31. Henley
HENLEY
“You don’t have to work to look so neutral.” Blaine smiled as I huffed and shot him a glare that he seemed thrilled to get. “Now there’s my brat.”
“You’re upset and sad about leaving and this is a big deal for you.” That meant I had to be serious, no matter how excited I was. “I’m treating it with the respect it deserves.”
“You were so excited to get on the road, you were nearly peeing in your pants.” He laughed when I did a little wiggle. “Told you so.”
“That coffee is finally hitting me.” The goal was to drive until I was too tired to do it safely and to put some distance between us while it was dark. Blaine had admitted he wanted some practice driving with the trailer in the daytime first, so I was still handling the driving for the time being.
We were making great progress but I’d needed to pee for about forty-five minutes. “I should’ve stopped earlier but there just isn’t much open in the middle of nowhere in this state.”
It also just hadn’t felt safe. It wasn’t logical considering we’d put some miles between us in the last three hours, but something was making me uneasy and stopping felt wrong.
“What feels right to you?” Blaine wasn’t upset that we’d left logic somewhere near I-95, but I felt bad at how nice he was being. “Are you hungry?”
I shouldn’t be…it was the middle of the night.
He chuckled. “That’s a yes.”
“We had dinner on the drive back to the trailer.” That’d just been a few hours ago. But between packing up, waiting until it got late enough to leave without anyone noticing, and the actual drive it’d been nearly six hours since dinner. “How about we stop at the rest area up ahead?”
If we used the facilities and made sandwiches in the trailer we could be back on the road fairly quickly.
“Sounds good.” Blaine finally frowned and looked uncomfortable. I was prepared for just about anything to come out and I told myself to be understanding. “Would it be unreasonable if I said I didn’t want you going to the bathroom by yourself?”
Okay, I’d been prepared for almost anything to come out of his mouth.
“Technically? I don’t know.” I wasn’t going to poke at it either. “How about you announce as my Dom that you don’t want me going into some place sketchy like a rest stop bathroom at nearly three in the morning? I think that’s a logical rule for my safety and to remind me that I belong to you.”
His smirk had me fighting not to laugh. “I like BDSM more and more.”
Dork.
“It’s got some good aspects to it.” Outside of the obvious, of course. “I’m sorry we haven’t been able to explore it more.”
I’d been kind of…anxious.
“Well, between dealing with my past, the people still trying to make me a rug, the financial and legal issues regarding coming back from the dead, being newly mated, oh and worrying your family might find you…when would’ve been the best time to make you helpless and expect you to relax?”
How did he think I was the dramatic one between us?
“Well, I think I’m going to be offended that you don’t think I can handle a little bit of stress.” As I huffed, he clamped his lips together and barely held back laughter. “I can handle anything.”
Including steering the truck down the turn-off to the rest stop.
Bathrooms.
“You can handle anything as long as you get regular wiggle breaks and snacks.” Blaine finally laughed as I shrugged sheepishly. “Mr. Road Trip needs lots of stops, huh?”
Possibly.
“There is no reason to rush our trip when there are lots of things to see.” I’d repeated that often enough I was starting to believe it.
“Most rest stops have plaques and stuff about local history. I don’t think I’ve stopped at this one before but I’ve seen some good ones on I-95 going down to Florida.
The South likes to brag about anything and everything historical. ”
It was his turn to shrug and look sheepish. “I see some things haven’t changed.”
Nope.
Including how nice the rest stops were in North Carolina. “This doesn’t look nearly as sketchy as I thought it would.”
Parking in a pull-through spot at the back of the building, I was surprised when I didn’t see any big rigs. “Okay, quick pit stop inside and then we make a snack.”
“Then we’re back on the road to…” His thoughtful frown wasn’t believable at all. “I forgot. Help me remember…what was the name of the area?”
“Good try. But no dice.” I leaned over and gave him a quick peck before turning off the car. “Ready?”
“You really need frequent wiggle breaks, don’t you?” He laughed when I nodded excitedly.
“Especially after that much caffeine.” It was completely necessary because driving at night was so much nicer, but it made the wiggles worse. There just wasn’t enough to look at to keep me entertained. “We’re going to find fun places to stop for the rest of our trip, though, so it’ll be easier.”
And it was already nicer having someone to talk to as I drove.
