know.
“Nope. Don’t know him. Never met him,” I replied, opening the door to the driver’s seat and buckling myself in to continue this already magical journey.
The light taps on the glass caught my attention as I rolled down the window, staring at Donna. “I know what lying looks like and that was nothing but a lie.” She smirked and turned to walk to the opposite side of the van, meeting with the rest of the group and piling in .
Shyloh was the last to get into the van, choosing to sit directly behind me this time. He leaned over patting me on the shoulder. “Okay, boss. Let’s go.”