Page 28 of Replay

Took care of that, and carefully, so carefully, stepped on the clutch till I felt it take. I’d seen a sixth gear on the shifter, and hell if I was using that. First gear rolled us gently forward, and I kept it slow till I’d curved around and pulled up beside Josh. I put it in neutral and hauled up the parking brake, then jumped out to help him.

He managed to get the door open, but the crutches didn’t want to fit in the opening.

“Turn and set your ass down. I’ll throw these in the back.” He rolled his eyes at my bossiness, but once he’d gotten in the seat I was able to slide the crutches in the back and get behind the wheel.

Josh played with the display and set up directions for me to get to his place. It wasn’t too far—about halfway between the arena and Madeline’s condo. I pulled in a long breath, and Josh turned with a grin. “You can do this.”

We’d soon find out.

I pushed down on the clutch and shifted into first. The car started forward, reasonably smoothly. No jerking. Go, me.

I drove slowly to the exit. The GPS told me to turn right, so I flicked the turn signal and checked for traffic coming from the left. This time of day the streets were less congested than at rush hour. Fortunately.

I pulled out okay. Shifted up through second and third before a traffic light stopped us again. Josh didn’t try to talk, since all my focus was on shifting and keeping the car from hitting anything. But in the silence, his stomach growled.

I turned my head.

He shrugged. “I eat a lot, and I missed lunch while they were working on my knee. Mind if we pick something up?”

The light changed, and the voice in the car urged me to proceed forward. “Is there a drive-thru on the way?”

“Um…”

“What do you want?” I knew that tone of um. I knew the Josh of five years ago so well, and that Josh was a lot like this one.

“There’s a Greek place a few blocks away. It’s in a little strip mall, so you can park. It’s not a drive-thru, but it’s not too different?”

His stomach growled again. A big part of me wanted to just get to his place as soon as possible so I could relax. But the guy was injured and hungry. I was getting more comfortable with the car. Timewise, I didn’t have that much work due before tomorrow. And the Josh I’d known couldn’t boil water, so he needed food. It was probably safer to park somewhere than navigate a drive-thru, where I might scrape something.

He played with the display again, and the voice directed me to turn left at the next intersection. Couldn’t between four and six, according to the sign over the traffic light, but now it was good.

The place, when the GPS told me we’d arrived at our location on the left, wasn’t very prepossessing. There was a payday loan shop on one side and a convenience store on the other. The windows were a little grimy, and I couldn’t see anyone inside.

Still, he’d lived here for years, and if this was what he was hungry for…

I stopped the car and pulled on the parking brake again. “What do you want?”

“I can get it.” He pushed on the door handle.

“Josh, you need me to get your crutches out anyway if you’re going to go in there, and you’re supposed to stay off your feet, right? So just tell me.”

His shoulders dropped. “Sorry, I didn’t think about that. I didn’t want to put you out any more.”

“Hey, it’s okay. This place is good?”

“Yeah. Really good.”

“And it doesn’t look too expensive.”

“It’s pretty affordable.”

“Then I’ll try it sometime. I’ve just learned a new place to eat. And I’m driving your car. I can mark off the ‘drive a Mustang’ square on my bingo card. I’m getting something out of this too.”

“If you want to get some food, go ahead.” He passed me a credit card. “I can at least feed you to say thanks.”

I’d had lunch, but hey, I could get something to keep for dinner. See if the place was as good as he said. And I’d take a free meal. TAs weren’t exactly rolling in it.

Josh wanted some loucanico and dolmades and pastitsio, as well as a salad. Not things I was familiar with, but I repeated the names to myself a couple of times and headed in.

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