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Gwen rubbed her thumb over the hard plastic of her driver's license card, beaming with pride. After a few hitches, she had finally passed her driver's test. The way she saw it, those setbacks had made her victory all the sweeter. As it turned out, driving didn't come as naturally to her as some other skills, which is why it had taken her months longer than she would have liked to attempt her driver's test. Sure, she didn't actually have her own car yet and would still have to rely on Ben or Kevin to drive her around most of the time, but getting her license was a win of its own. She even found herself admiring how she looked in the photo.
A shadow fell over her, bringing her out of her own world. She tilted her head up to see Kevin placing a tray with three smoothie cups on the table. "Here ya go," he said, setting her smoothie down in front of her.
He sat next to her with his smoothie in hand and slid a third cup across the table. Gwen wondered what gross flavor Ben had ordered off the menu this time. More importantly... "Where's Ben?"
"Inside." Kevin tipped his cup in the direction of Mr. Smoothy's interior. "Manager wanted to talk to him."
"Uh-oh" was all Gwen could say. Were they going to ban Ben from the premises? She couldn't blame them considering all the trouble he had brought, especially since his secret was revealed to the public.
"Nah, nothin' like that." He sipped some of his blueberry smoothie. "He said he had an offer he couldn't refuse."
"Uh-oh," she repeated.
"Fair enough," he said with a snort.
Gwen drank some of her pineapple smoothie, her gaze returning to her card. "How d'you feel?" Kevin asked, wrapping an arm around the middle of her back.
Realizing it was impolite to look at the card while Kevin was trying to have a conversation with her, she put it into her purse and turned to him, giving him her undivided attention. "Relieved, proud, happy, a bunch of other good feelings."
"Good." He pressed a quick kiss to her forehead, causing her smile to grow. "I'm so proud of you."
She clasped her free hand over his. "I wouldn't have been able to do it if you hadn't taught me how to drive, so thanks."
"I thought you said I was the worst teacher ever." He wiggled his eyebrows at her, smirking.
Instead of countering with a retort like he expected, Gwen's lips curved into a frown. She replayed the events of a couple days ago in her mind, recalling how impatient she was with Kevin when he taught her how to drive. She remembered slamming his car door when they stopped at the very same Mr. Smoothy location they were at now, raising her voice slightly to express her annoyance at him. Looking back, she knew she was too anxious about the then-upcoming driver's test to think rationally, but that wasn't much of an excuse. She wouldn't have put up with such behavior if their roles were reversed. "You're right, I did say that, but I shouldn't have, and I'm sorry."
"I was just playin' around. It's really no big deal. I've been called worse," he assured her, slipping his hand out from under hers to lock their fingers together momentarily. "Besides, it's all over now. No harm done."
"No, it is a big deal," she pressed on. Kevin listened attentively, drinking his smoothie. "I should've been more grateful that you offered to teach me, and that you let me drive your car at all. I know it mustn't have been easy, especially the first time around."
"What makes you say that?"
"Seriously?" The answer seemed so obvious. Was he pulling her leg? "You hate it when someone so much as puts their hand on the steering wheel. You love your car more than anything."
Kevin raised a finger to correct her. "I used to love my car more than anything."
It took a second for Gwen to understand what he was implying, and once she did, she grinned. It wasn't the L-bomb she'd been hoping to hear for some time, but she decided to take what she could get. "My point is, I don't wanna be the kind of girlfriend that gets mad at you when you go out of your way to help me."
He exchanged drinks with her and took a long sip while he thought about how to articulate his response. "I wasn't a saint, either. Probably wasn't easy to focus on drivin' with me breathin' down your neck, so... I'm sorry, too." He paused as Gwen gave him a nod of acknowledgement. "It's just... driving's fun, but it's also serious business, especially when you're just startin' out. One wrong move and you could end up hurt, or worse. I had to make sure you knew how to be safe on the road." He pulled his arm away from her back to clamp his hand on her shoulder, his voice faltering. "I— I couldn't live with myself if somethin' happened to you out there."
Gwen felt like a fool. Kevin's behavior the other day made a lot more sense now. Somehow, it hadn't occurred to her that he wasn't being critical of her driving skills for the sake of it. "Kevin, I..." She stumbled over her words, still processing her realization. "I had no idea you were just looking out for me."
"It's all good. I shoulda been less of a jerk, I get that now." Squeezing her shoulder, he locked eyes with her. "I'm always lookin' out for you, though. Always."
"I'm sor—"
Removing his hand from her shoulder, he cut her off with a brief, tender kiss on the cheek. "No more apologies. Let's call it even."
"Okay," she complied, her fingers grazing the spot he had kissed. She turned away to drink Kevin's smoothie, happy that they were able to talk things out and get on the same page.
Mostly.
There was still one minor thing that bothered her, and although part of her wasn't sure if it was worth bringing up, curiosity got the better of her. "So..." She switched their smoothies back and drank some, turning to him once more. "What did you mean when you said you have to treat a car like you treat a woman?"
"Oh, uh, just forget I said that." Refusing to meet her eyes, he smiled sheepishly, futilely hoping she'd heed his request. Why did he bring it up the other day in the first place? What was he thinking by trying to compare cars to women?
"Come on, I really wanna know!" She latched onto his arm, hugging it tightly. "Please?"
Begrudgingly deciding to give in, Kevin inhaled deeply to prepare himself.
He opened his mouth to reply, but was, fortunately for him, interrupted by a loud voice. He and Gwen turned to see Ben excitedly running to their table, yelling at the top of his lungs. "Guys! They're gonna put my aliens on smoothie cups!"
Kevin forced a smile, feigning enthusiasm. "Whoa, dude, that's great! Please tell us more."
Gwen saw right through him, however, and held up her hand to stop Ben from talking their ears off. "Nice try, Kev. You were saying?"
"Okay, okay." Kevin stared at his cup as he spoke. He didn't want to see their faces. He wasn't going to live this down, was he?
"Ya gotta treat a car with respect and love and care. Be gentle with her. Don't take your emotions out on her, especially when she's done nothin' wrong, 'cause it won't make you feel any better. Ya gotta work with her, meet her halfway, y'know? Treat her well and she'll come through for you in the end."