The Journey

Chapter 10

Elisha

Wow. That was the word that kept running around in my head. Wow wow wow. I couldn't for the life of me forget that awesome kiss in the elevator. It was mind blowing, to be exact. Literally took my breath away. Nick really knew how to kiss! And his touch...I shivered inside, my heart all aflutter. Oh, my gosh, I sounded like those cheesy romance novels, but I didn't care. It was the most wonderful, most amazing kiss I ever had. Newton's kisses thrilled me, but they were in no way as potent as Nick's. With Newton, it was sweet, familiar, safe. With Nick, it felt like diving off a cliff to nothing underneath you. Sounded awful, right? It wasn't, believe me. It was fireworks and colors and rainbows. It was pure bliss.

When he said that it would never happen again, I was deflated. Especially when he added that he regretted it. Regret? It was the farthest thing from my mind. I did not regret kissing Nicholas McAllister. It probably ruined me for all other kisses to follow in my life but I didn't care. I finally felt real for the first time since the breakup. It took a kiss loaded with such power to wake me up from my numbness. Sadly he wasn't as affected as I was, but then again, he did have a girlfriend. He was probably missing her so much, thus he acted on his impulse in kissing me.

I didn't want Nick to know how much it affected me. It wasn't supposed to be that good. He was still off-limits for me. But it was something I can dream about at nights to keep me warm. At least I had that, in spite of everything bad that happened in recent weeks.

The drive to Newton's hunting cabin was uneventful. We didn't talk much, lost in our own thoughts, and the radio was turned on (by him, to prevent any more awkward conversations about the kiss), so I just sat back and relaxed in my chair, enjoying the scenery passing us by.

"It's almost lunchtime. Care to go down to eat or you prefer we grab takeout and eat in the cabin?" Nick asked at some point.

I shrugged, "any is fine with me."

"Okay, let's just grab some drive-thru. That way we make plenty of time to get to the marina after," he decided, making a right turn onto a fast food place.

He really was in a hurry to find his brother. But then, who wouldn't be, with a girlfriend waiting for him to get home. I sat up and reached for my wallet. He rolled down his window and asked me what I wanted.

A vision of us kissing like no tomorrow flashed into my mind. Thankfully, he couldn't read my thoughts! "Burger and orange juice," I replied steadily, handing him some money.

He shook his head and didn't take the twenty I gave him, "all this is on me. I uprooted you for this trip, remember?"

I insisted, "it's okay, Nick. I don't mind. You paid for last night's dinner."

"No, Eli." His voice was firm. Turning his attention to the girl on the drive-thru window, he gave our orders and paid for everything. I returned my money back inside my wallet and grumbled, "rich kids."

Amused, he grinned at me, "what did you say?"

I snorted, "you rich kids always act like that, like you always get your way."

He smirked, "oh, but we do." Our orders arrived, and he handed them to me.

Grudgingly, I took the paper bags, inhaling the wonderful smell of a good cheeseburger. "I don't think I can wait until we get to the cabin. My stomach is already screaming for me to feed it," I confessed sheepishly.

He laughed and drove back onto the highway, "fine. But no dropping any crumbs. I don't want Newt to get homicidal."

I laughed and opened my cheeseburger, "he really does get very territorial over his car. Last time I ate in here, he had one hand on the steering wheel and the other was holding a small vacuum cleaner pointed at me!"

Nick guffawed at that. We were quiet again while I ate my cheeseburger. He glanced at me again and pointed to the other bag, "there are some fries there with my burger. Get some if you like."

I beamed at him, "thanks. Can't believe I forgot to order mine with fries."

He snickered, "what's a burger without any fries?"

"So true," I agreed wholeheartedly, munching on a fry.

Nick hesitated for a moment, and I could tell he was dying to ask me something. Swallowing my food, I asked, "what?"

He shook his head, "nah, just thinking about something."

"Care to share it with me?" I inquired, taking a sip of my orange juice.

He slowly said, "I was just wondering... You look so thin. I mean, it's not ugly thin or anything, no offense at all. I just thought you were dieting or something, but you eat quite...well..."

"Normally?" I supplied.

"Actually, yeah!" He laughed again, then continued, "so I was just wondering...is something wrong?"

I carefully folded the empty wrapper of my cheeseburger and placed it inside the paper bag for disposal later, "no, there's nothing wrong with me or my body, if that's what you mean." I purposefully left my answer at that, refusing to elaborate.

He gazed at me for awhile before resuming his driving, "okay."

Thankfully, we reached the cabin. Parking just outside the door, we got out of the car. Nick took out Newton's keys and tried some before finally getting the right one to open the door. We went inside and looked around.

The place was damp and musty, with a small layer of dust on the furniture. Clearly, nobody had used it for awhile.

Nick's shoulders slumped, "well, guess we're going to get our shoes wet in the marina."

I surveyed the place and had to agree. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. The place was empty. Handing him his burger, I said, "eat up, trooper. We have another road trip ahead of us."