Chloe Carter was the ultimate groupie.
As the baby sister of an exceptionally bright storm chaser sister and a world famous boy band brother, Chloe had always tagged along to her siblings' adventures, but deep down, she knew she was avoiding her ow...
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WE FLEW DOWN the dirt back roads with the windows down and the soft country song playing far too quietly for my liking.
The warm, sticky Oklahoma air blew through my hair, and I leaned on my arms through the window and watched the skies while humming along to the new Megan Moroney song. Javi and Kate didn't sing along as well — I figured neither of them had heard it yet. Instead, they sat in near silence.
I watched the skies darkening in the distance and the dry grass blowing in the gentle winds as we drove by. A storm was brewing, but we still had time.
"Nice upgrade from the old van, right?" Javi asked with a tentative smile on his face.
Kate didn't take the compliment bait and instead glanced around at all the new equipment. "How are you paying for all this?"
"Storms are getting more erratic — lot of new housing developments going up, so the developers, they want full time weather data," Javi explained. "Any time a new building goes up, I want a StormPAR radar right there letting the people know exactly what the storm's gonna do."
"That's so cool," I murmured, turning to look at them more fully now.
Javi gave me an appreciative smile before refocusing on the road. "I really feel like we're gonna change the game, Kate."
"Business entrepreneur is not how I saw your future," Kate teased. "We used to be lucky if we could get you to wear pants."
I let out an unexpected laugh. Kate grinned at me when she caught my eye in the side mirror.
"Well, that hasn't completely changed," he admitted quietly.
"Ew, Javi!"
//
We made it to the gas station where we'd be meeting the rest of the team shortly, but while Kate and Javi talked about logistics of the day and what he expected of her, I slipped out of the car and walked into a small section of grass, watching the sky.
The sky was turning a little but nowhere near as violently as my stomach.
What was I thinking coming back here?
Just before my thoughts could spiral, my phone began buzzing in my pocket. I figured it was probably Dylan trying again — he'd been quiet since Kate picked up the phone the other day — but it wasn't him.
Stupidly, I almost wished it were Dylan calling me now instead, but I'd put off his calls and texts for long enough now.
"Hey, Kil."
"What on earth is goin' on with you?" my brother said as a way of greeting. "You ain't been answering any of my calls for days now, and you left without sayin' goodbye. Do you've any idea how concerned I was?"
