Chapter 8
eight
Conor
“How exactly are we gonna do that?” I ask Tweetie.
“You mean get our own flights?” Henry asks, and I hear the hopeful note in his voice. He’ll do it to get home to Jade.
Rowan’s already got his phone out, and I’m sure he’s searching flights.
“You actually used your brain, good boy.” I pat Tweetie’s head, but he ducks under my hand and goes to punch me.
“Fuck off,” he says.
“If you get me home and I’m fucking my wife tonight, I’ll do exactly that.” I grab my backpack, securing it with the hopes that I’m on my way to the airport.
Rowan’s still scrolling on his phone while the three of us look on like a bunch of teenage boys waiting for him to show us a nudie picture some girl sent him. We look pathetic, but damn, we miss our women.
“No flights,” Rowan says.
“Let’s go to the airport. I’ll buy our tickets from other people,” I say.
Rowan shakes his head. “No, I mean, there are no more flights leaving tonight.”
Henry steps closer to Rowan as if it’s taking all his control not to take the phone from his hand.
“The movies always show red-eye flights and people buying tickets last minute to tell the love of their life they love them.” I peer over Rowan’s shoulder.
His shoulders twitch as though he wants us to get away from him.
“I think that’s exactly it—it’s the movies.” Rowan shakes his head with finality.
All of us step back, and our shoulders fall.
“What about a train? Or a bus? Or shit, let’s rent a car?” Tweetie throws every idea out there.
It’s late and car rental places are already closed.
Rowan’s thumbs move across his screen again, and we all crowd him, hoping he’s going to give us the answer we want.
“There’s a bus,” he says, looking at his watch again. “But we’d have to leave, like, now and even then—”
“Let’s go.” Henry grabs his bag.
I pick up Tweetie’s, shoving it into his chest.
Rowan does something on his phone. “Uber is five minutes out.”
I jog to tell Coach we’re heading out on our own. He tells me we’re crazy, but he’s not going to bother telling us not to because he knows we’ll do it anyway. The rest of our bags will be delivered to our houses when they land.
I meet the guys at the Uber and we all pack in.
Tweetie wedges himself in the middle, wiggling to find room that isn’t there. “No XL, Magic?”
“It would’ve been another five minutes.” Rowan, who took the passenger seat up front, says to the driver, “We need to get there as fast as you can.”
He glances at the three of us jam-packed in the backseat, then puts the car in drive. We all bitch and complain about which parts of our bodies are going numb, and Tweetie bitches about a bruise on his ass that’s killing him in the position he’s in.
“Oh, can we stop at Tasty Burger?” Tweetie asks, and the Uber driver puts on the turn signal.
“No!” the three of us scream, and the driver looks to Rowan for guidance.
“We’re not stopping. You can eat there. I’m sure there are vending machines,” Rowan says.
“Vending machines? I burned, like, five thousand calories tonight. Daddy needs to refuel.” Tweetie groans.
“Exaggeration.” Henry coughs the word into his fist.
“And Daddy? Please tell us you and Tedi aren’t into that?” Rowan chimes in from the front seat.
“Because if so, we’ll have to razz you about it for the rest of your life,” I say with a laugh.
“Not to mention, I’m fucking Daddy,” Henry says.
“Whoa, I guess Jade must be into it,” I say.
Rowan laughs, and I catch the Uber driver looking at me in the rearview mirror. This will make a great story for him if he recognizes us.
“Tickets for the bus are bought.” Rowan holds up his phone and it glows in the dimness of the car.
“Man, you’re really on top of your game since you became a dad. He’s schooling you now, Daddy.” Tweetie tries to turn and look at Henry but can’t unwedge himself.
Henry flicks Tweetie’s ear with his finger. “You’re just sucking up because someone else is doing all the work.”
“Is that what you say to Jade?” Tweetie says.
He flicks Tweetie’s ear again.
“Shit, man, my earlobe is, like, the one part of my body that isn’t aching right now,” he says.
Thankfully for all of us but Rowan, the driver pulls up to the Greyhound station.
“I can finally feel my legs again,” I say, stretching when I get out of the vehicle. I’m still tight from the game.
“I’ll meet you guys there. I’m going to grab a bite.” Tweetie starts toward the food court area.
“The fuck you are. You’ll miss the bus.” Henry grabs Tweetie’s sleeve, tugging him in the direction we need to go. “And Pinkie, fuck, stretch on the bus.”
