“Bri-Bri!”
A huge smile sprang onto my face as I spotted my favorite little boy in the whole word, Vincent, running toward me, his arms outstretched as wide as they would go. I crouched down, not at all embarrassed that I had a spot in my heart for him even though Dannon was standing right there. Sure, I was hard on him and love altogether. But that didn’t mean I didn’t care about anyone.
“Vince-Vince!” I hollered as I held out my arms, waiting for him to reach me. Vincent’s cute curly brunette locks of hair flopping on his head as he ran, reminding me of a mop. His smile let up his whole face as he crashed into me, his small hands clawing at my back. I grinned, hugging him back.
“Who’s he?” Vincent demanded, his cheeks puffing out as we pulled apart. He pointed a suspicious finger in Dannon’s direction. I glanced at Dannon and suppressed a laugh. He stared at Vincent’s finger self-consciously, looking thoroughly uncomfortable. You would think that a popular guy would have more confidence, especially in front of a four-year-old. But, apparently, Dannon insisted on being different.
“This is the boogie man,” I replied dramatically, deciding to have fun with this. “Stay away. He’ll eat you.”
Vincent’s eyes widened. “No way!” he shrieked, his arms waving in the air frantically. “I have to go tell Mommy!”
And then he was gone, running up the hill and back to the house.
Suddenly I was weighed down by the sense of a pair of eyes on my back. I turned slowly to see my mom, her arms crossed irritably over her chest. Huh. I’d been under the impression that she and my dad had gone inside, but I guess they were standing there the whole time. Oops.
“Brianne,” she scolded. “You know Vincent believes everything! Now he’s going to be scared of Dannon.”
I glanced at Dannon and stifled a laugh. “That was the point, Ma,” I muttered under my breath.
“What was that?”
“I said I’m sorry, Ma,” I corrected quickly.
Kyla giggled at me. I smiled, beginning my journey up the hill. Dannon and Kyla followed pursuit, standing on either side of me. I looked Dannon up and down. He seemed nervous—more than nervous actually. He looked like he was going to faint. I bit my lip to keep from laughing at him. “You all right?” I teased, nudging his shoulder slightly.
“I’m fine.”
From the tone of his voice I could tell that he was not fine. He was breathing hard, like the trip of this hill was too difficult for him to handle. It was like all the energy was being sucked out of him the more we travelled. I tilted my head to the side. It couldn’t have been a physical thing. He was in football. He was fit. Was he seriously this nervous about meeting my family?
“Don’t worry,” I murmured, having the sudden urge to reassure him. “Well, not that many. Under thirty anyways.”
Dannon shot me a disbelieving glance. “What?”
I struggled not to burst into laughter as Dannon stared at me. His expression was priceless. “Well,” I began, “my aunt has twelve kids. Then add her and my two uncles.”
Dannon continued to stare. “Twelve kids?”
Oh. So the fact that I had two uncles didn’t call for interest, huh? “She adopted,” I explained, bringing a hand through my hair.
“How many?” Dannon inquired, his eyebrows rising.
I couldn’t help but let out a small grin. “Three.”
Dannon paused before answering. You could tell from the look in his eye that he expected Aunt Jill to have adopted more than she did. I waited for him to exclaim in surprise or something along those lines. But all he did was smile, nod, and say, “Cool.”
It was silent the rest of the way up to the house. Once we got to the front porch, I rushed up the steps, my feet pounding loudly on the wood. I didn’t really care. I just wanted to get inside. I loved being here with my aunt and cousins. This was my second home, the place I loved to come and visit.
“Hey guys!” Aunt Jill called from the kitchen as we loaded in. Unlike my mom, my aunt was a superb cook. She worked at a bakery a few miles from her house. I remembered when I was younger when my mom would take Garrett and me down to the bakery and we would taste-test the sweets. Sometimes Britain, the eldest of my cousins, would join us. We had so much fun there.
“Hey, Aunt Jill!” I called back, kicking off my shoes in the small crate sitting on the floor by the door. It was already filled with a dozen pairs of my cousins’ shoes, almost filled to the top.
“Is Brianne the only one here?”
Aunt Jill twisted away from the counter, flashing us a smile. Unlike our house the dining room and the kitchen collided into one, and the front door opened up straight to the kitchen. Their house was open, wide. Everything seemed to be connected. Only the bedrooms and bathrooms actually had doors. The rest were just wide openings.
