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We stop at a red light and he turns to face me. “Sprinkles, these five minutes with you have been the best part of my day. Thank you for wanting to make me feel better. I’m just sorry you got hurt. Again.”
He’s so serious when I was the one being an absolute idiot. The ridiculousness of it all is more than I can contain and a giggle escapes me. One side of Kel’s mouth twitches in response and I giggle some more. His lips twitch again and I burst out laughing. Kel’s laugh rings out in the car, and we both laugh until the car behind us honks at us to go.
The tension between us is gone and we fall into easy conversation as we drive. Kel vetoes my beloved Taylor Swift when I suggest we put on music. In the end, we compromise over Queen and some other classic rock as he explains to me how a destemmer separates the grapes from the woody stems.
The two-hour drive to the outskirts of Tacoma goes quick as we talk about our favorite movies, now and as kids. Ophelia and I love true crime documentaries, and Kel prefers travel and food ones, but we both agree that cheesy Hallmark Christmas movies are the best way to pass a cold winter evening. Although, he is way more up to date on Disney and Marvel than I am—I guess Olive is a real fan.
“Olive is not a princess girl, as I’m sure you can tell. She is obsessed with Loki. I made the mistake of letting her watch Infinity War and she sobbed when Loki died. She refused to watch another Marvel movie until after the Loki TV series released.” He glances at me as he navigates the traffic.
“Well, she and I have that in common. I also stopped watching the Marvel movies after that.”
We pull into the lot of the parts store five minutes before they close. Kel excuses himself and dashes inside to catch them, leaving me to follow at my leisure.
I wander through the warehouse, peering at equipment of various sizes and shapes. I don’t have the faintest clue what they do, but I’m intrigued by the way they all seem perfectly designed to do whatever job they were made for.
Footsteps echo behind me and I turn to find Kel and an older white man headed my way. Kel’s face is set in a concerned grimace as he stalks toward me. The older gentleman follows, rubbing at the back of his neck.
“What’s wrong?” I slip my hand into Kel’s as he stops beside me.
“They don’t have the right size belt.” Kel’s shoulders slump as he shakes his head.
“Well,” the other man interrupts. “Like I said, we don’t have one here in the warehouse, but I know there’s one at the other location.”
“Which’ll be closed by the time we get there.” A familiar grumpiness is creeping back into Kel’s tone and I squeeze his hand.
He squeezes back but doesn’t seem any happier. “I drove two hours here just for this part. Are you sure they won’t stay open until I can get there?”
The older man shakes his head. “Sorry, son, they’re already gone for the day.”
“Son of a—”
I cut Kel off with a smile. “What time do they open in the morning?”
Kel groans. “Maggie, we’re not driving back here in the morning.” I stop him with my own version of a glare.
“You need that belt, right?”
Kel nods. He pulls his hand free, crossing his arms and staring at us both.
I swallow, then charge full steam ahead into my idea. Kel isn’t going to like it, but it’s better than driving home without the part. “We’re already up here. How about I take you to dinner at my favorite place, then we can stay the night and pick up the part in the morning?”
The older gentleman nods enthusiastically. “That sounds like a good plan to me. They open at eight. If you folks will excuse me, I’ve got to start locking up for the night.” He dips his head at us and walks away.
Kel hasn’t said a word yet.
“Kel?” I take a step closer, lightly touching his arm.
Slowly, he turns to face me. “Are you sure you’re okay with this? Do you need to call someone and check?”
My eyebrows scrunch of their own accord as I think through Kel’s question. “I’ll text Ophie and let her know what’s going on later.”
Kel swallows, looking like he’d rather be anywhere but here. “I meant your parents?”
Understanding dawns on me. “I could call them and ask if we could stay with them. But I didn’t think we were at a ‘meet the parents’ stage yet.”
Kel swallows, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “I’m happy to drop you off so you can spend time with them, if you’d like.”
Disappointment floods through me. Does he not want to be with me tonight? I mean, I haven’t exactly shaved everything I normally would have if I was going to sleep with a guy, but maybe I’ve been misinterpreting how he feels. I take a step back, literally and metaphorically. “Let me text them and see, they may not even be around tonight.”
