Page 87 of The Dragons' Healing Mate

“I’m driving,” he interjected. “Not about to let this one get away again.” He shot me a wink, and I rolled my eyes.

Griffin held his hands up. “I’ll take the back seat. Rowan, you’ve got shotgun.”

I didn’t mind that. Teasing Orsen on the drive could pass the time.

“I’m coming, too! We can play car games!” Nix cried out, jogging over to the SUV and playfully bumping into Griff. The two of them chuckled to themselves while Orsen grimaced, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Fucking fantastic. This is going to be onelongdrive.”

I walked next to him, patting him on the shoulder. “Oh, don’t worry. How bad could it be?”

Orsen eyed me, his brows up. “Just wait, Rowan. Just wait.”

But then it hit me that we still had their car to worry about, and I glanced around like the answer would drop out of thin air. “Who’s going to drive the other?—”

“I got it.” Bastian jerked his chin. Orsen tossed him the keys without hesitation.

“Are you sure you don’t want to join us?” I asked.

He shook his head, though a tiny smirk, barely perceptible, appeared on one side of his mouth.

“And deal with them? No, thanks. It’s fine. I need to… clear my head, anyway.”

Bastian left it at that, and I didn’t feel the need to push him. He’d already opened up about a lot. I worried that if I demanded more, he’d just wall himself up again, completely this time.

So it was settled. It didn’t take long for us to get packed up and out of there. Orsen, Nix, Griffin, Greylen, and I were all crammed into my car, three of them in the back seat while Bastian drove his car back solo.

“Why is the steering wheel pink?” Orsen asked as he buckled his seat belt.

“Because I wanted it to be pink?” I shrugged. “It’s fun. I wanted to decorate the car, so sue me.”

He restrained a laugh, adjusting the mirror, which also had a little wrap on it, this one showing pink and red roses.

The first hour in the car was filled with idle chitchat, talking about nothing in particular. But after that, even Nix had run out of things to say, and the silence got a bit annoying. When Griffin attempted to turn on the radio by leaning through the center of the car, Orsen glowered at him. “It is finally quiet.”

I shot him a look. “If you don’t let him turn the radio on,Iwill put on the most obnoxious bubblegum pop you can imagine,” I threatened with a grin.

“It’s her car, what she says goes,” Griffin agreed.

Orsen rolled his eyes. “Fine, fine. Let’s just hold off on the road-trip games for alittlelonger, please.”

The guys lasted about fifteen minutes before Griffin and Nix were looking for signs in every letter of the alphabet. I sort of felt bad for Grey, who couldn’t escape it, since he was stuck back there with them.

“Ha, pizza! We got our P!” Nix called out, and I eyed the sign as we passed it, my stomach grumbling.

Orsen flicked his stare over to me, and I chuckled as I put a hand over my gurgling belly. “Sorry, I guess I’m a little hungry. I’ll admit that we didn’t really bring food with us.”

“Yetanotherreason why you’re not supposed to run off half-cocked.” Orsen focused on the road, but I could feel the tension radiating off him. “I really don’t mind you going off and doing your thing. You’re a healer, I get it, but a better grasp of your safety would be appreciated.”

I nodded, not able to find the words as Griff and Nix struggled through the letter Q. That one was going to take a while.

In fact, several minutes passed before we found one, because of course I’d joined in at that point. And sure enough, it was an exit sign. We celebrated rather loudly, but then I noticed Orsen actually taking the exit off the highway.

“Wait, why did you just turn off?” I asked, looking around.

My question was answered a moment later when we pulled up outside a fast-food joint.

“You said you were hungry. Pick what you want. We’ll go through the drive-thru.”