“My mom was the absolute biggest cheerleader I’ve ever had, and the first person who told me I could be a writer.” Sophie softly smiled, the way she always did when she thought of her mom. “She encouraged us to do what we loved, which is why not being able to write is kind of killing me.”
Dash let her words sit before he added more. “Don’t get me wrong, I had a really charmed childhood—going to sets, awards shows, meeting every celebrity you can think of. My life wasn’t bad,” he said. “But it’s hard for me to talk about my dad because he just…wasn’t there for me.”
“As you know, I’m an award-winning speechwriter.” She smirked, and he gave her an amused look back. “We’ll figure this out.” Her hand landed on the armrest, almost touching him, and then she pulled it back.
“So long as you can find a way to make something out of nothing.” He readjusted the sunglasses on his face, and his strong jaw flexed.
She really hoped, for Dash’s sake, that she could. She wanted nothing more than to deliver a speech that would impress not only his whole family but also him. When she looked out her window, she no longer saw the endless stretch of buildings that signaled Los Angeles. They were on the highway, with cars zipping past, but there were also endless stretches of green and billboards for upcoming fast-food stops. She took out her phone and pulled up the list of questions she’d made for Dash. “Okay, is there something your dad has always dreamed of doing but hasn’t done yet?”
“Can I plead the Fifth?” Dash asked. “I absolutely don’t know the answer to that question.”
“Okay, no worries. I’ve got more!” Sophie scrolled down her phone. “What does your dad value most in a friendship?”
“Well, my dad’s only real friend is my mom, and she’s…” He drifted off and didn’t seem like he intended to finish the thought.
“Okay, well, it’s cute that your parents are best friends.” Sophie shifted slightly in her seat, batted her curtain bangs away from her eyes, then asked, “Okay, third time’s the charm, I hope. I just want to know one thing you genuinely like about your dad.”
He sighed so deeply she couldn’t tell if it was him or the engine rumbling through her seat.
“Dash, as you know, I’m a great writer, but I do need something. Even if you just make it up!”
“Okay, my dad is terrified of sharks,” he finally said. “Like, deeply, horrifyingly scared of them. But on his first Mission Forever film, there’s a scene where he jumps out of a helicopter and into the ocean. He had to land in the water, then climb onto this boat, and he was so terrified but wanted to do his own stunts for his first starring action role, so he just did it. He decided he wasn’t going to be afraid of sharks that day. So he took a shot of whiskey, dove into the ocean, and pretended like they were in a water tank and not on the open sea. I kind of loved how badly he wanted to be an action star, that even his deepest fear couldn’t keep him from making it happen.”
“I love sharks,” Sophie said, straightening. “Did you know they don’t have bones?”
He squinted at her. “Just so I’m clear, you love tractors and sharks.”
“You say that like they aren’t all related.”
“Sharks and tractors are related?”
“They’re both wildly misunderstood, Dash.” She made sure to sound deathly serious.
Her phone pinged with a new text, and when she glanced at the screen, she saw a new message from Ned.
Ned: See you soon.
She swallowed down the ball of dread that had gathered in her throat and tried to focus on the road ahead of them. She’d been enjoying the car ride with Dash and had almost entirely forgotten that she’d soon be face-to-face with her high-school boyfriend. She didn’t want to have an uncomfortable conversation with Ned, but it was shaping up to be something she couldn’t avoid.
8
DASH
When Sophie came back from the gas-station bathroom and buckled herself in, Dash held out his hand and said, “Gummy me.”
“Excuse me,” she shot back. “Please, don’t be vulgar. I am a lady, sir.”
“You’re right.” He put his hand on the steering wheel, shifted slightly in the seat, then reextended his hand. “Gummy me, please.”
“That’s more like it.” She placed a handful of sour gummy worms in his palm, the edges of her nails just skimming him, and he popped the candy into his mouth.
“You have to try one,” he said through a mouthful. “Just one, otherwise it’s not a proper road trip.”
She glared at him but, to his amusement, she reached her hand into the bag and pulled one out. “Is this what you want?” She shook the gummy worm at him, a disgusted look on her face. “You want to watch me eat this sugary little worm?”
“I absolutely do.” He popped another one into his mouth and smiled. She tilted her head back and dangled the worm above her lips before dropping it into her mouth.
“Are you happy now?” She chewed and her face contorted as she tasted the sour and sweet of it.
“Are you happy now?” he said back.
She continued to chew. “These are good, actually.”
“Told ya.” He raised his eyebrows as he maneuvered the car back onto the highway. They were getting closer to Ojai, but he wondered if there was some way he could convince her to just hang out with him. He didn’t want her to miss an opportunity for growth and more content, exactly, but he liked being next to her. He hadn’t talked to someone else for this long a stretch of time since…he couldn’t remember. And he’d told her about his dad, which he never brought up with people.
“How do you think your experiment is going?” Dash asked.
“I have four thousand followers, which isn’t nothing,” she said. “I just don’t feel closer to finding an answer for my book. I mean, seeing my first ex was fine, I guess? I’m just not used to analyzing my behavior that way, and I’m not totally sure I’m doing it right.”
“Do you think this ex we’re driving to see might help?” He snuck a glance at her, which he realized he’d been doing a lot of while they were driving. She was easy to look at.
“He was the first person I ever dated.” She brushed the sugar off her fingertips. “But I think his memory of our relationship is a little different from mine. I don’t want to think about it too much. I might end up psyching myself out.”
Dash nodded. He could change the subject. “What’s the best date you’ve ever been on?” Why the hell was he asking this ridiculous question? “Just because, ya know, you’re revisiting all of these exes.”
Great save, Dash, that doesn’t make you sound weirder. He readjusted himself in the seat and let out a heavy sigh. He was not used to small talk.
“Oh, hmm.” Sophie tapped her index finger against her chin. “Well, Ned grew up on a ranch and was into horseback riding. He took me riding one time and it started to rain, but we ended up having fun.”
The image of Sophie in the rain and on a horse was doing something very specific to Dash, and he reached a hand down to release some of the pressure against his jeans.