“Hey, Julie,” she said, her smile growing as her eyes landed on my mom. “And her lovely family.” Her eyes landed on Kyla. “And Kyla.” Her gaze fell on Dannon. “And new person!”
We all laughed. I glanced at Dannon. He didn’t really look too hot. He looked kind of worn out. Maybe he still needed a nap. Or maybe he was just really nervous. I had the sudden urge to put a hand on his shoulder in reassurance. But I resisted it.
“Now who may this be?” Aunt Jill asked lightly, her hands going to her hips.
“Dannon,” I replied after a moment. I nudged Dannon discreetly. “Say hi, Dannon.”
Dannon immediately held out his hand, and when I caught his expression, I knew he was back to normal. “Hello,” he said politely, a smile on his face.
“This boy’s got manners!” Aunt Jill squealed, her hand sliding into his and shaking it. “We outta teach you kids some.”
My mom was about to reply, but at that moment, Vincent rushed into the room, his arms flailing in the air. He collided with Aunt Jill, shaking her arm violently. “Mommy, Mommy!” he called breathlessly. His hair fell into his eyes and he struggled to push it out of the way while shaking his mom at the same time. It was a rather comical sight.
Aunt Jill looked down at him like he was crazy. I looked between them, a faint smile on my face. Of all the kids, Vincent looked the most like her. They both had the same curly locks of hair, the same soft facial features, and the same huge brown eyes. They even had freckles in the same spots—dashed cross the nose and cheeks, so light that you could barely tell they were there unless you looked closely.
Aunt Jill bent down, smiling. “What’s up?” she asked cheerfully.
Vincent sent a wide-eyed, crazed expression in Dannon’s direction. “Don’t talk to the boogie man,” he whispered loudly.
Aunt Jill looked between Vincent and me. And then, as though something instantly clicked, she burst out laughing, ruffling up her son’s hair. “What has Brianne told you?” she asked after her laughter became contained.
Vincent pouted. “She said he was the boogie man and he’ll eat me!”
I bit my lip to keep from laughing. I wanted to see how long the charade would last, but I could my mom’s stare on my back. So, with a small sigh, I decided to confess. “I was just kidding, bud.”
Vincent huffed, placing his hands on his tiny hips. That was another similarity between him and his mother. “Oh,” was all he said before turning and running away, probably to play with his other siblings.
“So, where’s the rest of the crew?” my mom asked as Vincent scampered away.
“They’re outside,” Aunt Jill replied. “Rick’s making a ton of hamburgers and hot dogs.” She turned to Dannon. “Are you a vegetarian, hon?”
Dannon shook his head. “No, ma’am.”
I glanced at Kyla and we both laughed softly. Ma’am? That was so old-fashioned, especially for Aunt Jill.
Aunt Jill seemed shocked too, for she stared at him for a moment, blinking silently. And then she put on a broad smile, saying, “Oh, just call me Jill!”
Dannon shifted on his feet awkwardly, a small smile on his face. “Okay,” he murmured, looking around. His eyes were wide in what I assumed was admiration. I wondered how big his house was, not for the first time—I mean, you have to always wonder how big the popular people’s houses are. He seemed perfectly fine in my house, but here he seemed like he felt so out of place. Was his house as big as mine then?
Before any of us could even attempt to start up another conversation, Dannon’s phone sprang to life. He jumped as though torn out of a reverie before tossing us all apologetic glances. He dished his phone out of his jean pocket. He checked the screen, biting his lip. “It’s my dad,” he said softly. He shot me a look that I couldn’t decipher. “I’m sorry, I have to take this.”
I watched as he walked a little ways away—just far enough to be out of ear-shot—and answered the phone, speaking softly.
“He seems a little shy,” Aunt Jill said softly, nodding in Dannon’s direction.
I didn’t get that. He was probably the least shy guy that I knew. So why was he acting like this? Didn’t he feed off the energy of people? I thought absolutely nothing could make him feel uncomfortable. Since, you know, he was always in a crowd. But, apparently, I was wrong.
“He’s such a sweet boy,” my mom piped in from beside me. She smiled at my dad. “Isn’t he, hon?”
