Read Rocked on the Road for Free Online

over every part of my life and there's nothing left of me. Nothing left for me."
    "There's me. I'm here for you. Just you."
    He kissed me, deeply, soulfully. There was nothing sexual or teasing, just intense connection, like my words and my presence made him able to breathe.
    As we lay there, holding on to each other, ignoring everything else in the world my heart ached. I was so touched that Joe felt he could share his most intimate feelings with me, and honored that I could help him feel better. But there was a tiny ball of fear inside me. Fear that what had seemed like a fun experience was turning into something else. Something deeper and more important. My heart opened to him more every day and I worried it might get broken in a way I couldn't heal.
    ~*~
    That evening Joe and I had our first argument and I couldn't help but wonder if it was partially in reaction to what had happened before. If being so open and honest with me scared him.
    We met up back at the hotel and I could see the exhaustion from the second I walked in. He was on the bed with a beer watching a movie on pay-per-view. I was going to ask what the plot was, but I saw enough explosions and car chases to realize it didn't matter. I'd been excited to show him my sassy new haircut, but it seemed silly once I actually opened my mouth to say anything.
    "How was your day," I asked, kicking a pile of clothes out of the way so I could put my shopping bag in the closet.
    "Fine. Yours?" He didn't look at me, but his question at least sounded genuine.
    "Good. Beth took me shopping at a thrift store that only sells clothes. Got some good stuff for cheap. Then we were to the salon."
    "Uh huh. Did you eat? I'm starving."
    I rolled my eyes. So much for my sensitive man. Joe's eyes never left the screen.
    "I could eat something. Want to go out or get room service."
    "Definitely room service. Order me a burger, okay?" By the time he finished asking his attention had gone back to the television completely.
    With a sigh I walked over to the phone and picked it up. The motion took me right through his field of vision, but he didn't react at all. I called and ordered us some food and then walked back across the room to take my shoes off. Something about staying in a hotel made me want to be organized. The idea of a housekeeper coming in to clean and finding my crap lying all over was embarrassing, so I was a million times neater there than in my own apartment. Joe, on the other hand, had no such concerns and was as messy as always. In hours he could cover every surface of a hotel room with his junk. One day it took us fifteen minutes to find my purse underneath it all.
    I cleared off the table so we could eat, and then sat down with Joe to watch the movie until the food came. It was a standard action film, the hero bent on getting revenge on the people who killed his family. How a school teacher became such as expert in warfare or got access to such an arsenal of weapons was never explained.
    When the food arrived I signed for it and tipped the guy. Joe grabbed his plate and went back to the bed.
    "Joe, sit at the table with me."
    He grunted. "Why? I'm comfortable here."
    "Because it's nice to eat together and so you don't get meat juice in the sheets."
    He stared at me for a moment and then laughed. "Okay."
    Dinner was quiet and a little tense. I picked at my sandwich and kept forcing myself to stop touching my hair.
    "What's wrong, Liss?"
    "Nothing. Why?"
    "Does your head hurt or something?"
    "No."
    Joe put down the fry he'd been about to eat and leaned in. "What's going on?"
    I sighed. "Really?"
    "Yes, really."
    "You're such a guy sometimes, Joe."
    "Huh?"
    I tugged at a lock of my now darker and freshly highlighted hair. "My hair is a completely different color and you haven't even noticed."
    He peered at me through slitted eyes for a long moment. "Fuck me, it is different."
    My jaw clenched and for a second I wanted to throw a tiny bottle of ketchup at him. "You