Where the Road Takes Me

by Jay McLean

  I smiled. “My girlfriend, Chloe,” I pointed to her watching us from the other side of the store window. Their smiles widened. “She’s never been to a prom. You think you might be able to make room for two more?”

  “That’s so sweet,” one of the other girls said.

  “I’m Jasmine,” the girl hosting the prom said. “Send your girlfriend in. We’ll take good care of her. I promise.”

  I couldn’t help but grin. “What time does it start?”

  “Eight.”

  “Perfect.”

  I headed back out and dragged Chloe into the store. The girls introduced themselves, all while Chloe stood by awkwardly, almost shyly.

  “You’ve never been to prom?” Jasmine asked her.

  Chloe just shook her head. Jasmine clapped her hands. “This is going to be so much fun.”

  Chloe looked up at me, chewing her lip, her eyes unsure.

  “I’ll pick you up at your room at seven thirty.” I kissed her cheek and walked out before she could protest.

  A half hour later she texted me: All these girls jog. You know what that means, right? It was nice knowing you, Blake Hunter.

  Chloe

  The girls weren’t serial killers, like I’d first suspected. They were actually really nice. I was afraid they’d be a bunch of Hannahs, but I was so wrong. It didn’t take me long to find a dress, and once I had, the girls helped with the shoes and accessories. I was the first to admit that I was way out of my element. Jasmine’s mom owned a salon two doors down from the clothes store and was able to fit me in last minute to get my hair, nails, and makeup done. It had been awkward at first, but then I decided to let myself have this one moment, before it was all over.

  Later, I kicked my legs back and forth as I sat on the edge of the bed, waiting for Blake to knock on the door. My light-purple dress shifted with each kick. I looked at the alarm clock on the nightstand. He would be there any second. My palms sweat from the nerves that were wreaking havoc in my mind. It felt like a first date, or what I assumed a first date would feel like.

  I exhaled loudly, stood up, and started pacing the floor, then I went to the bathroom and checked my hair, now formed into loose curls, which cascaded down my shoulders. I checked my makeup, and then I started pacing again. I did this four more times before there was a knock on the door.

  “Shit.” I brushed my hands down my dress and checked in the mirror again, then I swallowed my nerves, placed a hand on the door handle, inhaled and exhaled a few calming breaths, and finally opened the door.

  He was wearing a tux, perfectly fitted to his broad shoulders. He held a white corsage in one hand, the other hand in his pocket. His head was bent, looking down at the ground. Then, slowly, his gaze started to move up. My entire body heated up as his eyes kept trailing higher until they finally landed on mine.

  He blew out a forceful breath and shook his head slowly. “I didn’t think it was possible for you to become more beautiful, but I was so wrong, Chloe.”

  I smiled at his words, trying so hard to avoid tears of happiness.

  A slight smile graced his face as he lifted the corsage. “I got you this.”

  I raised my hand for him. “It’s beautiful,” I told him.

  He shook his head. “No, Chloe. I don’t think the word beautiful should ever exist unless it’s used to describe you,” he mumbled, his eyes narrowed, concentrating on securing the corsage on my wrist. I waited for him to straighten up before stepping forward and kissing him. I felt him smile against my lips, and then he pulled back, the smile still in place. He held his arm out, bent at the elbow, waiting for me. “You ready, girlfriend?”

  My smile matched his. “Yes, boyfriend.”

  I stopped us in front of his car, but he just laughed. “We’re not taking the car,” he stated, before pulling me with him around the corner and to the front of the hotel where a stretch limo was waiting.

  I gasped, long and loud. “Blake!”

  He linked his fingers with mine and continued over to the limo. “It’s not prom without a limo.”

  Blake

  I laughed as I watched her fiddling with all the buttons in the limo. She squealed when she found the one that operated the sunroof. She spent a good few minutes standing there, with half her body sticking out.

  She slumped down on the seat next to me and sighed. “This is so exciting for me.”