My dad nodded from beside my mom. “Mhm,” he murmured disinterestedly. I snorted out a laugh. He wasn’t even paying attention. He was probably already outside, hanging out with Uncle Rick and Uncle Dorner. In his mind he was laughing, having a good time. Not standing here awkwardly in the doorway.
I looked at Kyla. “I don’t get why he’s acting so shy,” I muttered, nudging her slightly. “I mean, he was nothing like this at my house.”
Kyla turned away from Dannon and switched her gaze to me. She grinned. “Your house is considerably smaller than Jill’s,” she pointed out. “And he’s two and a half hours away from the comforts of his home. Give him a break. You’d be this nervous, too.”
Seeing how I was exactly the same situation—excluding the fact that I’d been used to this house since birth—I found it incredibly hard to believe that I’d be that nervous, too.
I opened my mouth to tell Kyla that much, but at that moment Dannon decided to return, slipping his phone back into his pocket. He moved next to me, standing so close that our arms were touching. I resisted the urge to tell him to back off. Not only would I be reprimanded extensively for that, but I felt bad for him. “Sorry about that,” he apologized softly, flashing us a smile. “My dad calls a lot.”
watched him from the corner of my eye. I found it odd that he wasn’t the slightest bit bothered that his parent obsessively kept in contact with him. I mean I loved my parents and everything, but if they called me all the time, I’d have to give them the Don’t-You-Dare-Start-Acting-Like-A-Stalker talk.
“That’s all right, hon!” Aunt Jill assured, smiling hugely. “Now let’s get out of the doorway and outside. You need to meet the rest of the crew!”
| It ♥ All ♥ Started ♥ With ♥ An ♥ Apple |
“Do you like turtles or fish?”
I snorted into my Pepsi as my cousin, Lexi, sputtered out her thousandth question in the last two minutes. Poor Dannon had been questioned the second he’d sat down. We’d chosen a random spot on the lawn, a little ways away from the hectic-ness of the children still playing while waiting to get lunch. We chilled out on the grass, our plates either resting on our knees or on the ground between our legs.
“Do you like purple or green?”
Dannon just stared at the seven-year-old, absolutely overwhelmed. I laughed at Lexi as her arms flew in all directions, showing off her excitement. She was a small thing, often mistaken for a four-year-old. Her thin blond hair hung loosely down to her shoulders, her huge blue eyes popping from underneath her bangs. She was one of the cutest things to have ever graced this earth.
“Can you let him answer a question, Lex?” Britain asked, grinning. I shot him a grin. Britain, like Lexi, had blond hair, but his was thick and wavy. His eyes were a muddy sort of brown—but not in a bad way or anything. And, most importantly, he wasn’t very muscular. Garrett and I made sure to tease him about that every moment that we could.
Dannon shot Britain a grateful look.
“Well, he’s not answering fast enough!” Lexi exclaimed, her tiny fingers curling into the grass. She giggled in Dannon’s direction.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” came a snotty voice to Lexi’s right. “We didn’t know that you needed to talk faster than the speed of light.”
I scowled in my cousin’s direction. Hartin, the most annoying nine-year-old ever, glowered, chomping on some of his hamburger. He may have looked like a nice person with his dark hair and freckles scattering around the bridge of his nose, but he was always ticked off about something. I could not remember a time where the kid was smiling. Ever. I scrunched my face up, trying to think of at least one moment where a small smile—even miniscule—appeared on his face. I couldn’t do it.
“Mommy!” Lexi whined, her hands curling into fists within the grass. “Hartin’s being mean!”
“You know she can’t hear you right?” Lexi’s identical twin sister, Alexis, murmured from beside her. Alexis and Lexi. Such creative twin names, really.
Lexi shot her sister a confused look. “So?” she mumbled, picking up a french-fry from her plate and plopping it into her mouth. She chewed it with her mouth wide open. I glanced away, disgusted. Chewed up food was not something I wanted to see.
Alexis twisted her french-fry in her ketchup, shrugging. “Never mind,” she mumbled.
Alexis, unlike Lexi, was shy. She didn’t usually talk unless you spoke to her. The only person that she talked to freely was Lexi herself. They were always together, those two. The best of friends. If you found one, you found the other. That was just the way it worked.
I turned away from the small group I was sitting with, toward the other groups of kids. Some were sprawled out on the grass, munching contently on their food. Others were screeching and fooling around, living the good life while they waited to be called to eat. I couldn’t help but smile. All these little kids, all these crazy little kids, were my family. And I loved them all.