“There’s the Daddy we all know and love,” Rowan says, leading the pack of us to whatever terminal we’re leaving out of.
“It smells so good.” Tweetie looks longingly toward the food court.
“I think I have a cramp in my thigh.” I limp along behind.
“You guys are worse than Bodhi.” Henry pushes Tweetie to make sure he’s in front of Henry, then waits for me so he’s bringing up the rear like the responsible parent.
“They’re shutting the doors!” Rowan shouts, sprinting down the concrete walkway. “Hold up!” He waves at the driver.
Tweetie follows him, and I try to go faster, but fuck, my thigh cramp intensifies and I stumble. Henry grabs me by the back of my sweatshirt and keeps me on my feet.
“Thanks, Daddy,” I say in a little kid voice.
“Fuck off,” he replies.
We make it to the bus, thanks to Rowan. When we climb up the stairs, I’m assaulted with the god-awful smell of someone’s food. We find seats—not together, but our rows are around one another. The minute I sit down, I pull out my AirPods and FaceTime Eloise.
“Where are you?” she asks.
I texted her earlier about the delay, but I really want to see her and talk to her. She’s been dodging talking about the doctor’s appointment this morning, saying we’ll discuss it when I get home. Now that my arrival has been delayed, I’d like her to tell me a little more.
“On a bus,” I say.
“Jade said something about that.” She excuses herself from the room.
“Is that Hayes? Easton?” I ask, seeing them lift their hands as she leaves.
“I’m disappointed, son. You let a goal in!” Easton shouts, and the others laugh.
“We’re just about to leave. Everyone was having one last drink.”
A drink in the back room of Peeper’s sounds like a dream right now.
She walks down the hall and into Ruby’s office, where she sits in the chair across from the desk. “So you guys are taking a bus home?”
“Yep,” I say, thankful it was an option.
“You know that with all the stops it takes a while, right? We looked it up.” She bites the inside of her cheek—her signal that she doesn’t want to tell me something. “It’s, like, twenty-four hours.”
“What?” I yell and turn toward Rowan, sitting in the row behind and over from me. “It’s twenty-four hours to get home?”
“We’re gonna take this until morning, then get to an airport to fly the rest of the way,” he says, all casual as if he was planning it all along.
Eloise is giggling.
“What are you laughing at, Lulu?” I ask, sinking back into my seat. “God, I miss you.”
The girl beside me—who looks as though she’s maybe eighteen at most—glances at me, the phone, and back at me. Then she puts in her AirPods and turns to look out the window.
“I miss you too, but you’re on your way home to me.”
“That I am.” It’s a good feeling knowing I’m getting closer to her with every mile. “Tell me what the doctor said.”
“We can talk when you get home. I’m tired and you’re tired.”
I can’t help but think she might be keeping something from me. “Okay, but—”
“Conor, you’re probably exhausted. Try to get some sleep so you’re ready when you get into bed with me.” She gives me a small smile.
“All right. I will. Text me when you’re home and all locked up. I won’t bother you while we make our way there unless something happens. That way, you can be all rested for when I spoon you.”
The teenage girl glares at me with a look of disgust.
“It’s my wife,” I say to her.
Her facial expression doesn’t change.
“Who are you talking to?” Eloise asks.
“My seatmate.” I turn the phone toward the girl, whose eyebrows scrunch. “I don’t think she likes me very much.”
Eloise waves to the girl before she turns toward the window. “I don’t think your Conor Nielson charm is going to work on her.”
“I only need it to work on you.” I grin at her.
The girl scoots away from me as if there’s any room to do so.
“It won me over, remember? And just think—you can cross taking a bus ride off your list now.” She laughs.
“Except it was supposed to be with you. Remember I was going to… you know what in the backseat…”
The girl next to me gags. I guess she’s not listening to anything on her AirPods.
“Okay, this one doesn’t count then,” Eloise says. “Now, go sleep. I love you.”
“Love you so much,” I say.
“I know. See you in the morning sometime.”
We say goodbye, and I take out my AirPods for the time being, resting my head back and shutting my eyes. It’s hard to calm my body when I feel so antsy to get back to her.
“Oh, this is good,” Tweetie mumbles.
I glance over to see him eating out of a plastic food container. The woman in the seat beside him, probably in her fifties, smiles like a mom feeding her child as he digs into the favorite meal she’s made for him.
I put in my AirPods and turn on my favorite chill playlist, hoping that if I fall asleep, it will feel that much faster until I’m with Eloise again.