Colin

 

I stretched in bed and felt a body move up against mine. I drew in a long breath through my nose as something shifted in between my legs. Something warm pressed up against my chest before I felt the sweet breaths of a woman’s lips against my skin. My eyes opened and took in the stillness of the night time sky, my body relaxed in the motel bed against the woman I’d thought about for weeks.

Abby’s body was soft and sweet. Her cheek was pressed against my skin and her leg was threaded through mine. Her hair was spread out everywhere as her tan skin shone with the healthy glow of our activities the prior evening.

I grinned as my eyes took in her naked body wrapped around mine.

I rolled over and felt her body move with me. Her arm was slung over my waist, holding me close as I grabbed at my phone. It was a little past five in the morning, the sun still sleeping as my body slowly tugged me awake. But there was something else that struck me as odd. Something else that seemed out of place.

The weather outside was completely still.

Reluctantly, I pulled away from Abby’s naked body. She curled up into bed and rolled herself up in the comforter as I slid into my pajama pants. I stood at the window and looked out into the darkened territory of Iowa, and I smiled. There was no wind or snow. There was no ice slamming against the window or traffic clogging up the roads. Visibility was clear and the sky wasn’t covered with gray clouds, and I felt a surge of hope well in my chest.

We’ll be able to make it to Wichita today.

“Abby, wake up,” I said.

She answered me with a resounding groan before she rolled over in bed.

“Abby, come on. The weather’s let up.”

“Good for it,” she said.

I turned around and saw her splayed out on the bed. Her arms were outstretched and her legs were tangled up in the sheets. Her dark brown hair was cascading over the fluffy pillows and her bosom was bouncing against her body. I could feel my pelvis churning for her as my eyes fell onto her darkened nipples. They were sitting there, like succulent appetizers ready to be devoured. The magnetism of her body pulled me back to the bed, forcing me to sit on the edge before I reached out for her.

I slid my fingers down her smooth arm, watching as goosebumps trailed my every move.

“You gotta wake up for me,” I said.

“We’re like, what, six hours from Wichita? We can wait until the sun comes up,” she said.

“We need to get on the road. I need to get to this conference,” I said.

“You’re not the only person on this trip, you know.”

“I’ll buy you the hottest, most potent cup of coffee this town has to offer.”

“I’m not getting out of bed,” she said.

“Well, you don’t have a choice. We need to get going.”

Why in the world was she being so stubborn? It wasn’t like she wasn’t up. She was talking to me in a clear voice and her eyes were almost open. She was just being lazy, and I didn’t enjoy lazy.

Especially when it held me back.

I got up and started getting ready around her. I hopped into the shower and took a quick one before I shaved my face. She was still lying in bed by the time I went to go put another suit on, so I decided I was going to have to be a dick. If she didn’t want to get up on her own, I’d have to resort to doing things to get her out of bed.

Like ripping the covers off her body.

“Hey! I’m fucking naked!” she said.

“That didn’t matter to you last night. Come on. I’m checking us out in thirty minutes.”

“You’re such an asshole, you know that?” she asked.

She threw me a death glare before she wrapped herself up in the sheet. She pulled it from the bed and slowly shuffled into the bathroom, and that was when I heard the shower turn on. The room quickly flooded with steam as she tanked through the rest of the hot water, and I took that time to go take the keys to the front office.

By the time I got back, she was clothed and drying her hair off.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “You just wouldn’t get up.”

“And that’s when you compromise, Colin. Not be an asshole to get what you want. Toddlers do that. Not grown adults.”

“I did compromise,” I said. “I went first in the shower and the bathroom to give you time to wake up.”

“Ah, fifteen minutes of compromise. How sweet,” she said.

“I’m going to assume you were being serious so this doesn’t turn into a fight,” I said.

I grabbed my packed suitcase and walked out of the room just as she threw her towel at my head. I had no idea what the hell was up her ass, but I wasn’t going to deal with it. She could sit quietly in the car for all I cared, but she wasn’t going to make the rest of the five hours of this trip a living nightmare for me. This conference was going to introduce what we were doing with the European marketplace, and I was going to be shaking hands with many people I would eventually be working alongside all this year.

I had a great deal to prepare, and Abby wasn’t going to slow me down.

Again.

I cranked up the car and started warming it up as Abby came out of the room. She slung her bag into the backseat with a huff, anger still painted on her face. A motel like this didn’t have coffee and breakfast, so that was one stop we had to make on top of gas. I could already feel time ticking down like a bomb ready to explode. I needed to get somewhere where I could work in peace. Away from anyone who found my schedule to be an inconvenience.

Abby walked one last time through the motel room before she grabbed her purse, slammed the door behind her, and jumped into the car.

“Ready?” I asked.

“Whatever.”