Well, most of them.
“Hartin!” Kyla hollered in irritation. “Calm down the PMS.”
I sputtered out a laugh as Dannon shot her an incredulous look. Little did he know that this was a usual occurrence between these two. Kyla hated Hartin; Hartin hated Kyla. It was a mutual hatred that had been there since the beginning of time. Kyla thought that Hartin needed to lighten up, to live a little. Hartin just wanted her to shut up.
“I’m not a girl, you idiot!” Hartin yelled back.
“Well quit acting like one then, you little shit head,” Kyla hissed, pointing her Coke at him threateningly. I could just see it now: Kyla throwing her Coke in Hartin’s face, the liquid dripping off his face as he screamed every vile word imaginable at her.
Dannon scooted closer to me. I glanced at him, deciding not to say anything. He smiled slightly at me before biting his lip. He looked so out of place, so uncomfortable. It was so odd. I was so used to him seeming so laidback and carefree.
He picked at his food for a moment before looking up at me. “Are things usually like this?” he whispered.
“Kinda.” I shrugged. “Hartin always acts like this, if that’s what you mean. He just doesn’t usually hang out with us.”
“Kyla swore!” someone called out suddenly from a distance. How the kid heard Kyla swear from way over there, I’d never know. But, then again, Kyla did say it pretty loud. She went full-out when it came to Hartin. People might call it cruel that she targeted a nine-year-old, but, frankly, Hartin deserved it.
No one paid any mind to who shouted, however. Everyone was too caught up in what they were doing. Oh well. It wasn’t like the adults would really do anything about it. Everyone knew about Kyla’s and Hartin’s little hatred-battles. Hartin was the only one who ever got in trouble, and that was only because Aunt Jill called him out.
“Gracie, Lily, Trace!” Uncle Dorner called out. “Your cheeseburgers are a-ready!”
I watched as Trace scooted up from his spot a few feet away and scurried over to where my uncle was standing at the top of the lawn, standing with plates at the ready. Trace was one of the adopted children, though you’d never be able to tell. If anything he looked almost identical to Uncle Rick. Short, dirty-brown (tinted with red) hair and hazel eyes. Their cheek bones were shaped the same way—besides the fact that Uncle Rick’s were more cut-off due to age. They had the same shaped nose, too.
Completely weird.
Anyway, besides Trace, Hartin and Gracie were the other adopted children. The rest were birthed into this wonderful family. They should have felt special.
“We should make a square somewhere,” Britain said softly as to keep the little ones from hearing. He gestured over to a small patch of grass that was children-free. It looked so peaceful over there, gleaming dramatically in the sunlight. Okay, maybe it wasn’t gleaming. And maybe it was starting to turn brown. But still. It was fun to dream.
Kyla, Dannon, and I all nodded in agreement, grabbing our plates and standing up. Alexis, Lexi, and Hartin didn’t seem to notice. Lexi and Hartin were much too busy arguing with each other over Lexi’s talking speed, while Alexis just sat there watching them. The poor little girl looked overwhelmed by the hostility in her siblings’ voices.
We moved a few feet away, dodging the browning grass and plopping onto the nice green grass right beside it. The small patch of browning grass had been browning for a couple months now. Uncle Dorner put down a pool there and all the grass underneath it died. So, now, there was a little patch of ugly mixed in with the beauty.
“So, Dannon,” Britain murmured as we closed in our square so that no one else could get in. He swirled his hamburger in some ketchup. He didn’t like buns on his hamburgers—or on any type of burger for that matter. None of us could understand why this was, but we didn’t question him about it. Britain had always been that way. You got used to it after a while. “How did you and Brianne become friends?”
Dannon glanced at me. I shrugged, taking a bite of my hamburger. His glance wasn’t the “Should I tell the truth?” type of glance. It was more of an “Are we friends?” glance. To be honest, I didn’t quite know what to consider him right now. Yeah, he was annoying. Sure, I despised him. But that didn’t mean that he was all that horrible to hang out with once and a while.
“Um,” he murmured, looking away from me. He twisted a fry between his fingers. “She chucked an apple at my head.”
The way he said it was so humorous that I almost started laughing. But I kept myself calm, waiting for Britain’s reaction. It didn’t take long. He blinked. Looked between Dannon and me. Blinked again.