  “Really? I couldn’t tell,” I laughed.

  She threw an arm over my waist and moved closer to me. “What do normal teenagers do in a limo, then?”

  I raised an eyebrow. “You really wanna know?”

  She nodded.

  I leaned in and kissed her neck, then placed my hand on her thigh, slowly shifting her dress higher until my fingertips skimmed her skin. “Fool around,” I murmured against her skin.

  She laughed and pushed me away, her nose scrunched in disgust. “I don’t like pre-me Blake Hunter,” she said.

  I chuckled. “I don’t think I do, either.”

  When Jasmine said she was hosting the prom in her barn, I had imagined a run-down shack. What this was was the Hollywood mansion of barns. At least a hundred kids filled the barn, more than half of whom were dancing to a song I’d never heard before. Chloe froze next to me, her grip on my arm tightening. I watched as her eyes widened and she looked at me. “Wow,” she said. “It’s just like in the movies.”

  “You made it!” We both turned to see Jasmine approaching us, dragging a guy behind her. She stopped when she got to us and looked me up and down. “You clean up nice.”

  I chuckled as her boyfriend threw his hand out. “I’m Chase.”

  I shook his hand. “Blake.” I jerked my head toward Chloe. “This is my girlfriend, Chloe.”

  They barely had time to shake hands before Jasmine had a hold of Chloe. “You boys have fun,” she shouted over her shoulder. “I’m showing off Chloe.”

  Chloe looked back at me with a grimace.

  “Have fun,” I mouthed.

  “So this is really her first prom?” Chase asked, now standing next to me, watching our girls walk away.

  “Yup.”

  “Kind of hard to believe, considering she looks like that.” He paused for a moment, then added, “That came out wrong. I apologize. I was just trying to pay your girl a compliment.”

  My shoulders relaxed. “It’s fine. She wasn’t really all that social in high school.”

  Awkward silence filled the space between us. “So you wanna dance?” he asked. “I do a mean Hammer dance.”

  I laughed.

  “Come on, I’ll take you to meet the others.”

  He led me to a table far enough away from the speakers that I could actually hear conversation. He introduced me to three other guys with beers in their hands. Chase pointed at a chair and positioned it so it faced the dance floor, then pointed to Chloe, who was standing with the girls from earlier that day. I sat on the chair and watched as they huddled in a circle as they spoke to each other. Chloe threw her head back and laughed at something someone must have said, then Jasmine started to Hammer dance.

  “Dammit!” Chase said. “She always mocks my dancing.”

  I laughed and turned away from the girls. Leaning my elbows on the table, I said, “So you’re in college now?”

  He nodded. “Yeah, I’m at The Citadel—”

  “That military school?”

  “Yeah,” he said slowly, as if he was surprised I knew what it was. “How did you—?”

  “Do you like it there?”

  He nodded again. “It’s perfect for me, but it’s not for everyone.” He paused for a beat. “You just graduated, right? What are your plans?”

  I looked over at Chloe, who was watching me with a hint of a smile on her face. “Have fun,” she mouthed.

  I turned my attention back to C
hase. “Right now? My plans are Chloe.”

  He just smiled and leaned back in his chair.

  After an hour of talking ball with the boys, I heard the music stop for a moment, and the atmosphere changed. The lights lowered, and the music started again. The song was slower, and half the people left the dance floor. The boys moaned, knowing too well what their fate was. Me—I’d been waiting for this moment all night.

  I stood and made my way over to Chloe, whose back was to me. I straightened up before tapping her on the shoulder. She turned around and smiled when she saw me. “Girlfriend,” I greeted her, and her smile widened. “Dance with me?”

  She nodded and gave me her hand. I led her to the middle of the floor and held her close to me. “I don’t know how to dance,” I whispered in her ear.

  She giggled into my chest. “I don’t, either.” She threw her arms over my shoulders. “So it’s kind of perfect.”

