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Once I was finished, I waved to the woman who had helped me earlier, and she told me to go have a seat. Javier was quiet, and I was fine with that. Honestly, I was too anxious to want to fake a conversation right then.
The entire process took about two hours, but it was done and over, and I didn’t have to worry about it again because I’d passed!
“Congratulations!” Javier said when I walked over with all smiles and holding my temporary license. He hugged me again, and I gladly took it. I wasn’t about to turn away hugs from a hot guy who smelled delicious—even if he was thirty-three.
“Thank you!” I nearly squealed. “I’m so excited! It feels good to have a win.”
“I bet it does.”
The second we were outside, I turned around and held my hand out as I gave him a large cheesy grin.
He laughed and pulled the keys from his pocket before dangling them over his head. “This what you’re after?”
I nodded. “Yup. You promised.”
His lips flattened into a thin line. “Hmm… Do you haveproofthat I said that? This sounds like hearsay. Would never hold up in court.”
I stared at him incredulously. “You ever had your soldier ass kicked by an eighteen-year-old girl?” I asked.
“Actually, yes I have,” he said with a laugh. “I trained with women.”
“Okay, well, do you want to have your ass kicked by an eighteen-year-old girlagain?”
“Okay,nowyou’re asking the right questions. And no. No, I do not.” He smiled and tossed the keys to me.
“Yay!” I said, turning and practically skipping to the car. “By the way, I don’t know who told you otherwise, but lawyer jokes aren’t funny except to other lawyers.”
He laughed but didn’t respond. I didn’t care. I couldn’t believe how good I felt. I’d been in such pain for so long, both mental and physical, and today was the first day I’d moved around freely. I wasn’t completely pain-free, but I felt great.
We got in the car, and Javier immediately started to lecture me, making me roll my eyes.
“What? Don’t roll your eyes at me. This is important. I need to teach you how to drive this. I don’t want my clutch burnt out.”
I rolled my eyes again. “Please. Stop clutching your pearls there, Grandma. I know what I’m doing.”
I put the key in the ignition, shoved in the clutch and brake, and turned it over. It came alive, and I felt more powerful than I ever had behind the wheel of a car that wasn’t an old muscle car.
“Wait, you know how to drive stick?” he asked.
I sighed. “For a lawyer, you’re pretty dumb.”
“A lawyer? I thought I was a helpless little abuela,” he said with a sarcastic smile.
“Well,Abuela, please think back to everything you know about me and what I used to do with my dad as a hobby.”
His eyes narrowed. “Ah, yes. Old cars. Manual transmissions.” He nodded, repositioning himself in the passenger seat so he was more comfortable. “I’m an idiot.”
I laughed and put the car in first gear. I took it easy in the parking lot, wanting to get a feel for how it handled and how sensitive the brakes were before I got it out on the road.
“Watch out for cops,” I told Javier.
A smile spread across his lips. “Don’t worry about that. The cops around here know my car. Besides, if we get pulled over, and they see me? You won’t have to worry about anything.”
I looked at him pointedly. “Youdoknow how that makes you sound, yes?”
He shrugged. “I can’t help that I work for a senator, and others act accordingly.”
“No, but youcanhelp it that you take advantage of it,” I replied.