Caraphernelia

6 - day four / part one

Tuesday

Did I mention that we have an Australian guy with anger issues as a GPS?

Cause we do.

"It's hot!" Matteo protested when I'd complain about it.

"It's awful!" I argue. "It's just yelling at me to 'turn left in four minutes and three seconds' in that stupid accent that I can't even understand."

"Again, it's hot."

"Fine. Screaming in bed may be hot, but screaming at me to 'MAKE U-TURN'," I say in my best attempt at an Australian accent, "is a bit of a turn-off."

Matteo simply wiggles his eyebrows and shimmies his shoulders against mine, "I can do that first part for you, if you want."

Something twists in my stomach as my mind flashes back to yesterday when I had him pinned down beneath me at Dunkin' Donuts, the way he smiled and grew red as I'd hovered over him; to when he'd grown flustered when he caught himself wearing my shirt; to how insanely cute he is when he first wakes up, blonde hair messy and his voice low and distracted; to the feeling of his hand in mine last night and the warmth I'd experienced when he snuggles up against me while he sleeps. Like Cara never has.

I shake my head, throwing off my train of thought. Rolling my eyes, I shove Matteo's arm but smile nonetheless.

"Oh, and you suck at accents," he adds.

I muster up another Australian voice and joke, before I can stop myself, "Mhm, I bet that's not the only thing I suck."

Matteo's gray eyes widen a bit before he bursts out laughing, shoulders shaking. My own green eyes grow wide as saucers and I feel the heat creep up my neck when I realize just what I'd said.

"I was joking."

➳ ➳ ➳

For lunch we order McDonald's, me getting a smoothie and fries, Matteo gets a hamburger, tea, and ice cream.

"Let's have some fun," He suggests now, swiping a few french fries from me and dipping them into his ice cream. I wrinkle my nose as he pops it into his mouth.

My brows furrowed and not quite understanding what he's getting at, I ask, "What do you mean?"

"I mean," he chews before continuing, "We should have some fun. We'll be in California tomorrow, so."

"Uh, I don't know. . ." I mumble, sipping my smoothie.

"Look, I know you want to find Cara as soon as possible, but we have plenty of time. This is fucking California, Spence. We probably won't get another chance like this."

I hesitate before answering. I really don't feel like running around Cali having fun when I should be searching for my girlfriend. I don't even know if she's okay. But then I see the pleading hope in Matteo's gray eyes and something in the pit of my stomach suggests otherwise. If I were in Cara's position, if I had suddenly disappeared, I'm sure she wouldn't be driving cross-country looking for me. Hell, she would probably be glad that she has the liberty to do whatever she wants without having me in her way.

"Fine," I give in to his pouting and his eyes automatically light back up, "but I wanna do something we'll remember."

Suddenly, Matteo's pure, happy smile contorts into a mischievous smirk and his eyes spin with ideas like the gears in his brain, shining like light bouncing off metal.

"Okay," he says, "but we start tonight."