I shrug. “I got nowhere to be.”
“Pax, just go,” she whines, leaning forward and resting her forehead on her steering wheel.
Rather than doing as she asks, I crack my neck and slowly lower myself to the ground, pulling my knees up to rest my forearms on.
The look on her face when she realises what I’m doing is priceless.
“That cannot be comfortable.”
“It’s not bad,” I reply, gesturing to the spot beside me.
She opens her mouth as if she wants to say something, closes it, shakes her head a little and then hums to herself.
Come on, Blue. Stay. Talk to me. I’m right here…
Just as I think she’s going to tell me to piss off and drive away, she turns the car off, opens the door, and swings her legs so that she’s facing me.
Eyeing me suspiciously, she slowly stands and walks over to sit beside me. I can’t help but let out a bark of laughter as she tries to lower herself to the ground in a ladylike fashion.
“Oh, fuck it,” she whispers to herself before dropping onto the concrete and turning her legs to the side.
The breeze blows her curls around. A stray bobby pin falls to the floor, and our eyes meet.
As we look at each other, I’m suddenly lost for words, and everything I’d planned to say goes out the window.
I want to touch her, but I know I can’t. I want to tell her everything, but I don’t even know where to start.
I look to my left, remembering there was a convenience store just across from the restaurant. “Coffee?” I ask, knowing damn well there’s no better way to calm Indie’s ass down than to load her up with caffeine and sugar.
She raises one eyebrow. “You got a coffee machine in the back of that ute or something?” she asks, nodding toward my car.
It’s the same one I’ve had since I learned to drive, so I’m not surprised she recognises the thing.
Drove her ass around in it for years.
Chuckling, I shake my head. “Other side of this joint, across the street, there’s a convenience store. I’m sure it’s shit, but coffee’s coffee, right?”
“You want to stay here, in the parking lot, and drink shitty coffee on the floor?”
“With you? Fuck yeah,” I reply without a moment of hesitation.
She bites her bottom lip, and as she always did, searches my face for an answer to a question she hasn’t even asked. Once she’s found what she’s looking for, she nods. “Okay.”
“You got any less fancy shoes in your car?”
“Shoes?” she asks, furrowing her brows.
I stand up and offer her my hand, holding on a little longer than necessary when she takes me up on the offer and hauls herself off the floor.
“Don’t want to leave you here alone while I run across the street, but I figured you probably don’t want to put those heels back on, given the face you were pulling while taking them off.”
She groans dramatically, side-eyeing the car. “You’re right. They’re horrible. They’ll be lucky if I don’t throw them out the window on the way home.”
With a huff of a laugh, feeling the tension ease a little between us, I ask, “How about you lock yourself in your car, turn the headlights on, and I’ll be right back?”
“Okay. Let me just grab my purse.”
“Think I can manage to buy you a damn cup of coffee, Blue. Get your ass in the car.”