Open Road by M.J. O'Shea Read Free Book Online Page B

for however long?”
    “We can’t.”
    “Okay. Keep in touch. We’re going to take off.”
    “You really think that’s the best answer to all of this?” She sounded about as skeptical as Angus had.
    “Can you think of another one?”
    “Therapy? A kickboxing class?”
    “Angus isn’t you, babe.” Reece looked over to where Angus was slumped against the doorframe. His eyes looked glassy, and he didn’t even react to his own name. “I honestly think he and I need this. Together.”
    Cherry made a squeaking noise that Reece decided to ignore and then breathed hard into the phone. “Then I’ll take care of hiring movers. I’m not going to lift all his stuff myself. I will pack it, though. Tell Angus to get rid of anything kinky. I’m his sister. I don’t want to see that shit.”
     
     
    THEY LEFT a couple of hours later in a rented Honda SUV—Reece’s own Explorer was on its last leg and guzzled gas like no tomorrow, and Angus’s Mini had always felt cramped and tiny for even short rides—packed with their suitcases and a few bags of nonperishable snacks Reece had picked up at the grocery store on the way out. He didn’t have a plan, really. Head south, for the most part. Angus hadn’t had much of an opinion. He was currently asleep with his head against the window. He had blue shadows under his eyes, and his eyelashes, which had always been heavy and dark, seemed like too much to lift for his thin, pale eyelids.
    “Angus? You want to stop for some coffee?”
    Angus propped one eye open. “I don’t want coffee.”
    “What do you want?”
    He made a derisive snorting noise against the window but didn’t answer. No part of this was the Angus Reece had known for so many years. What the hell had happened in his brain the moment he saw that Facebook post? What the hell had happened afterward?
    Reece drove through a Starbucks and got coffee for himself and a huge hot chocolate for Angus. Angus didn’t even look at it, just kept his forehead pressed against the window. Reece turned the radio on and drove. Green fields passed, hillocks and farms—all the trappings of northern Oregon.
    “Hey, I was thinking we’d try to make it to San Francisco tonight? Maybe do some sightseeing tomorrow?”
    Angus didn’t reply. Reece had gotten a hell of a lot more out of him back at the house.
    “Why aren’t you talking to me?”
    “What is there to say?” Angus shrugged. “My entire life disappeared, and I’m on a road trip. How does any of this make sense?”
    Nothing in the past three months had made sense to Reece—his best friend pushing him away, less and less time together, this painfully awkward silence. Forcing them to be near each other in the silence of the car felt like the best thing Reece could possibly do. It was right to have Angus next to him, no matter how much of a mess Angus was at the moment.
    “I think I’ll head to San Francisco,” Reece said, mostly to himself. He didn’t really expect much of an answer out of Angus anymore.
    “Whatever,” Angus said. Then he put his head against the window again and closed his eyes.
     
     
    IT WAS after midnight by the time they got to San Francisco. It had been a long day of silence for Reece. Angus was probably hungover and messed up over Brad still, and Reece wished like hell he knew how to fix it. All he could do was drive.
    Their hotel wasn’t anything special, but it was in a decent area. He’d stopped along the way and made a reservation—one room, two beds. He wasn’t letting Angus have his own room. Not a chance in hell. Reece parked the car in the hotel’s garage and dragged their bags out of the trunk. Then he put his arm around Angus’s newly thin shoulders and guided him into the hotel.
    He was really tired by the time they got to their room. Angus collapsed onto one of the beds without changing or brushing his teeth, despite the fact that he’d been asleep most of the day. He closed his eyes and didn’t say anything to