I thought of this as a "bridge" between chapters 2 and 3 of "Trip to Vegas".

Week 16, Day 3

Columbus awoke with a stiff back, among other things. He stepped out and took care of several bodily functions, all the while cursing himself for not waking up next to the woman he loved. He got back in the driver's seat, slamming the door angrily. Wichita sat up. "Oh- sorry," he told her.

"Don't be," she said. She moved to a sitting position, and leaned forward to run her fingers through his hair. "You know... my answer's still `yes'." He leaned back, and she began to rub his back.

Week 13

Columbus and Wichita walked back to the SUV, after 20 minutes in a rest stop bathroom. He had his arm around her. She had a prim expression and bearing, but hints of a flush. "Remember, you don't tell Tal about this."

"Yeah," he said. He could see the older man smirking at them from 30 feet away. "No problem."

"You understand you're still a virgin, right?" she said. He nodded. "It doesn't mean you're my boyfriend, either. It just means I- appreciate you." He kissed her. She kissed back, then disentangled herself. "Look, I need to go use the- ladies' bathroom. So, why don't you just wait in the car?" He nodded and went back to the SUV. He surveyed the landscape: Tal was nowhere in sight. He got in the car, buckled in and let out something between a sigh and a whistle. He yelped when he was rapped behind the ear with the handle of Bill Murray's golf club. Only then did he see Little Rock in the back.

"Keep your hands off my sister," she said succinctly.
"I wasn't the only one using hands," he muttered with a smirk. She hit him again, a little harder.

"I'm thirteen, not three," she said. "I know how things work, and I know what you did, and I know you aren't good for Wichita. Oh, and by the way- her name's not Krista."

"Really?" he said. She nodded confidently. "Then how did you know that was the name she told me?"

"She doesn't just pull them out of her *, idiot." She poked his neck. "She has different names, and she gives different names to different people. You're the kind of guy she'd want to call her Krista."

"I can always ask her, you know," he said.

"Really?" She deftly managed a painful ear flick. "Then she will know you don't trust her or me."

She gave him a sound bonk on the top of his head. He grabbed for the club, unsuccessfully, then undid the belt and turned to reach for her. She reversed the club and brandished the head in warning.

"What the * is your problem?" he shouted indignantly. "I've tried to be nice to you, and you were nice to me. But ever since I kissed Wichita you've been mean when we're alone and given me the cold shoulder the rest of the time. What is it? You think I'm not good enough for her?"

She struck, not at him but at the door, and did it hard enough to dent the metal. Columbus half-rose, now staring in outright shock. "You don't get it!" she screeched. "You know what it means when she tells a guy her name's Krista? It means she really likes him. And if the guy's smart- but they hardly ever are- he bails. Because no matter how hard she tries, my sister is even worse for the guys she stays with than the ones she robs and leaves. I love her, but I know her, and deep down she knows that as well as I do. So get a clue, and get out!" She abruptly lowered the club.

"Hey, guys," Wichita said as she got in the "shotgun" seat. "What have you been doing?"

"Playing the quiet game," Little Rock said with a smirk.

"I love you, Krista," Columbus said. Wichita paused, then leaned forward and kissed him on the shoulder. She sighed, but said nothing. He lifted her hand and kissed it. Then she said: "Thank you."

Incidentally, the opening line of my first draft was changed very late. Even as it is, I don't suppose I left that much to the imagination...