A sunny romance about a road trip and life’s unexpected turns from the author of Give Me a Sign.
Intrigued? Read on to discover the synopsis and an excerpt from Stops Along the Way by Anna Sortino, which releases on May 19th 2026.
Iris doesn’t trust the odds. Not when she has a 1 in 4 chance of inheriting the same vision diagnosis as her sister, Amelia.
When Iris travels to the east coast to help Amelia drive her things back from college, the last person she expects to run into on campus is Declan, her board game club rival, but he’s also there to drive his brother home for summer break. The unlikely occurrence results in the four of them caravaning together to Nebraska.
Iris and Declan are used to competing with dice and cards across a table, but the romantic feelings unfolding as they drive across the map are a total surprise. The odds of falling in love on the road seem low, especially amid car troubles and sister drama. Can Iris look past probability and embrace the unexpected?
CHAPTER FIVE
Tuesday afternoon I stroll around the quad in front of the building that Amelia ran in to drop off her last final assignment, but it’s been twenty minutes and there’s no sign of her yet. It’s entirely possible the professor made them stay for something or she’s chatting with a friend; either way, I don’t know whether I’m stuck here for a few more minutes, or even hours if the professor is keeping them for the entire scheduled exam period duration.
It’s a nice spring day. Sixty degrees that is almost too warm but will soon be a distant dream when the sweltering summer heat emerges in full force. The campus is quieter than I last saw it during the hustle and bustle of freshman move-in because everyone’s studying or taking tests or finishing up last-minute papers or lucky enough to already be on summer vacation but still hanging around here with friends. I sit on a bench right outside the relatively newer 1980s-style building, waiting for my sister and wondering if I look like a college student already.
Because in three months, I will be.
With my own bed in my own dorm room, though. Not sharing a twin mattress with Amelia like last night. My sister still kicks in her sleep. There are some things that time can never change. Her roommate is leaving today, so I’ll get the spare bed tonight, at least.
A set of lost parents wanders by. I don’t hear them at first, but they approach me. “Excuse me, can you point us to the dining hall? Our son is in an exam, and we’re looking for something to eat.”
I stand—not sure why, except it feels more efficient to do so while pointing. “The dining hall is that way.” I gesture very vaguely, hoping they don’t ask for more specifics, because I don’t have them. Instead, I offer, “But the food at the nook by the library is really good.”
“Oh, we just saw the library. Let’s try that,” the wife says, patting her husband’s arm. “Thank you,” she says to me as they walk away.
I sit back down and scroll through my phone before deciding it’s much more interesting to people watch. A few dudes have commandeered a large portion of the quad to play Frisbee. Some sorority girls in matching T-shirts hurry past, all talking over each other, excitedly making plans. A professor with no fewer than five tote bags slung over their shoulders takes a final bite of an apple before tossing it in the trash. And walking this way is a guy with floppy dark hair who kind of looks like Declan.
I blink and shake my head, turning to look the other direction. Why am I seeing his face? The way he’s been keeping track of all my match losses must really be doing a number on me.
Technically, it’s our wins side by side, but that feels like giving him too much credit.
“Iris?” The guy who looks like Declan is standing right in front of me.
It is Declan.
The confirmed recognition lights up in his crinkling eyes. “Couldn’t go a Tuesday without seeing me?”
He’s not in one of his usual hoodies, which must’ve thrown me off. We’re both cosplaying college students and stepping out of our usual attire. I borrowed sweats from Amelia’s closet, while Declan is wearing a loose brown T-shirt, and for some reason, it draws my attention right to his arms.
“Um, Declan?” My eyes narrow as I jump to my feet. Should I swipe the air to make sure he’s not some sort of twisted mirage?
Before I can fully comprehend what’s happening, he’s holding his arms out wide, and I instinctively greet him with a hug. My thoughts immediately cascade with further confusion. We’re hugging. We hug now? In all the years we’ve known each other, I’ve never hugged this boy before.
“What are you doing here?” I ask.
He takes a seat on the bench, so I lower back to where I was sitting. “I was about to ask you that,” he says.
My cheeks flush, and I feel caught out somehow, even though I have a perfectly legitimate reason for being here. “I’m picking up my sister.”
“I’m here to get my brother.”
I’m growing more baffled by this outcome. “I didn’t even know you had a brother. A freshman?”
“Sophomore,” he says. “I knew you had a sister because she used to show up to Roll Again when you first started playing. She’s just a year older than us, right?”
We lock eyes. My chin juts forward, shoulders hunched. I don’t know if I should laugh or cry or call my mom. “Okay, seriously, I feel like I’m being pranked.”
He slides across the bench, staring straight ahead at the quad as he leans his head toward my shoulder while asking “How so?”
If I turn, I’ll be right on top of him. I look ahead as well. “What are the odds that you and I are going to the same college and our siblings go to the same school too? This doesn’t feel probable in the slightest.”
