He laughs, his voice so deep that it gives me a momentary chill. “Yeah, you’re definitely Dave’s daughter. You gotta learn to mind your own business, kid.”
“Stop calling me kid,” I warn. “You’re only a year older than me, and you’ve got fewer brain cells.”
“Alright, kid,” he says, but he’s smirking. “Your dad’s an asshole.”
“At least that’s one thing we can agree on.” I sigh heavily, filling the silence. There was once a time when I could tolerate my dad. Back when I was younger, I thought he was great. But then I guess he got bored of Mom and bored of me and bored of his life with the two of us, and so he walked out and never came back. And now he’s just some loser with a temper and wrinkles and graying hair. “I don’t even know what his problem is. I get that you must be super annoying to live with, but it’s like he looks for reasons to yell at you.”
Tyler taps the steering wheel impatiently. “Tell me about it.”
“My mom’s better off without him,” I muse, and then instantly backpedal. “Not that it’s unfortunate for your mom or anything like that. What about you? Where’s your dad?”
Out of nowhere, he slams on the brakes. “What the fuck?”
I blink, stunned by his aggressive reaction and unable to muster up a reply. I try to babble an apology, but my words only come out ragged and uneven. “Sorry—I—”
Clenching his jaw and revving up the engine, he steps on the gas and the car accelerates so fast that my body is thrown back against the seat. “Don’t talk,” he spits.
“I didn’t mean to offend you—” I try, my pulse racing as guilt consumes me. Maybe his dad has passed away, I think. And I’ve just reminded him of it.
“Shut the hell up,” he growls through gritted teeth, and I decide then that I’m not going to say anything more. I fear that if I do, he’ll just continue to speed up.
Folding my arms and keeping my eyes away from him, I pay attention to the Los Angeles scenery as we leave Santa Monica on the freeway. I don’t mind not talking. Every time I do, he either gives me a cocky answer, a sarcastic reply, or an unnecessary insult. He increases the volume of the music, a selection of R&B songs from his phone, and leaves it blaring loudly for the entire journey, profanities drilling into my ears. The silent tension between us is so awkward, like we should be talking but can’t bring ourselves to do so. We’re stepsiblings yet it feels as though we’re archenemies, and I know it shouldn’t be this way.
“We’re almost there,” he mutters an hour of reckless driving later. The lengthy silence is so unbearable by now that I can’t even look at him. I focus my thoughts instead on how pretty our surroundings are.
We pull onto a long street named North Beachwood Drive, and before me the Hollywood Sign stands tall on the mountains, overlooking the city in the evening sun. I bite my lip and close the sun visor to get a better look, and I feel almost nervous as I stare at the global icon that I have only ever seen in movies. Seeing it in real life is a completely different experience.
Continuing straight ahead, the road changes from a residential street to a narrow canyon road running along the bottom of the mountain. We pass a sign for the Sunset Ranch that Tiffani mentioned, and shortly after, we pull into a small parking area by the side of the road. Everyone’s already there, and I have no idea how they beat us.
“You took the freeway, didn’t you?” Meghan asks when we get out of the car, and Tiffani immediately prances over to throw her arms around Tyler.
With his attention being fought for, he somehow manages to reply, “Yeah, did you guys go through Beverly Hills?” Tiffani’s pressing her body to his and drawing his lips to hers, but Tyler doesn’t seem that interested. Not quite smiling, he leans down and kisses her for the briefest of moments before drawing away and stepping back. I think I’m the only one who’s paying attention to them, and when he notices me watching, he lowers his head and stares at the ground.
Jake steps forward while locking his car. “Easiest way to speed and not get caught. We didn’t want to keep you waiting for an hour.”
“It’s incredible,” I murmur, shaking my head as I stare up at the bold letters. I squint to avoid the sun. “Thanks for showing me it.”
All six of them laugh at once, including Tyler. I receive a few eye rolls too.
“We haven’t shown you it yet,” Rachael says. She’s holding a few bottles of water in her hands. “We’re taking you all the way up.”
“Up?” I glance up the mountain again, wondering how steep it is. It looks like hard work.
“Yeah, up,” Dean says. There are even more bottles of water in his hands. “We better get moving if you want to see it before the sun goes down. It takes about an hour to get up there. And it’s hot. So here.” He hands me a bottle, passes one to Meghan, and a third to Jake.