  I don’t know how many songs we danced to while I held her. She didn’t speak, and neither did I. But she was right; it was kind of perfect. We spent the next couple of hours sitting and talking with Jasmine and Chase and their friends. They were good people. The type of people I wish I’d had around me in high school. I told them about school, about Josh and Tommy, and about Duke and the army. Chloe listened to everyone intently and spoke only when asked questions. Jasmine asked her how we’d met, and she smiled and laughed as she retold the events of that night. When Chase asked her what the hell she was doing in a park in the middle of the night, she just shrugged and looked at me. “Maybe fate knew that I needed saving,” she said.

  It was close to two in the morning when the party died down and people started to leave.

  Chase stood up and dramatically pointed at Jasmine. “Hungry. Feed me, woman,” he bellowed.

  Everyone laughed.

  “Diner?” she asked him.

  Everyone got up and started to pack their stuff.

  “You guys coming?” Chase asked us.

  Chloe turned to me. “Can we?” she asked shyly.

  “Of course, babe.”

  Time flew as we all ate and talked shit. By the time conversation had slowed down, Chloe was in my jacket, snoring lightly under my arm. “She’s out,” Chase said, motioning to her.

  Jasmine giggled. “She looks so peaceful when she’s asleep.”

  “I know,” I said, rubbing my eyes. “It’s one of my favorite things about her—when she’s sleeping.”

  Chase chuckled. “Because she’s not talking?”

  I laughed but then turned serious when I glanced down at her sleeping form. “No, because it’s the only time she doesn’t carry the weight of the world.”

  Silence descended on the table, but they didn’t ask questions. Jasmine sighed. “The sun will be up soon,” she mumbled.

  I looked at the time. “Shit. We gotta go.”

  Chase pulled me aside as Chloe was saying her good-byes. He gave me his number and told me to call him if I ever needed advice about my Duke vs. army dilemma. I thanked him and told him that I’d like to keep in touch either way.

  I told her that we’d be a while and that she could sleep in the limo. She was too tired to question me. She just lay across the seat with her head on my lap and slept the entire forty-five-minute drive to the field.

  I woke her when we got there, and told her to look out the window.

  “We’re not at the hotel?”

  I shook my head, my eyes never leaving her. Then she gasped so loud, it made me laugh. “Blake!”

  Our driver opened the door, and I stepped out, hand out to help her do the same. We walked hand in hand over to the hot air balloon. Well, I walked. She skipped.

  “You did this?” she asked, her eyes wide with excitement. “Why?”

  “Because prom should be a night you’ll never forget, and I wanted to make sure this was memorable for you.”

  She stood in front of me with her head against my chest as we watched the sun rise from almost two thousand feet in the air. “This is so beautiful, Blake,” she said, and I could hear her holding back her sob. She inhaled deeply and tilted her face up, soaking in the morning light, her eyes closed.

  “It reminds me of the day we met.”

  She smiled, but kept her eyes closed.

  “I remember you doing the same thing. Do you remember what you said?”

  She nodded. “I said it was perfect, and you agreed.”

  “Yeah. But I wasn’t looking at the sun rise, Chloe, I was looking at you.”

  Her eyes snapped open. “Liar,” she whispered.

  I shook my head. “It’s the truth.”

  Tears instantly welled in her eyes.

  She blinked.

  They fell.

  I wiped them away and inhaled a shaky breath. Then I let out the words I’d been holding on to for weeks. “I’ve fallen so hard in love with you, Chloe.”

  She gasped, her eyes wide.

  I continued, “And I don’t know how to express it. I don’t know what to do to show you how much I’ve come to love you.”

  “You’re already doing it.”

  She didn’t tell me she loved me back. But she kissed me in a way that reminded me that she didn’t need to say in words how she felt. I already knew.

  After a while, she pulled back from the kiss, her tears still flowing.

  “You okay?” I asked.