He clicks his tongue, sitting upright, seeming to be seriously considering this calculation. “Probably not that statistically significant, although there’s a handful of schools that Midwest kids usually end up at. Though this small college isn’t really one of them.” He scratches the edge of his lips with his thumb. “Pretty unlikely, I have to admit. A rare occurrence.”
I make a sour face for the briefest moment. I think I catch myself quickly enough, trying to return to a neutral expression, but Declan notices, and I hope he doesn’t assume it has anything to do with him.
“What?” he asks.
“I just—I don’t like rare odds.”
“Why not?” He leans forward, almost giddy. “I think it’s cool. Of all the college campuses across the country, of all the days of the week and the hours in a day, you and I ended up sitting here together right now.” Seriously, he’s such a nerd.
“Maybe to you it seems like a cool thing. But to me it’s proof that just because something is unlikely doesn’t mean that it won’t happen.”
“Did I tell you I’m majoring in statistics?” Another cheeky grin. It’s weird seeing a whole new side of Declan. He’s smiling so much. Too much.
It’s contagious, so I smile too. “Of course you are. I’m very familiar with your love of numbers.” I gesture from us to the campus and back to me and him. “Then tell me—what exactly are the odds that you ended up in front of me right now?”
“No idea,” he says. “I’ll have to take a class and let you know.” I lean forward to shove him for being preposterous, and he laughs, eager to latch on to my hands and playfully push back. “What about you? What are you going to study?”
I sit back and readjust my hair as if just now remembering where I am and who exactly I’m sitting next to. “History.”
“That makes complete sense, as well.”
“I suppose it does.”
“You want to learn how things went in the past and then try to figure out how they’ll go in the future?”
I shake my head. Flushed, I admit, “It does seem a comforting way to look at things, but that’s not exactly how it works. History rhymes rather than repeats.”
“Someone got a head start on their summer reading,” he teases, though he seems impressed.
We sit in silence for a moment until Declan finds another question. “Well, is it a nice rhyme that you and I are together again on a Tuesday?”
“I’ve never seen you outside Roll Again.”
“I practically live there. I’m going to miss it.”
I remind him, “There’s still game nights when you’re home for break.”
He gets a faraway look in his eyes, like that might not be possible, before suggesting something else. “I’m sure we’ll find somewhere cool in Indy, though.”
We’ll find someplace cool. I didn’t realize how much of a relief it would be to have someone I know going to the same school as me.
Even if that someone is Declan.
I’m wrapped up in this conversation and don’t notice at first that Amelia has stepped out of the building and is looking around for me. She’s stopped to pull out her phone.
“Lee! Over here.” I don’t stand from the bench yet.
“Your sister?” Declan asks, not entirely a question, because she is so obviously related to me.
“Yeah, it’s Amelia,” I say.
“That took forever.” She rushes over. “I’m sorry you had to wait. The professor made us watch this pointless video.” Amelia nods toward Declan, her protective-older-sister persona emerging as she wonders who this dude is hanging out next to me. “But you found someone to talk to?”
It’s hard for her to see faces, so even if she would’ve recognized him—which is doubtful, because it’s been ages and at least one major growth spurt since she went to a game night—she definitely wouldn’t be able to place him out of context. I say, “Do you remember Declan Weber? He also hangs out at Roll Again Games?”
“Wow, Declan!” she says. “Your voice sounds so different. The last time I saw you, you weren’t so grown-up.”
“Okay, Mom,” I say.
She shrugs. “College makes it feel like much more time has passed.”
Declan laughs. “I’m sure. It’s nice to see you again. Iris and I were talking about how random it is to run into each other here.”
“He’s here to get his brother,” I explain.
“Do you know Grady Weber?” Declan asks.
Amelia shakes her head. “Can’t say that rings a bell.”
“He’s a year older,” Declan says, “so you might not have crossed paths.”
“You’re here to fly back with him?” Amelia asks.
“Actually, we’re driving,” Declan says. “Probably heading out later today or tomorrow.”
My jaw goes slack. “How do you not know when you’re leaving? Don’t you have a hotel booked?”
He shrugs. “Nah, on road trips we just stop wherever and find a place.”
“How do you live that way?” I shake my head. “Assuming all the pieces will just fall into place? I could never do that—are you kidding me? What if there’s not a hotel nearby? Or they don’t have a room available? Or—”
But Declan just grins, amused to watch me ramble again. “It always seems to work out.”
I roll my eyes. “Of course it does. For you.”
Amelia speaks over my muttering. “We’re driving back to Omaha too! We should caravan!”
“Wait, I—”
Declan is quick to agree. “That could be fun. I’ll ask my brother. When are you guys heading out?”
“Tomorrow morning,” Amelia says.
