“Are you sure it isn’t out of your way?” Seth asks.
“Nope. Go ahead and get changed. I’ll meet you out front.”
I give Gloria and Emily big kisses and make my way around the table, saying my goodbyes.
Eliana grabs my arm as I reach the door to the kitchen.
“Wait,” she whispers. “Is something going on with you and Seth?”
“No!”
She raises an eyebrow. “Really? Cuz you sure looked like you wished there was in the pool.”
“Oh come on,” I say. “Can’t a girl tease her ex-boyfriend?”
“I kept waiting for you to drag him into the pool house to ravish him.”
“I guess I’ll do that in my car.”
She smirks. “That’s what I thought. Boy still can’t take his eyes off you. Get it, sis.”
I try to act as though this information rolls off me.
“Okay, gotta run and try to beat the traffic. Let’s get drinks before you leave.”
She pulls me in for a kiss on the cheek. “Love ya.”
“You too.”
When I get outside, Seth is standing there with a rolly bag.
“Where to, captain?” he asks.
“I’m the white Lexus.”
He scans the road until his eyes alight on my SUV. He laughs. “I didn’t expect you to drive a suburban mom car.”
“I love my car,” I huff. “Suburban mom cars are spacious and practical. And if you want the privilege of riding in one you will apologize to my dear Laurel.”
“Your car has a name?”
“Of course she does. I spend more time with her than anyone else.”
I pop open the back and he lifts in his bag and then climbs in next to me.
“Ready?” I ask.
“Yep.”
This is self-evident from the fact that he is in the car with the door closed wearing his seat belt. But now that I have extricated myself from the baby shower, I realize I’ve created another conundrum: What to talk about for the next hour?
I wanted this. But now my mind is a vast, anxious blank.
“So, how long is the drive?” Seth asks.
“Let’s see.” I plug in my phone and the maps app reports it’s a mere fifty-eight minutes.
“Oof,” he says. “You’re sure I’m not taking you out of your way?”
“Positive.”
In actual fact, the airport is in the wrong direction, I have no friends in Venice, and getting back will take even longer.
It’s worth it. For some reason, I really do want to do this.
Besides, now that we’re on the road, I feel calmer. I love driving in LA—the musical ebb and flow of traffic on ten-lane freeways brings me a kind of peace. People here aren’t aggressive on the road like they are in New York or in Florida, but they are quick and assured and competent. It’s like the whole city has made a gentleman’s agreement to get everywhere as quickly as possible without killing anyone. (In New York it feels like they would not at all mind if they killed you. In Florida it feels like they actually want to.)
“So what have you been up to since the game?” I ask.
“I went to the beach in Malibu.”
“Ah that’s nice. Too cold to go in though.”
“Not for me,” he replies. “I love a cold swim. I go to the beach in Chicago all the time.”
“Chicago does not have beaches.”
“It most certainly does.”
