Powering Through: A Sequel to Learning To Swim For Real

Chapter 15: Road Trip Redux

"I can't believe I lived so long without road trips," Kelsey declared, snuggling into Jack's shoulder.

"Me either," he agreed, giving her waist a little tickle, tilting his head away when she shrieked in his ear. "If we ever get going, that is," he said, looking pointedly into the driver's seat, where his brother sat.

They were in the back seat of her SUV, which they were driving to Warren for Thanksgiving. Jake had driven up from San Diego, leaving his car at Kelsey's so they could make the trip together in her comfortable car, driving in shifts. They planned to leave around noon, and were doing an okay job of remaining on schedule.

"Man, this is a nice set of wheels," Jake remarked, looking. "You got your cruise control, satellite radio, all this other crap that I don't even know what it does--" he continued talking to himself, fiddling with the numerous knobs and settings on the dashboard.

"You guys sure one of you doesn't want to sit up here with me?" he called, looking into the rear view mirror.

"We're sure, we're sure," Jack replied, laughing as Kelsey goosed him, making him leap up from his seat.

"Well, no shenanigans while the vehicle is in motion," Jake warned with a grin as he put the car in reverse. "And no making a mess," he added when he heard Kelsey tearing open a bag of chips. "This is a nice car, you can't treat it like a dorm room."

"Yes, Dad," Jack answered, opening a Tupperware of granola and grabbing a handful.

"Jack, you can't eat granola on a road trip," Kelsey teased. "You're supposed to eat crap, right Jake?" She leaned forward to tap Jake on the shoulder for his opinion.

"She's right, Lil Bro, what kind of pussy eats granola on a road trip?" Jake asked, grabbing some chips from the proffered bag.

"The kind of guy who's trying to break 1:50 flat on his IM, man," Jack responded. "I'm having a great year, and my time's been coming down all season, but it won't continue if I start eating garbage, okay?" He resolutely sat back, his Tupperware in his lap, munching his granola.

Kelsey thought he was so cute at that moment that she wanted to die, and held herself back from throwing herself on him only with a monstrous effort. She caught Jake's eye in the rearview mirror, and Jack's older brother looked at her, knowing amusement in his brown eyes. He raised his eyebrow at her and tilted his head in an "aw, go ahead," motion.

Kelsey smiled at Jack's beautiful big brother and nodded before lunging onto her boyfriend and throwing her arms around his neck, being mindful of the container of food he was balancing on his legs.

"Whoa, what was that for?" Jack choked, holding the Tupperware out of the way as he hugged Kelsey back, pulling her in for a nice hug, patting her bottom before releasing her.

She shrugged, shaking her hair out of her eyes. "Just for being you, coach," she replied pertly. She pulled a hair tie off her wrist and quickly knotted her hair in a messy bun as she looked around.

"Where are we, and how long do you think it will take to get there?" she asked.

"Wait, wait, I got this, I got this," Jake said before Jack could open his mouth. He punched some buttons on the navigation system, then waited for something to appear on the screen.

"With current weather and traffic conditions, our trip should take approximately nine hours and forty-three minutes," he announced. "Assuming we don't stop, which of course we will. What kind of gas mileage does this behemoth get, Kelsey?" he asked.

"I don't know," she answered, shrugging. "I don't even remember buying it, to be honest."

"Must be nice to be so rich," Jack teased, giving her hair a tug.