I continue my halfhearted protest. “I think it’s actually safer to not, like, follow behind another car.”
Wait, why am I against this? If everyone else is on board, then I can go along with it. Yet it dawns on me that this brief encounter with Declan is potentially turning into an entire journey, and I’m not sure I’m equipped to handle that.
“Don’t worry. I drive safe,” he says. “Grady would call it too slow . . . but I’ll make sure he keeps his foot off the gas when it’s his turn behind the wheel.”
Amelia takes out her phone and types a text. From the vibration in my pocket, I suspect it was sent to me, telling me to chill.
I take the hint. “Yeah, that’s fine.”
Both Declan and I get up from the bench at the same time. I take a few steps backward to physically align myself with Amelia rather than him.
“Perfect,” Amelia says in the kind of older sibling tone that finalizes the matter at hand. “Text Iris and we’ll coordinate a time.”
“Later,” I say, trying to scrutinize his face for any trace of similar apprehension.
“Yeah, see ya soon.” He holds his hand up as a goodbye.
As Amelia and I walk away, I find myself annoyed. This was supposed to be a trip with just my sister and me on the open road, after all.
“He’s calling for you,” Amelia says, nudging my arm.
“What?” I stop and turn around, nearly crashing into Declan as he jogs after us. Amelia stands a few feet ahead, waiting, and I can sense a smirk on her face. One that I just know will amount to a comment later.
Why does everything about this feel so embarrassing?
“Um.” Declan’s shoulders shrug up to his ears. “I’ve known you since we were twelve, but I don’t actually have your number . . . which seems easier than trying to message you on the store’s group chat board.”
“Oh, right.” Without thinking too much, I hand over my cell. His cheeks burn bright red as he takes my phone, inputs his number, and sends a message to himself. While handing it back, he says, “There was a text from your sister waiting for you to read or something . . .”
Declan walks off in the opposite direction before I have a chance to discover what my sister sent me earlier.
Amelia: Relax, the drive will be fun. What, do you have a crush on him or something?
I storm over to Amelia. “Oh my god, Lee. That text?” She doesn’t immediately recollect, or pretends not to, so I remind her. “The text you sent me that he just saw.” My voice goes up an octave, and I glance behind to make sure he’s out of earshot. He’s strolling away with his hands in his pockets, not seeming to have a destination in mind. I spin around, worried he’ll feel me staring. I tap Amelia’s elbow to signal that we should start moving again, and quickly. “I most definitely do not have a crush on Declan Weber.”
“I don’t know.” She raises her hands, all innocent, as we walk away. “You were acting strange.”
“Because you just invited these guys to drive all the way home with us? That wasn’t the plan.”
She shrugs. “It seems like it could be fun. We have our own car; we can go our separate ways at any point.”
“Maybe it could’ve been fun if he hadn’t just seen that ridiculous message you sent? Now he’s going to think I have a crush on him. And like I said, I don’t!”
“You’re protesting a little too much.”
“Oh my gosh,” I say, my cheeks bright red. “Because when you deny an accusation, it just makes people think you’re lying for some reason, even when you’re absolutely telling the truth.
That’s like a whole big component of the board game I just designed!”
“I really had no idea he would see that text. That’s on you for handing over your phone without checking it first.”
I groan, exasperated. “Great. All this right before we’re apparently driving the whole way back though Pennsylvania”—I start spouting off states for dramatic emphasis—“Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and Nebraska with him and his brother.”
“Wow, we won’t even need a map.”
I continue whining, fully aware that I sound like a petulant child. “Amelia!”
“Like I said, they’ll be in a different car. It’s totally fine.”
“Then what’s the point of even driving together?”
“Because we’ll have more people to talk to when we’re at rest stops after being stuck in a car just the two of us for hours and hours and h—”
“Okay, fine!” I cut her off, since the teasing gleam in her eyes suggests she’ll continue indefinitely if I don’t. “If you insist.”
“You are being weird.” Her voice slips into a sincerity we don’t often broach. “Because you do like him . . .”
“No, I don’t—I don’t know, he’s like . . . my rival?” I cringe the second I say it. But it’s true. We regularly play against each other in a board game, a long-standing matchup in which he’s compelled to tally our wins and losses. That seems like a basic definition of rivals to me.
Amelia makes an aww face that makes me want to puke. “Aww, like, rivals who play Rivalry. That’s the most adorable shit I’ve ever heard.”
“This is mortifying.”
I’m sure I could easily clear up this misunderstanding. He apparently has an older brother. He has to understand sibLing teasing.
I think back to the text. I suppose what’s really bothering me right now is that our playing field is totally uneven. It’s like another tally in his notebook of match victories. He’s probably feeling smug and assuming I’ve been harboring some sort of secret unrequited crush. I can’t stand Declan thinking he’s somehow got the upper hand.
