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“Oh my God! I’m so sorry!” she said, wiping the dirt off his dashboard.

John laughed and pushed her arms away. She looked adorable. “It’s okay, really.”

“But I got dirt, mud, on your truck.”

“And?”

“And?” she repeated, looking at him with disbelief. “And, it was rude of me to do that. I’m really sorry.” Alyssa lifted the hem of her shirt and began rubbing away the dirt.

“That’s going to stain your shirt,” he warned.

Alyssa hesitated. Biting her lip, she was unsure of what to do.

“Just sit back and listen to the music. I’ll take care of that later. It’s really not that a big deal, honey.”

Honey? Alyssa swallowed and did as he asked. She kind of liked the sweet endearment. As the song came to an end, she sat quietly thinking about the lyrics. “Your brother’s song wasn’t anything I expected.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, for one, it was full of heartache. Like he’s missing someone.”

“Yeah, he wrote that song many years ago after he broke up with his girlfriend.”

“Oh my goodness! How sweet is that? Do they still talk?”

“If I write you a love song, would you warm up to me a little bit?”

“Slow your roll, country boy.”

John smirked. “I’m not sure what’s going on with them … though I’ve heard her name recently. They were separated for a long ass time. Something like ten years.”

“Awe. That’s so sweet.” She clasped her hands together. “It sounds like he never stopped loving her.

“I guess you could say that. They were childhood friends too.”

John glanced at Alyssa. She wore a dreamy smile even though she was soaked from head to toe. He turned down her street, and from the corner of his eye he could see the smile on her face fading. He wanted to ask her what was on her mind but decided against it being that their friendship was still new.

“So, what happened with your car?”

She shrugged with a loud huff. “Beats me. I don’t know a thing about cars. It’s actually my mom’s car.”

“Well if you like, once it stops raining, we can go back out there and give it a jump to see if that will help.”

She looked at John. “Only if you don’t mind.”

“Not at all.”

An appreciative smile graced her face. “Alright, thank you.”

“Wait,” he stopped her with his hand on her arm before she got out. “Do you use your mom’s car for school every day?”

“Only until I can get a job and save some money to buy a car.”

“How about I pick you up and we can ride together on the days we have class?”

“I don’t know …” taking a ride from John those days meant she had to make friends.

“What’s there to know? I’ll just ride on over and get you, and at the end of the day I take you home.”