Maybe Just One More

Chapter 23. The Honest Game

Stormie's POV

"How far are we?" Mason asked.

"Fox Lake is still seven more hours," Claire said.

Claire and I were in the backseat. Mason and Avery were up front. Avery decided to take his Challenger to Minnesota. It was a long drive. You could cut the tension. 

Avery's mom drove her Blazer with Austin. My parents rode in my dad's car. It was as if he was leading my mother on. 

Avery pulled into a gas station. "We need gas," he said. He turned the car off and climbed out. Avery hardly spoke the entire drive. 

Mason turned back to Claire. "Do you want anything?" Mason didn't spend a lot of time talking either, and if he did, it was directly to Claire.

"A Pepsi," she said. 

Mason sighed and got out of the car.

Claire turned to me. "What the hell is with them?" she whispered.

"Avery's mom is seeing my dad. The boys saw them kissing out front of a restaurant," I muttered. "They got in a big fight. Just leave it alone. Trust me."

"Did they bring you into this?" she asked. Her forehead creased. 

"It's okay, Claire," I whispered.

"Well, I'm not dealing with this shit. I'd rather ride with your parents," she muttered. She climbed out of the car. She met Mason halfway and talked quietly to him.

I decided to climb out of the car and stretch my legs. I closed the door and leaned against it. The sky was dark, and there was some snow on the ground. A shiver rolled down my spine as the wind picked up. I shouldn't have packed my jacket.

"You want anything?" Avery asked as he walked away from the pump.

My gaze flickered to his. "No," I muttered. 

"What's your problem?" he asked.

"What the fuck do you think?" I snapped. My eyes narrowed at him. It had been the first time he had spoken to me the entire trip. I hadn't seen or spoke to him in nearly three days.

He put his hands in the air as if in surrender and backed away. "Sorry," he said. He popped the gum in his mouth and turned away from me to go into the station.

"Honey," Mom called.

I looked over at her. "Yeah?" I asked.

"Tell Avery to follow us. We're stopping for the night at a hotel," Mom said.

"Sure," I said.

Mason looked at me worriedly. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine," I said simply.

"We're going to ride to the hotel and probably the rest of the way with Mom and Dad," he muttered. "Do you want to ride with us?" 

"No, that would be too cramping," I muttered. "I'm fine to ride with Avery."

Mason nodded. He grabbed his phone from Avery's car and walked over to Dad's car.