Old Me

45 - Road Trippin'

"Whatcha want?" Gio asked me as we stared at the aisle of snacks in the convenience store.

"Uh...I think I want sweet-n-salty Chex Mix...you?"

"I'm thinking a bag of chips..." He said reaching for some Hot Cheetos.

I grabbed my bag of Chex Mix and walked to the counter to check out with my Snapple tea and pack of gum.

"Boarding pass?" The woman behind the counter asked me in a nasally voice.

"Uh, yes...here you go," I said pulling the printed pass out of my back pocket.

She scanned it and handed it back to me.

When I had finished paying I looked around the store for Michael. I found him looking at a bookcase by the entrance and I approached him from behind wrapping my arm around his waist.

"Hey," I said.

"Oh, hey love. Did you get everything you wanted?" He asked wrapping his arm around me as he turned around to face me.

"Yep, you ready?"

"Yeah, you want to wait for everyone else or head back to the gate?"

"Uh, let's...head to the gate," I said yawning my response.

"You got it," he said turning us away from the bookshelf.

He tapped Gio on the shoulder and let him know we were heading to the gate.

I was beyond excited that Michael and his friends were joining us on this trip. But mostly I was excited to finally get some time with Michael that wasn't being supervised by my parents. My dad took a lot of convincing to even allow us all to go on this trip together. We were finally able to convince him to let us all go once we explained that we had already purchased our tickets and reserved the Airbnb. He made us swear that Michael and his friends were going to be staying in a separate room from the rest of us. What he doesn't know won't kill him.

When we made it back to the gate, I curled against Mikey's chest sleepily.

Gio plopped down into the empty chair next to me and exhaled a long breath.

"Why do I feel like this trip is going to consist of you two alone the whole time?" he joked.

"Hey, you're not the only single one," Ashton chimed in as he took a seat across from Gio with a Burger King bag in his lap.

"Yeah," Lucia added from where she sat a few seats from Calum and Siena.

"Thank God Matteo and Ally couldn't end up coming," Gio laughed.

I rolled my eyes and wrapped my arm around his body. Of course, we had to be taking the 7 am flight, which meant I was in no state to be functioning like a normal human being. Mikey rested his hand on my thigh and kissed the top of my head. 

We hadn't made it past second base, and we hadn't seen each other naked. Not that it wasn't on my mind, because, trust me, it was. I was seriously reconsidering the whole 'waiting till marriage' commitment I had made to myself. My dad's strict rules we're just making it pretty much impossible to have any alone time.

Michael and I were sat next to Giovanni on the airplane with Siena, Calum, and Ashton in the row beside us, and Luke, Ale, and Lucia in the row in front of us. The flight from LAX to Carson City Airport was an hour and a half. Then it was still a 40-minute drive to get to the Air BnB. I'd been up since three because we had to drive all the way up to LAX and was not in the best mood.

Mikey tried to cheer me up, enticing me with the fact that we would be sharing a room, but I really just needed a nap. 

"I'm sorry," I apologized, "It's just still too early for all this," I said pointing at the group who were singing along to a song on the radio and bouncing around in excitement.

He chuckled and patted my leg, leaning his head on top of mine.

When we finally arrived I was so relieved to climb out of the back of the cramped van and stretch my limbs.

"What's the code?" I asked Lucia as the boys unloaded our luggage from the back.

"Uh, let me pull up the email," she said as she slipped her phone from her back pocket.

I breathed in the pine-scented air and took in the cabin. It was stunning, with large glass windows to enjoy the views. When Lucia swung the door open, we were all stunned.

"Holy shit," Calum muttered behind me, "Are you sure this place was only $120 a night?"

We all entered, dropping our bags in the open living space which was flooded with natural light from the windows that overlooked the back deck and the lake below.

Mikey laughed and slapped him on the back, "Take a picture, it'll last longer."

"I call this room," I heard Siena call out from somewhere upstairs.

"Wait, wait, wait," Lucia objected, "we should vote. After, we all get to see each room."

I chuckled and everyone agreed except for a pouting Siena who leaned over the stair banister.

We explored the cabin and Mikey whispered in my ear as we walked into one of the en-suite bathrooms, "I vote for this one."

The shower had multiple showerheads and looked large enough to fit all of us inside.

I smirked, nudging him in the ribs with my elbow, "I'm sure you do."

Once we had all seen the rooms we reconvened in the living room settling into the multiple couches.

 "Okay, so raise your hand if you want room 1?" Lucia instructed looking amongst us.

Siena's hand shot up eagerly.

"Okay," Lucia sighed looking around, "I guess you can get that room since there is only one double bed anyway."

"Room 2?" she continued.

Ashton, Luke, and Calum raised their hands. 

"Kay," Luc nodded, "makes sense since there are two bunk beds. Room 3?"

Michael's hand shot up into the air and he winked at me.

"Fine," Lucia sighed, "I guess that leaves Ale, Gio and me to the last two rooms."

"We should head out to the store before we explore so we can fill the fridge," Ashton suggested.

"Good idea," I nodded, "You guys have fun with that. I'm going to take a nap."

"Sure," Siena sang, wiggling her eyebrows. I didn't care and strutted upstairs with my duffle bag. 

I climbed into the soft bed and stretched, letting out a groan.

"Hey," Mikey said, startling me as I peeled my eyes open to see him standing in the doorway, "They wanted to know if you had any requests before they went to the store."

"Hmm, no," I shrugged.

"Kay," he smirked before hollering down the hallway, "She doesn't care. Just get her some canned dog food."

"Hey!" I objected, throwing one of the decorative pillows on the bed at him.

He chuckled and plopped down on the bed next to me, taking off his cap. He ran his hands through his hair to loosen it from its flattened position against his head and yawned.

"I think I'll join you in taking a nap," he smiled rolling over and scrunching up the pillow beneath his head.

I nodded and closed my eyes drifting off to sleep quickly despite knowing how close Mikey was next to me.