Rochelle had been lying against him for at least fifteen minutes now, bouncing every now and then whenever the car hit a bump.
Nick had been listening to her soft breathing for at least twenty minutes now, afraid to move in case he woke her up. Still, it couldn't hurt, could it? After all, if she woke up, he could claim he was just stretching or brushing something off her shoulder.
Slowly and carefully, Nick raised his left arm and began to put it around her shoulders. He happened to look up as he was doing so, and saw Coach watching him in the rearview mirror. Nick quickly retracted his arm and roughly elbowed Rochelle awake.
"OW! What was that for?" she asked angrily, rubbing her side.
"You were hurting my arm," he snapped, making a show of rubbing it.
"Sor-ry, Nick. You want some hand sanitizer?" she said sarcastically, shaking her head at him. "I know how much you like your space. If I had been awake, I wouldn't have been anywhere near you."
"Good," he muttered, folding his arms and glaring out the window. Damn Coach for ruining everything.
Coach just smiled.
"What's so funny, Coach?" Ellis asked, glancing at him and then back at the road.
"Just the way some people are," Coach replied, shaking his head.
Nick was disappointed half an hour later when Rochelle fell asleep. Not once did she lean against him. He told himself the disappointment was superficial, he didn't really care one way or the other whether she was on him or not. Truth be told her head had been heavy, and if she had continued lying on him his shoulder probably would have gotten very sore. So waking her had been in his best interests. So there. He didn't care.