The apartment building was ten minutes away. I figured that was where he was trying to lead us with his quiet commands.Stop here. Take a right. Now take a left. Keep going straight.Hunter was giving me another layer of confidence by teaching me that I could drive us home.
“Am I still doing well?” I asked anxiously after two more minutes of driving.
Funnily enough, I expected myself to be super stressed. But I was okay, despite my palms being a bit clammy.
There was a silver sedan driving a far enough distance from me in the rearview mirror. It never got too close, though I kept worrying that they were silently judging my slow driving. Especially because they seemed to be taking the same route as me. Maybe my nervous observation just stemmed from my first real time on the road. It wasn’t a big deal.
“So far so good. You’re driving the speed limit, you’re doing your full stops, and you’re constantly checking your blind spots,” Hunter said. “You’re not a bad driver, Gabby, or incapable of learning. Just like everyone who starts off, you need a bit of practice and you’ll be a pro in no time.”
There went my heart, further softening for this man.
Finally, I pulled into our apartment complex, narrowly missing the sidewalk’s curb. Hunter pretended to ignore my sheepish glance. He meant it when he said he couldn’t care less if his car got scratched.
I was his only priority.
Hunter had a designated numbered spot in the outside lot and in the underground garage. He asked me to park in the former. That almost made me ill. What if I hit someone’s car?
Thankfully, the spots on either side of his were empty, giving me a wide berth to slide his sports car between the white lines.
I was trembling when I shifted the car into park, like a shaken-up bottle of a carbonated drink about to pop off.
“Want to practice how to parallel park?” Hunter asked when I turned off the car.
I threw him a horrified look.
He laughed. “I’m kidding. Lesson for next time.”
“Hunter,” I groaned. “I can’t believe I did that. I’m literally shaking.”
He grabbed my hands from the steering wheel and braided our fingers together, ebbing away the last of my queasiness. “See? That wasn’t so bad. You did a wonderful job, Gabby.” He kissed my knuckles one by one. “I’m so proud of you.”
My heartbeat returned to its usual cadence. “It was scary at the start, but you set me at ease.”
“I’m glad to hear it. Two bad experiences shouldn’t stop you from trying again. I’ll keep giving you lessons and before you know it, you’ll have your license in no time.”
“You’re a patient teacher. Thank you for the driving lesson and for an incredible first date. I had fun.”
I leaned forward to kiss him.
“I had fun too,” he murmured in the space between our mouths. “I always do when I’m with you. And you don’t have to thank me. This was nothing.”
That’s the thing. It wasn’t nothing.
It waseverything.
Hunter’s way of showing affection was quiet, but his gestures were grandiose, whether he realized it or not. He was single-handedly raising all my standards. Hell, he was my new standard.
My ex-boyfriend only ever tried to burn my wings.
Meanwhile, Hunter helped me soar to new heights.
We kissed for what felt like an eternity, our hands roaming everywhere they could reach. Neck. Jaw. Cheeks. Hair. Tugging each other as close as we could with the center console between us.
I couldn’t stop kissing him. Feared I never would. Hoped I never had to.
The inside of the car echoed with the sounds of our wet lips and our gentle moans.
The sky was effortlessly blue, like Hunter’s stunning eyes, and the sun dipped into the horizon when we parted ways…only to join our foreheads together. My exhales were his inhales, and his exhales were my inhales.