I backed us out of the parking space and engaged the four-wheel drive. The car rode smoothly down the snow-covered roads and I could feel the progression surging through my veins. All my life, that was what I needed. Forward progression that led towards positive outcomes. It was how I kept my head in the game. It was how I kept moving forward during difficult moments. Knowing there was a light at the end of the tunnel that I’d created for myself helped when it felt like life was intentionally trying to stall me.

Like at this very moment.

“Coffee?” Abby asked.

“Trying to find a gas station now.”

“Ah, gas station coffee. Figured,” she said.

“Take it or leave it.”

Her eyes slowly panned over to me as I felt my hands grip the steering wheel.

She held my profile in her gaze until I came to a stop at the gas station. She watched me get out of the car and walk around to start pumping gas. I could feel her eyes on me as I walked into the gas station, and I’m sure she was probably trying to watch me as I walked up and down the aisles. Gas station coffee and doughnuts would have to suffice for breakfast, because I wasn’t stopping again until it was time for lunch. If I could keep a steady pace of fifty-five miles an hour on the highway, that would put us just two hours outside of our final destination.

At lunchtime today.

The thought made me smile as I paid for all of our stuff.

Abby was less than thrilled at things, but she took the coffee without a word. The roads were completely clear as we hit the highway, and I drew in a deep breath of pride through my nose. Even though Abby was upset with me, I knew I’d made the right call. There was no blizzard, the sky was clearing up, and the sun was rising.

Which meant some of this stuff on the road would start to melt.

The roads hadn’t been plowed, but they were no match for the four-wheel drive on our rental car. It felt like the world was buzzing by us as we cruised down the highway. Things in the car were completely silent, with Abby’s eyes gazing out the window just so she could avoid eye contact with me. She mindlessly sipped her coffee and didn’t once touch her doughnuts, but I didn’t care either way.

I was just ready to be in Kansas for this damn conference.

Then, I hit a patch of ice and the car slipped. It slipped so badly that I went over the line and into the other lane of traffic. I put my coffee down and gripped the steering wheel as Abby shrieked in the car, and I could tell by her panicked breathing that she wasn’t okay.

“If we’re going to drive in this crappy weather, the least you can do is slow down and take it easy,” she said.

“We’re just fine. It was only a little patch of ice,” I said.

“That almost got us killed,” she said. “Watch it, okay? I’m not telling you to stop, or turn around, or whatever the hell it is you think I’m trying to do. I’m not here to sabotage you. I’m just trying not to die.”

“And here we go again. We aren’t going to die. The skies are clear, there’s no blizzard in sight. All I have to do is keep my eyes on the—”

We slipped again on another patch of ice and I had to slow the car down in order to regain control.

“Road?” Abby asked.

I shot her a look and I could see her cowering against the door. Her hand was grasping the emergency handle above her head and I could see her knuckles whitening. No matter how tense the atmosphere was between us right now, she was scared.

So, I slowed the car down a little bit before I set my cruise control again.

“Better?” I asked.

“Thanks,” she said.

Just then, my phone rang. Abby eyed me carefully as I dug my phone out of my pocket. I could tell she wanted to say something, so I caught her stare before she opened her mouth.

She could alter my driving, but she wasn’t going to control my actions.

“Colin speaking,” I said.

“Colin. It’s Ted. Where the hell are you?” he asked.

“Hey, Ted. I’m on the road. The plane was grounded due to a blizzard, then I got caught in that blizzard last night and had to pull over.”

“A plane grounded because of snow in Minnesota. Great. But you’re back on the road, right?”

“Yep. Cruising at a steady fifty miles an hour.”

“You can’t go any faster than that?” he asked.

“There’s still ice on the road. So, no,” I said as I turned my gaze towards Abby.

She pointed back to the road and balked like I was trying to set her skin on fire.

“When is your ETA?” Ted asked.

“Figuring in a stop for lunch and one more stop for gas if necessary, I should be checking into my hotel around three this afternoon.”

“Perfect. Because we have a lot that still has to be done to prepare us for this conference.”

“I know, I know. I’m getting there as fast as I can.”

“Good. Call me when you stop for lunch. I want to keep the hotel updated on your arrival so nothing funky happens. You know how conferences can be and how these hotels can get with people they think aren’t going to show.”

“Thanks, Ted. I appreciate it. I’ll see you soon.”

“You better. This conference is too important.”

“I know that,” I said. “Now let me get back to driving.”

“Can do.”

I hung up the phone and tucked it back into my pocket. Abby was back to staring out the window and sipping her coffee. The silence was still awkward and the tension between us was still thick. And it boggled my mind. The two of us opened up to one another again last night. We shared another vulnerable, intimate moment. I admitted to her that I missed her, and now she was acting like it was the worst thing in the world to be stuck with me.

Maybe she hadn’t enjoyed our time together over Christmas the way I had.