And then he started laughing.
“She—she—she what?” he sputtered out, pounding his fist hysterically into the grass. He was turning red to the face. He kinda reminded me of Bob the tomato from Veggietales.
“She made me!” I quickly jumped to defend myself, pointing at Kyla accusingly.
Britain cocked an eyebrow tilting his head to the side with a playful smirk curling onto his lips. “And you listened to her?”
I slumped, my jaw working. Why was that the first thing everyone said? Couldn’t they just let go of the fact that I’d stupidly listened to my best friend and chucked an apple across the cafeteria and move on? “This is such a de ja vu moment,” I muttered bitterly under my breath. “She threatened to throw it and blame it on me! It was cruel.”
Britain shook his head, laughing. He’d known me long enough to know that I hated being blamed for things I didn’t do. But apparently that didn’t cause for any pity what-so-ever. And why would it? Apparently I was so damn amusing with my stupid stunt. The little piece of fruit screwed me over, didn’t it?
“So she chucked an apple at you,” Britain said after he regained his composure. He shot an amused look in Dannon’s direction. “Where?”
Dannon grinned, his eyes glinting with delight. “In the school’s cafeteria.” He plopped the fry in his hand into his mouth. I watched as he chewed and swallowed, how his throat moved as the chewed food ventured to his stomach. Okay. That sounded a bit stalkerish and weird. “I knew it was her by her expression. She looked like she was going to wet her pants.”
I scowled at him, my thoughts about food traveling to his stomach diminishing. I did not look like I was going to wet my pants. . . . Or did I?
“What did you do after that?” Britain mused, pointing his fork at Dannon.
Dannon chuckled. “I walked over to her and handed her the apple.”
“He ate it. By the way,” I felt the need to add, though there wasn’t really any point.
Britain, Kyla, and Dannon all glanced at me for a moment before casting their attention elsewhere. I rolled my eyes, stuffing my face with my burger. Whatever guys. Totally ignore me. That was cool too.
“How long ago was this?” Britain inquired.
“Not too long ago.” Dannon shrugged, taking a bite out of his salad. He, unlike the rest of us, had chosen to grab something healthy. I stared at the salad with distaste. I never liked salad. It was like eating a leaf. Tasteless and disgusting.
Don’t ask how I knew that.
Britain turned, his gaze on Kyla now. He chuckled, shaking his head. “Is there a reason why you wanted her to throw an apple across the cafeteria?” he mused, a smile pricked on his lips.
My eyes shot to Kyla. I stared her down, willing her with my mind for her not to talk about the stupid list she found on the internet. If Dannon found out my motive to throwing the apple . . . my life would be over. Plain and simple.
“No reason.” Kyla shrugged. “I wanted her to take a risk, I guess.”
I sagged with relief. I shot her a grateful look and she winked. She gave me a thumbs-up, dipping her fry into some ketchup and plopping it into her mouth. She chewed, a smug expression on her face. I rolled my eyes. Kyla was really something.
“So,” Dannon began before gulping down some of his water. I swear that was the only thing he ever drank, “how old are you?”
“I’m a junior,” Britain replied, smiling crookedly. “Sixteen.”
Dannon nodded, a smile idling on his face. He stabbed his salad, pouting slightly when the piece of lettuce broke in half instead of staying on the fork. I snorted, shaking my head. He looked absolutely ridiculous when he pouted like that.
Dannon looked up, laughing. “What?” he demanded. “A guy can’t mourn over a broken piece of lettuce?”
I covered my mouth with my hand trying to mute the laughter that was emitting from my mouth. There was just something from his tone of voice that made that line so hilarious. I opened my mouth to say something, but at that moment, Vincent’s voice cut through our conversation. “Bri-Bri!” he called.
I turned, smiling. Vincent stood a few feet away, a giddy expression on his face. He hopped up and down with excitement, clapping his hands with glee. “Whatty?” I called back, wondering what the source of his excitement was.
