His eyes had remained glued to the road, intensely focused as they drove out of New York and onto the Jersey Turnpike.
She’d offered to pay the toll that came up, but Elijah had declined and paid himself.
Caelyn knew better than to say anything. He was clearly upset, perhaps because he felt he’d been responsible for her losing so much money.
But she wasn’t upset with him about it—she didn’t blame him. She didn’t even blame the bus line or the cranky teller. It was just life. There were worse things that could happen than losing a hundred bucks.
After they stopped for gas off the turnpike and Elijah paid again, she had to say something.
As he pulled the SUV onto the highway, she cleared her throat. “Look, you can’t just pay for everything the whole trip,” she told him.
He shrugged. “It’s fine. I have the money.”
“But I can’t let you do that.”
“Why not?” he said.
“Because, it’s not fair.”
“You getting stiffed for that stupid bus ticket wasn’t fair either.”
“It’s not the same and you know it.”
He glanced at her. “Whatever, Caelyn. Pay for gas next time if you really want to.”
“It’s not just about gas,” she said, still looking at him, trying to read his expression.
“What is it then?”
“Well…” she sighed, and then asked the question she’d been wondering ever since he’d stepped on the bus. “Are you only going to Florida because of me?”
The question hung in the air and she immediately regretted asking it that way.
The truth was, she had almost hoped that he was only going to Florida because of her.
Even though it would have been beyond strange, she wanted to believe that Elijah might feel some of what she was starting to feel for him.
Maybe he just wanted more time together. She held her breath.
But he shook his head firmly. “I’m not going to Florida because of you, Caelyn.
I was always going to Florida.”
“Oh.” She tried to ignore the disappointment that moved through her belly.
“Then why didn’t you say so?”
He shrugged, his dark eyes never leaving the road. “Because I didn’t know a thing about you. For all I know, you were some crazy chick—I didn’t think I needed to tell you my whole travel itinerary.”
“Okay,” she said. She was starting to feel hurt and a little angry. He was acting as though he didn’t just board the bus in Chinatown and practically beg her to come with him. “So then what changed your mind?
“I don’t know.” He shrugged again. “You seem cool. We had a few laughs. I figured it was silly to make you pay all that money to travel on some stuffy, cramped bus all the way to Florida when I was going there anyhow.”
“Oh,” she said, softly.
“If I’d known they were going to charge you anyway—” He stopped himself.
“What?” she said. “Would you not have invited me?”
He didn’t say anything for a moment. “Look, it’s been a long drive so far,” he told her, not looking away from the road. “Let’s just chill with the Q&A for a few minutes, okay?”
“Sure,” she said. “Whatever you say.”
After that, Elijah turned the satellite radio on again and resumed listening to his Geek and Gear podcasts.
Caelyn settled back in her seat and stared out at the passing scenery, wondering if she’d made a mistake getting off the bus and into his car to go all the way to Florida. If this was the kind of atmosphere that was going to exist the entire drive, then she definitely would regret her decision.
It was when they passed into Maryland that Caelyn’s phone rang for the first time.
She looked at her caller ID.
MOM.
A thrill of anxiety raced through Caelyn’s body when she saw that her mother was calling. She rejected the call, forcing it to voicemail.
Elijah glanced over at her. “You all right?”
“Yes,” she said. Since when do you care? She wanted to reply, but that was a little too childish, even for the mood she was in right now.
A moment later, her cell was ringing again, and once again, it was her mother’s number. Maybe that meant it was an emergency. Caelyn tried to think if someone would have already known she’d taken off, and contacted the school, the police, her parents.
She didn’t think so. The only people who could possibly have noticed she was gone by now would have been one of her roommates. But Alicia had been staying over Ben’s last night and Nellie would probably assume that Caelyn had stayed over Jayson’s apartment.
Her phone was still ringing. She really didn’t want to answer, but another part of her thought it was useless to just ignore her mother’s call. She would just keep calling and calling.
Sighing, Caelyn answered. “Hi, Mom.” She forced her voice to sound cheerful.
“I thought you might be sleeping in,” her mother said, in a tone of voice that indicated she didn’t really approve of the reasons that might cause Caelyn to sleep in, but she understood it was part of college life to stay up late partying.
“Oh, no, I’m awake,” Caelyn told her. “I’ve been awake for awhile.” That was an understatement.
Elijah smirked.