Roman Holiday: The Complete Adventure (2-Book Bundle: The Adventure Begins and The Adventure Continues) by Knox Ruthie

Author:Knox, Ruthie [Knox, Ruthie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780345547071
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2014-03-25T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWO

Nineteen seventy-six.

Nineteen-seventy-fucking-six.

“You’re telling me,” he said.

And then he had to take a breath and let it out, because his fists were clenching, and that wouldn’t do.

He took a second one, just to be safe.

“You’re telling me, in all seriousness, that the spare tire for this vehicle is five years older than I am.” It was the most neutral thing Roman could think of to say. He was trying—trying very hard—to find solid ground again and plant his feet on it, because he hated feeling this out of control. He hated it more than he hated Stanley taunting him. He hated it more than he hated knowing, with crystalline clarity, that he’d made himself easy to taunt.

Because of Ashley.

“Well, it could be worse,” she said.

“How?” Roman asked incredulously. “How could it be worse?”

“The tire is thirteen years older than me.”

For a second, he couldn’t process what she’d said. The tire. Five years older, thirteen years older—it was the same fucking tire, right? And was she …? She couldn’t actually think—

“It’s a joke.” Ashley lowered her oversize sunglasses and looked at him over the top, the freckled bridge of her nose wrinkling. “Ha-ha?”

Roman turned away. He couldn’t look at her, because he wanted to shake her.

And fuck her.

And give her a hug.

For crying out loud. She was having a hard time, and he wanted to give her a hug. What was this woman doing to him?

“At least tell me you’ve got a jack,” he said, trying to focus on the practical.

Her whole face turned into a wince. “No jack. But listen, I’ve got something better.”

Roman hoped it was a bottle of bourbon.

“Actually, don’t listen. Hang on a second, I’ll show you.”

She turned away and let herself into the trailer.

Roman waited for her to come back. Cars flew past on the interstate, and he let his gaze wander beyond the road to the fallow fields bordering it, a small farm with cows and a couple horses, the woods in the distance.

It looked like Wisconsin. Like home.

But Roman’s home was in Miami. He’d gotten too far away from it, lost himself, and now he was losing his grip.

Was this what it was like to be Ashley? Did she feel this much all the time? Stanley had called him her boyfriend, and it had just about knocked Roman over with … he didn’t even know. Confusion. Anger. Possessive elation. How did people sort all this shit out?

He took another deep breath and tried to find some kind of equilibrium again, but the air he drew into his body tasted like a memory of country roads that slowed down through town and then sped back up, fifty-five miles an hour, a ribbon of clean, undulating asphalt with no end.

His sister, Samantha, behind the wheel. Loud music. Stolen cigarettes.

He missed her. He missed her, and he didn’t want to be here.

Ashley hopped out of the trailer, her sunglasses pushed up on top of her head, a large block of wood cradled in her arms. She took one look at his face and said, “Bear with me.

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