“Come on. Let’s take you for a walk.” Blaine pretended to study me as he got out of the truck and met me around the front. “You know…I’ve seen those pups online. I think you’d look cute on a leash and it’d probably make you feel constantly trapped.”
Oh.
I.
Blinking, I tried to come up with a reasonable response to that but nothing came out, getting a laugh from Blaine. “That stunned silence says a lot, my mate.”
He was going to be a handful.
I told myself I’d worry about that after using the bathroom, which actually went more smoothly than I was expecting. “Maybe I was being overly dramatic?”
It’d been brightly lit and the only other people we’d seen were a family with a very cranky young kid who kept insisting she didn’t have to use the potty loudly enough that everyone in a three-mile radius could hear her.
Her mom seemed like she was at the end of her rope and I hoped they didn’t have much longer to drive.
As we headed out toward the truck parking, I suddenly experienced a sensation that had me feeling slightly ridiculous.
“I need you to tell me if you think I’m being paranoid.” As my mate, that seemed like his job. “The bad kind, not the just has weird opinions about internet nonsense kind.”
Those were very different types of paranoia.
Most of the internet people were right.
“My mate—” Blaine went very quiet as we both froze halfway down the hill at the back of the building to the truck. “Never mind.”
“I want to hear what you were going to say later.” It would either be ironic or really funny because there was currently a man leaning against the front of the truck. “I think that’s my oldest brother.”
I was really hoping I was wrong, but as soon as he straightened, his face hit the light and he suddenly came into view. “Yep. I’m really sorry about this.”
For whatever would happen.
“My mate, where are your marbles?” Blaine’s serious question almost made me laugh but I managed not to look like I’d cracked and gone nuts.
“Um, in the truck because it seemed ridiculous to carry weapons while we were driving.” I’d gotten a bit too relaxed and I was going to blame that on being happily mated. “Just to warn you, if we make it out of this alive, I’m going to become a nuisance about being armed.”
His sigh had me fighting off a laugh. “And when I push back because I’m not used to this level of danger, I need you to remind me about this moment.”
“Deal.” We had a plan for driving each other crazy in the future, so that meant we’d survive. Everybody knew that. The only people who survived horror movies were the ones who had clear plans about the future.
Now we needed a plan to survive the next five minutes.
“You’re going to pretend to be confused about anything monster related he talks about.
” Playing dumb worked in a lot of strange situations.
“Say boyfriend instead of mate if you have to. Oh, and mention me being an online personal assistant if you have to talk about my job. I’d did that for a while and I still claim to be doing that if humans ask too many questions. ”
For whatever reason, people always asked about jobs and not the hundreds of other fun things that made individuals unique.
Nodding, Blaine let out a deep breath and dropped his voice to a whisper as we continued to slowly make our way down the wide steps toward the truck. “You’re going to tell him we met online and I’m traveling with you for a few weeks before I get a new job.”
Not bad…it’d explain why I’d spent so much time in one area.
“The marbles are in the center console under the radio. I’m going to unlock the truck as we get closer, and if I can keep his attention, I want you to open the passenger side door.” It was a good plan and it would’ve worked except for one tiny issue.
He had more people with him.
Maybe people?
“Did that guy’s eyes flash?” Four other men had come around the back of the trailer, and for a minute all I could think about was that I’d be pissed if they fucked with it.
That definitely wasn’t the most important issue at the moment, though.
“Yes.” Blaine and I had gone still again, but his voice was still remarkably calm for someone not used to homicidal family members. “I’m not sure what they are, though. I can sense one wolf shifter…the short man on the left…but the others are…something else.”
Well, that was a start.
“At least we don’t have to worry about humans seeing something they shouldn’t.” Regular humans. “Oh, um, I’m not going to feel guilty if I have to…strongly defend us. Sorry about that.”
Maybe we should’ve addressed that kind of stuff earlier?
Blaine coughed, barely managing not to laugh. “My mate, that will not be a surprise.”
Oh.
Well, that was good?
“I need to work on finding some kind of man bag that I can use to carry weapons.” Women always complained about not having pockets, but lately men’s pants were always so tight I couldn’t carry anything without it being obvious.
“I’ve seen the online travel people talk about outlet malls. They should have options.” Blaine tried to take a subtle deep breath, but I could feel his stress. “Your backpack is nice but you can’t get into it quickly.”
Yeah…we needed to do some shopping.