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“Everything okay here?”

“Yeah” Shit! How long was I staring at the ceiling for? “I laid on the bed for a minute and lost track of tiain These are the feelings that I don’t knohat to do with—this fluttering, heart-puhts and makes it hard to function

“Have you ever been in a Gator?”

The tiny hairs on the back of my neck stand Josh doesn’t seem like the crazy redneck type You know, the Joe Exotic kind of people that harbor illegal ani them food they’re notabout the animal”

Josh sits in the driver’s seat of an oversized four-wheeler I’ve been on a four-wheeler, once and hated every o to a Mud Festival back when I was sixteen Moone most weekends, so they never would have knoe drove the four hours with his buddies if I hadn’t broken my wrist Not the best experience, not toa pound of mud out of my hair with a cast on my dominant hand wasn’t easy

Josh holds an unopened bottle of orange juice out to le to look away fro down his neck Norross, but Josh pulls the look off It probably helps that I know he got this way trying to do so nice for me At least, I hope this ride will be nice

“You ready?” he asks I buckle myself in and nod

Josh grins, then puts the side-by-side in gear The engine is loud, alh the speakers drowns it out Josh turns around the back side of his house and floors it, slinging up dirt behind hirab the oh-shit-handle above my head and hold on like my life depends on it

“You good?” Josh yells over the music I try to nod but he hits a hole that sends me up off of ht out of this da

“Sorry” He slows to half speed I relax in my seat a little and try to enjoy the ride“I’m excited to take you to the back forty The only person who’s been out there with me is Sam”

“It’s cool” I clear e juice Josh tucked into a cup holder I break the seal and take a sip “Now that I don’t have to worry about dying, this is kind of nice”

Josh puts his arm over the back of the seat I unbuckle and scoot closer My nerves eat at me with each second I’ to lose control

He rips my hip and chuckles “I can run these roads with my eyes closed”

“Roads?” I look around, at the vast span of untouched land that seeo on for forever “Where?”

“There” Josh points to a path of pushed down grass that’s old enough to notice but new enough that had he not shown it to ether