Wild Skies

Sky

"You said you wanted to drive," Daisy says with a frown, her hands on her hips as she stares at my cousin. Her chestnut hair blows around her like she's in a commercial, her hand shielding her eyes from the sun as my cousin, Jordan, pumps gas into the car. He leans on the car's roof and yawns, peering at Daisy.

"I did—I do! That traffic was a killer, that's all."

Daisy rolls her eyes and crosses her arms. "Fine, then let someone else drive the rest of the way."

Jordan scoffs and strokes his car lovingly. "Don't be silly, Daze."

As if Jordan would ever let anyone drive his baby. That car meant more to him than any of us. Actually, that's a lie, but it does show how much he adores it, considering we're like a little family. The four of us grew up together in Crystal Valley, a little town on the outskirts of Los Angeles. We got all the sunny weather, the beach, and the parties without putting up with the humidity the Pacific Ocean brings.

"You and that car," Daisy teases him as he grins.

"She's my first love."

"No, that was Sally Miller in fifth grade," Daisy shoots back, cocking her fingers into guns and winking at him.

Jordan screws his face up. "You've got a memory of an elephant, you know that?"

Daisy laughs, and just then, Eldon leaves the gas station, munching on a bag of potato chips, his arms filled with drinks. I allow myself to drool slightly at the sight of him in his mirrored aviators—he's so nineties—and the way his dark hair curls over the edges until his gaze fixes on me. Johnny Depp, eat your heart out.

"You okay, Sky?" Eldon asks.

Daisy's lips pull into a smirk, but she turns away so no one else can see it, no one but me, anyway.

"Sure am," I say breezily, reaching out to catch a can of soda Eldon throws my way. His forearms are deeply tanned beneath the black tee he's wearing over jean shorts, and he clicks his tongue when I catch it. "Thanks."

"Daze," Eldon tosses a can to my best friend before handing one to Jordan.

"You look thirsty, Sky," Daisy calls as I snap open my soda.

God, she's annoying. Although, she's the only person in the world who knows how bad I've got it for Eldon Wild, my cousin's best friend.

"It is hot," Jordan agrees, sliding behind the wheel. He's clueless.

Daisy and I laugh, but when Eldon gets in the car, all I can smell is his telltale cologne. It's like it was made for him because, honestly, whenever I smell him, I want to tear his clothes off.

Urgh.

I'm not alone in crushing on Eldon—even Daisy thinks he's cute. But he hasn't ever had a girlfriend, and because he doesn't flirt with me, she thinks he's gay. I mean, he could be, but then—he turns to me with a grin, sliding his aviators down his nose. My stomach melts, and I find myself giving him a gooey smile before rearranging my face.

"Would you rather have finger-sized toes or toe-sized fingers?"

I blink, used to his random 'would you rather' games, tilting my head while I pretend to think about it. It's a no-brainer, though—finger-sized toes— then hide them in men's shoes. Or surgery. But toe-sized fingers? I could never.

"Finger-sized toes."

"Freak!" Daisy wrinkles her nose. "They're both horrific."

Eldon laughs. "That's the idea of the game, Daze."

"How long left till we get to Vegas?" I ask my cousin, leaning closer to Daisy so I can see him.

"About an hour or so," Jordan guns the engine and checks out two girls in a red Fiat beside us. "Maybe longer if these honeys—"

"They'd be more interested in me," Daisy says, pushing her boobs together as Jordan grimaces. "Let's go, Jordano. Vegas waits for no woman."

Jordan gives one last look at the girls giggling beside us before hollering out the window that we're 'Vegas Bound.'

I shake my head and lean back in my seat, loving the warm air fanning my face as the car speeds up. Soon enough, it's too fast, though, and we have to wind the windows up to let the AC take over. Eldon controls the music, and we fall into a comfortable silence, all thinking about what lies ahead.

We'd just graduated, and our parents had agreed we could head to Vegas, providing we didn't get arrested or engage in illegal activities. I think my parents believed I'd be sitting by a pool by day and reading in bed at night because that's what Jordan swore I'd be doing, and they believed him. He's convincing like that, but I've also never done anything to dispute his theory.

I'm a good girl.

Except... Jordan's parents were wiser. His mom, my dad's sister, told him if anything happened to any of us, he wasn't going to college, and he'd live at home forever. For someone as independent as Jordan, that fate was worse than death.

Daisy's mom made her pack condoms and medicine in case she got ill and gave her a list of dos and don'ts. I love Daisy's mom because she keeps it real. When Daisy had sex last year, her mom was super supportive and made sure she knew it was her body and her choice. My mom would've killed me.

Eldon's parents were pretty relaxed, and their only stipulation was that he did nothing to jeopardize his scholarship at NYU. Eldon wouldn't—he couldn't be prouder that he had managed to get the Horizon Achiever Scholarship, and we wouldn't ruin that for him.

No, Vegas was an opportunity to relax and let our hair down. The fake IDs Jordan had for us were just so we could have a good time, not so we could reenact the Hangover or anything equally absurd.

We were going to relax before college; we deserved that.

Vegas, here we come.