  She laughed once, but it was sad. “It’s just moments like this—you make me not want to miss out on anything. You make me want to live forever, Blake.”

  I’d walked her to her hotel room door and told her that I’d booked the room next door for the night. When she’d pouted and asked why, I’d told her that I hadn’t wanted to be presumptuous in believing that we’d spend the night together, considering it was kind of our first date. She’d laughed but she hadn’t argued.

  That was a half hour ago.

  I opened the bathroom door after showering and heard a knock on the door. It was only eight in the morning, too early for housekeeping.

  I smiled when I opened up and she was on the other side, her hair wet from her own shower. She wore the white Duke jersey, which reached midthigh. “I don’t like sleeping without you.” She exaggerated a pout.

  I laughed and opened the door wider for her.

  She waited until I was settled in bed before scooting in next to me and resting her head in the crook of my arm. “Thank you, Blake.”

  “What for?”

  “For giving me this night. For giving me this memory.”

  Chloe

  I leaned up on my elbow so I could look down on him.

  He sighed and looked me right in the eyes. “Thank you for giving me you, Chloe.”

  I moved in and kissed him, softly, gently, the way he always did with me. He moaned and positioned me until I was on top of him, straddling his waist. His hand flattened on my back as he sat us up, and drew me closer to him. Then his hands skimmed up my thighs, shifting my shirt up, and rested on my waist a moment before moving higher and higher. His kisses travelled lower and lower, down my collarbone and to my chest. The heat of his mouth warmed my skin. My hips pushed forward; my body arched, ready, waiting.

  His hands drifted under my shirt and up my sides. He turned me onto my back and lifted my top over my head, all in one swift move. Leaning on his elbows and hovering above me, his eyes roamed my face and down to my chest. Then he descended, his mouth open against my nipple. My hands reached up, gripping his hair, holding him tighter against me. His palms flattened on my thighs, spreading my legs for him. We let out simultaneous moans when his hardness pressed into my center. His lips moved up again, tasting my mouth. His hand gripped my thigh, bringing it up and around him so he could get closer.

  He started moving down my body again, his mouth now on my stomach as his fingers curl
ed around the material of my sleep shorts and panties. His mouth moved lower, as did his hands, pulling both items of clothing down my legs and off my feet.

  He stood at the end of the bed, his eyes burning with lust as he took in my bare-naked form. “Fuck, you’re beautiful.”

  He crawled back onto the bed, removing his shirt. He positioned himself between my legs, taking my mouth with his. We started moving, thrusting into each other. I wanted to feel him. All of him. Everywhere. On me. Inside me. My fingers trailed down his back. My hands raised and pushed against his chest. I rolled us over so he was underneath me.

  And then it was my turn to taste him.

  His neck. His chest. Every single dip of his abs. That perfect vee. I pulled on his boxers, freeing him. “Chloe,” he breathed. It was a question. An answer. I hovered on all fours above him.

  “Chloe.” It was almost a warning. A plea.

  I moved down and kissed him with everything I had, like my life depended on it. I laid my chest flat against his. “Make love to me, Blake.”

  “Are you sure?” he asked, his eyes closed and his jaw tense.

  “Yes,” I whispered.

  He rolled us until I was under him and kissed my neck up to my ear. “I love you so much, Chloe.”

  And then he moved.

  And so did I.

  And we were there.

  Loving each other.

  In this room.

  In the middle of a road trip.

  On an experience of our lifetimes.

  And a journey toward my death.

  If he felt my tears, he never mentioned it.

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  Chloe

  “This is by far the greatest thing you’ve ever dragged me to look at.”

  I laughed. “I know, right?”

  “I’m not even kidding right now, Chloe. I mean, it’s a man-made UFO . . . to welcome aliens when they land on earth so they’re comfortable when they meet humans. How the fuck is that not the greatest thing in the world?”

  “Wow!” I pulled out of his arms and sat on the hood of the car. “You’re really into this one.”