Vincent scrambled over to us, his arms flailing. “It’s time to play water balloons!” he hollered. He pounced at me, sending my plate flying. It landed in front of Britain, an inch from his foot. “Water balloons!” he shrieked, giggling. “It’s time to play water balloons!”
| It ♥ All ♥ Started ♥ With ♥ An ♥ Apple |
“Dannon, I swear to—”
The water balloon collided with my skin, sending me into an icy silence. Water dripped down my arm, sending shivers up through my whole body. I shook my arm vigorously, cursing under my breath. I was freezing. My aunt, being the lovely woman she was, decided to fill the water balloons up in the sink. And the sink, to those who were unaware, held the most freezing non-frozen water in the whole world.
Dannon laughed at my pain, taking the balloon that Vincent was holding out to him. The little traitor.
“Lily!” I shouted. “Another balloon, please!”
“Okie dokie!”
Lily handed me a disgrace of a water balloon, her cheeks puffing out. She pushed her curly locks of hair out of her face, sighing dramatically. She reminded me constant of Curly Sue when she did that.
I tossed the water balloon between my hands for a moment before reeling back and chucking it as hard as I could. For a second I thought I was actually going to hit Dannon in the face—which had been my ultimate goal from the beginning—but then at the last minute he ducked and the balloon soared past him.
In the end it ended up hitting Britain on the forehead.
“What the hel—heck!” he exclaimed, quickly amending his words with all the children around him. He wiped his face off with the back of his hand, glaring at me. “Oh, you are dead, Brianne.”
I instantly began backing away, my arms outstretched. I had no doubt in my mind that Britain meant what he said. Last time he said I was dead he ended up chucking me into the pool. Fully clothed. In the rain. While I had a cold.
Good times, good times.
With one last glance at Britain as he stalked toward me, I pelted up the hill toward the safety of adults. “Aunt Jill!” I screeched, twisting around to see Britain chasing me. “Britain’s going to kill me!”
Instead of telling Britain off for his attempt to commit a felony, she simply replied with a, “What’d you do?”
Oh, how nice my family was to me.
A balloon struck my back. I let out a cry as my shirt stuck to my skin, sending shivers up my spine. I spun around, spotting Britain, his arm outstretched. His grinned devilishly, getting ready to throw another water balloon. Why, oh why did he have to have such good aim?
“Kyla!” I hollered, turning and hurrying away from Britain.
Kyla looked up from her spot in the sandbox. She’d shunned us all, saying that she didn’t feel like getting wet, and decided to play with her favorite of the cousins, Krystiana. At the moment they were building a lumpy sandcastle. To me it looked more like a mound of dirt with a stick on top, but whatever. “What?” she asked, her eyebrows rising.
“Water gun! Grab the water gun!”
I pointed frantically to the pile of water guns sitting on the picnic table next to the sandbox where Kyla and Krystiana played. I raced toward it, hoping with all my might that Kyla would reach the water guns in time. Britain was such a fast runner. . . .
Kyla hopped up from the sandbox, throwing herself at the picnic table. She grabbed the water gun at the top of the pile, chucking it over to me. I reeled forward, almost dropping the gun from the shock of the weight. I took a quick intake of breath, spun around, and shot water out aimlessly, hoping that I’d hit Britain. My aim wasn’t the greatest.
“Stop, stop!”
I opened my eyes that I hadn’t even realized I’d closed to see Hartin standing there, dripping wet. I coughed down a laugh as he glared daggers at me. I bit my lip, letting a small giggle escape my lips as he stomped up the hill, toward the house.
“Nice aim!”
I spun to see Britain and Dannon clapping their hands together, guffawing like idiots. Great. His first time here and he’d already turned my two favorite cousins—not that I technically had favorites or anything. Psh. No—against me. I rolled my eyes and aimed my gun at them, happy when the water hit them both.
| It ♥ All ♥ Started ♥ With ♥ An ♥ Apple |
“What?”
I froze in my spot on the couch. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. It couldn’t be true. No. No, no, no, no, no! It wasn’t possible! I glanced around at everyone around me. Dannon was motionless, his eyes the size of saucers. Kyla’s jaw had dropped. Aunt Jill, Britain, and the five or six other cousins lounging around the living room simply stared at my dad, uncomprehending.
My dad trudged into the room, an irritated scowl on his face. His expression matched what I was feeling perfectly. I mean, really? This was just my luck.
“Could you repeat that tiny bit?” Kyla demanded, finally finding her voice.
My dad stared at us all for a moment. He pursed his lips, bringing a hand exasperatedly through his hair. “The car’s not working.” He let out a sigh. “We’ll have to stay here tonight.”