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

probably said too much. Angus had always been on the sensitive side, Reece on the sensible. Sometimes he didn’t know what he’d said that hurt his friend’s feelings. Sometimes… well, sometimes he wished he could rewind and start over. This was one of those times.
    “Yes. I guess I am putting on a show, to a point. For you and for me.” Angus didn’t open his eyes. “What else am I supposed to do? I feel like hell, and I’m sad. Am I supposed to not be sad?”
    You’re supposed to be over the asshole. He sucked anyway. “No, you’re supposed to be you. I just want to help.”
    “I think….” He rubbed at his eyes. “I think this is helping a little bit. I mean, I’m trying to act normal, and it’s not easy, but fake it till you make it, right?”
    “Are you tired?” Reece asked. They’d been in the car for hours and hours with nothing but a quick bathroom break and a drive-through Starbucks.
    “Yeah. Don’t know why. I’ve been sitting on my ass for hours, but I’m tired. And hungry.” Angus gave him a rueful smile.
    “Hey, there’s nothing wrong with that. I’m hungry too.”
    “’Kay.”
    They were quiet after that. Reece thought he might have dodged a bullet, but then again Angus was back to not really talking. If they’d taken this trip a few months ago, they’d have been chattering a mile a minute. Reece tried not to think about it too much; instead he concentrated on weaving in and out of traffic.
    “Where are we going tonight?”
    “It’s only a few more hours to Indio, remember?” Reece knew they’d talked about it that morning. He decided to just pretend they hadn’t.
    “Heading out into the desert?” Angus asked. “Time to do some shrooms and have a, like, existential experience?”
    “You’ve watched that episode of Entourage too many times.”
    Angus shrugged. “Sue me. Turtle’s hot.”
    “Turtle? Really?”
    “Definitely.”
    Learn something new every day.
     
     
    THEY STOPPED for In-N-Out Burger at Angus’s insistence. It would be a travesty to visit SoCal without a trip to the burger temple, he said. Reece was in the business of making Angus happy during the trip, and every little bit of Angus’s old personality shining through was a step in the right direction. So health concerns aside, he shoved in a Double-Double and a huge order of fries animal-style and tried not to watch Angus and make sure he finished his food.
    “Can we go to the beach?” Angus asked quietly when they got back in the car.
    “Sure. I think we’re pretty close to Redondo,” Reece said. He checked his GPS, and it told him the drive shouldn’t be more than about twenty minutes. “Why do you want to go to the beach?” he asked. Reece was happy Angus wanted to do anything, but it wasn’t exactly in his personality not to ask.
    “I honestly don’t know. It just sounds like it would feel good.”
    “Then off to the beach we go.” Reece turned and smiled at his friend, who was really only half his friend and half a sad shell he wanted desperately to fill with some sunshine and a little happiness.
    It was gloriously sunny at the beach, and warm. There weren’t a ton of people there—it was a weekday and not hot enough to swim, especially for a Los Angeles local, so Angus and Reece had a huge chunk of sand to themselves.
    “We don’t have to stay here for a long time. I just wanted to smell the ocean water for a while. Put my feet in maybe.”
    “Don’t worry about it. We have plenty of time.” Reece flopped down onto the sand next to Angus, where it was partially shaded by a shadow thrown by the boardwalk. “Feels nice, doesn’t it?”
    “Yeah.” Angus tipped his face up into the sun and closed his eyes. “I’m really glad I’m not at home,” he muttered.
    They were quiet for a long time, which seemed to be the way things were lately. Reece was fine with that, he supposed. Things changed sometimes, and Angus, well, he’d done more than change lately. Reece just