"Only when I have a date," Tony shot back, letting Wicked catch up with him to drop his hand on her backpack before adding in a tense stage whisper, "I don't have a date, do I?" The performance saved him from having to turn and wave at all the nice people as the girls had done, eyes on the door and the safety of the stairwell beyond. There, he could explain the plan without dreading someone else interrupting and throwing him off.
"Good, Kate's driving," he announced, giving her a meaningful point to halt any protest before she could think of it. Don't mess with his plan, hear him out. "I'll fly along and keep the roads clear. It's pretty gnarly until we get out of the city, and the highway's worse, so we're going slow and steady until we make it to an open road." See, it all made sense.