Give You A Kid? No Way!

Chapter 5

Aria

Once they were back on the road, Poppie turned up the music and was noticeably quieter. Aria wondered if it had to do with what had happened at the bar. Although Aria was curious to know what the deal was with Dante and Shar, she knew it was none of her business.

And what about that warning from Shar?

She couldn’t get it out of her head.

Was he actually dangerous?

Aria didn’t really know that much about him, other than he wasn’t married, was incredibly wealthy, and loved spoiling his little sister. As far as what he did for a living, all she knew was that he was some kind of land developer.

She thought about the phone number in her pocket and felt a little guilty for keeping the information from Poppie. After drinking the glass of wine, Aria had almost brought it up, but then something inside stopped her.

Poppie let out a long yawn.

Aria reached over and turned down the music. She had a feeling that Poppie was probably just tired. The girl had devoured all of her food, wolfed down an entire order of cheese curds, and had even nibbled on some of Aria’s. The chick had a ravenous appetite and would probably kick ass in an eating contest.

“Do you want me to take over driving?” Aria asked her.

She yawned again. “Actually, I’m thinking it might be better if we just found a motel.”

Aria wasn’t too thrilled about wasting money on a room when they were only a few hours away from Shore Lake.

“I don’t mind driving, really.”

“To be honest, I need to let off some steam before I have to deal with my brother. He was really being an ass earlier. Let’s find a motel and a liquor store. I feel like getting drunk. What about you?”

Unlike Poppie, Aria wasn't a partier and hardly ever allowed herself to get drunk. People were vulnerable when they weren’t thinking clearly and she was wary about not having complete control.

“I don’t know.”

She reached over and patted Aria’s knee. “Come on. Don’t be a party pooper. Let’s get some more wine and then find us a motel. And if it’s the money you’re worrying about, don’t. You’re not paying for anything this week, got it? And I won’t take ‘no’ for an answer.”

Aria had to admit, relaxing in a motel was starting to sound better and better. “Okay. I mean if you really insist.”

“Good. Check Google and see what’s up ahead. If I remember correctly, there’s a place to stay about thirty minutes from here.”

“Sounds good.

An hour later, they were checked into The Silver Star Motel. It was nothing fancy, but the place was clean and had two queen-sized beds.

“We should go check out the band that’s playing tonight,” Poppie said, looking through the blinds at Moody's, the bar across the street. “The sign said The Ravels. Have you heard of them? They sound familiar.”

“Uh, no.”

Poppy took out her phone and Googled the name.

“They’re a small cover-band it looks like,” she said, smiling. “Oh, the singer is freaken HOT too.” She grabbed her duffel bag and headed toward the bathroom. “I’m going to fix my makeup and then we'll go over there and have some fun.”

Aria groaned. She was definitely not in the mood for loud music or getting hit on. Scratch that, watching Poppie get hit on. With her luck, she’d bring some guy back to the motel and Aria would end up sleeping in the bathtub. “Hey, what happened to drinking this wine and chillin’ here in the room?”

Poppie stuck her head out of the bathroom. “Oh for God’s sake. You really need to loosen up. We're going over there and you're going to have fun even if it kills you.”

She was about to protest again when Poppie’s phone went off.

Poppie let out an exasperated sigh. “Great, it’s Mick again. Now what?”

She answered the call. Just like before, the tone coming from the other end sounded like Mick was angry with Poppie.

“Look, we decided to stop at a motel and get some rest,” Poppie rambled, looking at Aria and rolling her eyes. “The Silver Star. But you probably already know that, don’t you, since you have that tracker on my phone?”

He said something.

She groaned. “Whatever, Mick. Anyway, we’re fine. No, we’re not going anywhere. I swear. Yes, she’s fine too. Here, I’ll show you.” Poppie put her phone on speaker mode and held it up. “You’re on 'speaker', Mick. So don’t swear at me.”

“I’ll try to hold back, troublemaker,” he replied in a deep voice, sounding amused.

Poppie mocked him silently and then smiled. “Aria, Say hi to my nosy, controlling brother!”

“Hi Mick!” Aria called out.

“Hey there. I was just telling Poppie to make sure she stays away from the bar across the street. There’s going to be a lot of drunk idiots and I don’t want either of you getting hurt.”

“Oh, okay,” Aria answered, thinking he actually sounded rather sweet.

Poppie clenched her teeth together. “We won’t go over there. I already told you.”

"Yeah, but I know I have to drill it into your head before you actually listen."

"Whatever." Her eyes twinkled and she grinned wickedly. “Oh, hey, I gotta go. We’re just about to watch a really raunchy porno with these mega-hot guys we picked up on the road. Then we're going to have this massive orgy. Later.”

“Not funny, Poppie,” he muttered.

“Love yah,” she said and then hung up on him.

“You’re so mean,” laughed Aria.

Poppie untwisted the cheap bottle of wine they’d picked up at the liquor store. “He deserves it,” she said before taking a swig. “He keeps trying to control everything I do. He should know better. I’m not one of his little bitches he can push around whenever he wants.”

“He has little bitches he pushes around?”

"You know, like secretaries and assistants. When is he going to learn that I'm not a baby anymore?" She plopped down on the sofa next to Aria and handed her the wine bottle. "We should still go over there just to spite him."

"I think we should do what he says and just stay put." Aria took a drink of the wine.

Poppie put her feet on the coffee table and sighed. "Fine."