Page 36 of Objection to Love

She made a noise in the back of her throat. “It’s been a while since I’ve driven stick.”

Ding ding ding.

“Need a refresher?”

She shrugged. “Sure, I guess.” She was trying so hard to sound nonchalant.

He leaned over the console between them, pointing at the pedals. “The clutch is the most important part of driving stick.” A metaphor his dad had used once when teaching Garrett’s mom to drive stick came to mind, and he had to force a smile from his face. “It’s like an intimate relationship, working the clutch. You have to feel things out—know when to push and when to let up. When to be firm and—”

“Okay, and I push that before I turn the car on, right?”

Garrett’s smile broke through, but she wasn’t watching him anyway. “Yeah.”

She waited, but he offered nothing else. Finally, she just pushed the clutch in and turned the truck on. It turned on… but the second she tried to change gears, it stalled out.

“Okay, fine.” She turned to him, then pulled back when she saw how close he was. He moved back to his seat. “I’ve literally driven one stick shift truck, and I ended up in a ditch.”

His eyebrows flew up. “I might not care about scratched hubcaps, but totaling my car… maybe I should drive.”

“It was a small ditch.”

“I’d rather not be party to your getting into a car accident either way. One of us already has a head injury.”

“Just tell me how to drive this thing.Withoutthe relationship analogies.”

“Hey, it’s a great way to learn things. Anything can be a relationship analogy if you really think about it. Driving stick. Building a house… climbing a tree. Fishing—that’s a really good one. Taylor Swift uses a ton of them. If I could put mine to music, I bet I’d be as famous as she is.”

Her eyes widened with both confusion and, he might have been fooling himself, entertainment. But then she looked out the windshield again. “No analogies.” She paused. “Or metaphors or similes.” She placed her hands on the steering wheel, knuckles growing white.

And honestly, his head was starting to hurt, so maybe he should stop teasing her.

“Okay, okay.” He pointed. “Clutch. Gears. You seem to get that part. You forgot to press the brake while shifting, that was your only problem. And let up on the clutch slow; it likes to be stall-happy if you go too fast. I haven’t seen a single car go by since we stopped here, so don’t stress about other drivers. You’ll be fine.”

She nodded once, sharp and no-nonsense. “Just tell me if I do something wrong.” The truck stalled the second and third times she tried to shift into first, but the fourth time, she got it fine.

Garrett cheered.

And then she ruined the success of the moment by having to execute a seven-point turn in order to maneuver out of the pull-out Garrett had parked in.

“Don’t laugh,” she said under her breath, jaw clenched.

“I’m not.” He was.

Once they were on the open road, she did great. Her hands were clutching the wheel and gears as if they were the last piece of chocolate cake and she was a five-year-old with a sweet tooth, but besides that, she was a natural.

Still, Garrett kept an eye out for any ditches.

“You sure we don’t need to go to the ER? Your cut might need stitches.” She didn’t look at him as she spoke, staring hard at the road.

“Nah. My mom’s a retired nurse, and I’m supposed to go over tomorrow for Sunday Sundae night. I’ll just have her look at it.”

She nodded slowly as she pulled into his driveway.

Chapter 14

Em

Em’sshouldershurtfromthe tension she’d been carrying while they drove. Garrett had told her every time she should change gears and had praised her when she did it successfully. Honestly, she had a sense of pride at getting them home in one piece. It was like when she successfully settled a case.

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