Vacation With the Bride (Monsters & Margaritas #14)

Chapter 1

Chapter one

Third Wheel

The only thing worse than being in an immortal relationship is being the third wheel in one.

Sure, I’m technically only third wheeling for the weekend, but every casual glance in the rearview mirror makes me dread the coming days even more, mainly because this is supposed to be my trip – my rebound trip.

Maybe that’s why I left them in the first place.

“Franky, watch the road.” V’s warning is all giggles as Gabby nuzzles into her neck.

She knows I can drive this clunker of a beamer with my eyes closed.

Yet, I know she just doesn’t like my unamused glances as the vampire and ghoul in the back seat enjoy a chance to make out after a long trip in a suitcase and economy, respectively.

“Vampirna,” I say, using her actual full name to get her undivided attention. “You and Gabby plan to take a break before we get to the motel, or am I going to need to pull this thing over?”

“You wouldn’t dare!” V hisses. “It’s still daylight out, I-4 is a literal death trap, and I’m not just talking about the drivers.”

“So, why did you land in Tampa again? Couldn’t you just fly into Orlando?” I mutter as my eyes drift back to the crowded interstate.

“Because we wanted to see your new place,” Gabby finally says as she comes up for air.

“Not much of a place,” V replies in her typical catty way.

“Yeah, well, it’s not like he gave me a lot of warning he was gonna break up with me.”

“Really? The strung-out rockstar who was using you for your car didn’t give you a lot of heads up that he was done dating a cadaver?”

All I can do is make a low growl, using all my mental strength to keep my anger in check, not because I’m worried about hurting anyone in the car, but because I really don’t want to crumple my steering wheel again.

“Now, honey,” Gabby’s voice comes out like syrup. “Play nice, besides, she went out of her way to put on this illegal ass tint just for us.”

“I’m glad someone noticed,” I muse as the first notable landmark of Orlando appears on the horizon. It’s not much, but a power pylon shaped like Mickey Mouse's head signals I'm about two exits from my turn. At the same time, this landmark makes me question nearly everything about our long weekend.

Yes, I was the one who asked my best friends to come cheer me up. Yes, I did say I didn’t care what we did as long as it got me out of town. I just didn’t think a theme park weekend would be the answer. And in the dead of summer, too, not exactly prime time for ghouls and gals like us.

I pull off the interstate and head toward the modest chain motel we prefer, the one all ghouls and gals like, mainly because they take cash and don’t ask questions, also so we don’t have to worry about staying family-friendly.

Before I finish merging onto the side street, an idiot in a lifted pickup truck cuts me off.

This time I do lose my temper, leaving four finger-shaped dents in my brand-new steering wheel…

“What an asshole!” V snaps. “I know you said we couldn’t kill your ex, but can we at least kill him?”

“If I let you kill every bad driver in Florida, there’d be no one left.” Honestly, not the worst outcome.

“How did you manage to let someone convince you to move here anyway?” Gabby asks me. “Like, it’s the worst state, we used to joke about it all the time.”

“Honestly, I don’t think I realized where I was going; I was just following Chad. Jeez, even saying his name is like ash in my mouth, and considering how many times people have chased me into burning buildings, that’s saying something.”

“So why haven’t you left yet?” V asks. “Not like you need to stay here now.”

I choke on the answer, the honest answer, the fact that I have nowhere to go.

I’ve lived so long, in so many places, maybe not as long as the two in the back, but long enough that I could live anywhere.

And yet, I have nowhere to go, nowhere I want to go.

I don’t even think I want to go back up North, back to living with Gabby and V, if only because I wouldn’t be running toward something, not like I thought I was with Chad.

“Earth to Franky! The light is green!” V hisses, and for the first time all day, I realize I might not be doing as well as I thought.

I start the car, chased by honking horns, as my eyes search for the motel. “Sorry about that.”

“Well?” V asks again.

I spy the motel and signal to turn in. “Well, what?”

“Why not come back?”

My brain short-circuits past my first pitiful thought to the best lie I can think of on the spot. “Believe it or not, the humidity is great for my skin.”

V lets out a wry chuckle at that lie, and I don’t blame her as I finally pull up under the awning.

“Okay, well, while you come up with a better answer, I’m going to get us checked in.” She gives Gabby a long, drawn-out kiss on the lips. “Be right back, babe.”

While she walks inside, we finally have enough space for Gabby to remember she’s my friend, too. “But why not come back?”

I tap my dented steering wheel, embarrassed to be honest with my friend. My eyes keep flicking between the rooms in front of me and her watching gray eyes behind. The low hum of the engine just isn’t loud enough to fill the silence as it grows into an embarrassing roar about to swallow me.

“It’s okay.” Gabby cuts the silence, sensing my anxiety. “It’s not like you really need one, I guess. I just want you to remember you are always welcome back. We do miss you, like, a lot.”

A soft smile tugs at my lips. “Yeah, I know, otherwise you wouldn’t be here now trying to make me feel better.”

My eyes look through the driver-side window at the girl causing a ruckus for whatever passes for a concierge at a motel. “Even V.”

Gabby smiles softly, the smile never quite reaching her eyes, but the sentiment is there, a reminder of exactly why I’ve been friends with her and V for so many decades, even as so many other friends have come and gone.

And yet, how do I tell her that her offer rings hollow?

How do I tell her that, after all these years, I was tired of being the only miserable person in that place?

That I’d rather chase Chad into the Hell that is Florida than stay safe with them for one more day?

My chest grows tight, the compounding pain of so many losses from too long a life. Even as I keep a brave smirk, I’m wilting at the thought she might be right. That after this weekend of puttering along as her and V’s third wheel, I’ll give up, and finally move back.

A loud thud comes from the roof of the car. V’s face appears, nose touching the glass, key in her hand. “Let’s go already! I wanna drop our shit off and go get a drink.”