"Tim! Watch where the hell you're going, will ya?" she chastises sharply as he nearly scrapes the car he's passing and continues to speed on down the highway. "God, and I thought you were a bad driver when you're drunk." He turns towards her, his face half glaring, half grinning and her stomach does a little flip at the sight. Tim Riggins has a million different expressions and she's quickly learning that they all leave her panties wet.
"You think you could do any better if you drove?" he raises his eyebrow.
"I think I could manage not to get us both killed. Personally, I'd rather not die in this beat-up old thing," she jokes. He quirks one side of his mouth upwards, issuing a challenge. Tyra pauses, thinking.
They'd been meeting at parties, then after school and then, during school and before school for a few weeks now and she was still a little nervous around him, which was stupid because Tyra Collette didn't get nervous, especially about boys. But Tyra Collette also never backed down from a challenge. She nods her head once, signaling her acceptance. He smirks back at her, a light in his eyes she's seen more than once as he kissed her before heading to a football game. The light that meant he thought he was going to win. Well, she'd show him. She grins back a feral grin, and he moves to pull the car over.
She's held the steering wheel lots of times, when Mindy was late for work and had to put her makeup on in the car, but she's really driven only once. She's just barely fifteen and knows she'll need to learn soon, might as well start now.
Once they're pulled over he opens his door and jumps out, walking briskly around the front of the car. She slides across the bench, letting her hands fall limply in her lap. It's the first time in his car that they're not driving and also not fooling around. The other difference, obviously, is that she's in the driver's seat. He hops back in the car and drops his arm around her shoulder, making a show of putting his seat belt on nice and snug. She rolls her eyes but mirrors him, and he smiles wide back at her, squeezing her neck the way he does.
She makes sure the car's in neutral, turns the keys, and listens for the engine to turn over, only to hear it sputter for ten seconds and stop, gasping. She furrows her eyebrows and turns to Tim, who's grinning like he's just made the winning play in the Superbowl, damn him. She darkens her eyes and purses her lips but refuses to pout, and in a second he's squeezing her neck again and explaining, "You have to press the clutch down all the way when you turn the key." She knows which pedal is which, but the clutch is sticky and her tiny flip flops aren't doing the job. She wishes it weren't too hot for the weight of real Texan boots right now but inwardly shrugs and presses her toes to the floor. This time the engine turns over and she grins in surprise and delight, looking over at Tim. He just nods, a tiny smile teasing his lips and cheeks.
She shifts into first, and cautiously pulls into the lane. There hasn't been a car for almost a mile, so she starts out slow, and then punches the clutch again and shifts into second. "Watch your line," he says. He occasionally makes other directions, but generally lets her do her own thing: "Try third." "Keep your speed steady." "Now back to first. Once you learn that, you're golden," he says as he plays with the hair on the back of her neck. Even through 110 degrees in a truck with no air conditioning, she shivers. She shifts down and heads to pull over. They practice starts and stops, but no turns since the road is just one long, flat stretch that's pencil-straight.
As she eases down on the brake once more, her foot pressed down to the floor on the clutch and her eyes narrowed in concentration, she notices him watching her with an intense look in his eyes. Suddenly he's lunging over, pressing his lips hard against hers, and his fingers press along the line of her shoulders, his thumb digging just above her collar bone. His other hand is tangling in her hair and she tries to kiss him back just as fiercely as he is to her. He pulls back and looks at her for a few seconds, then suddenly pulls the parking brake. She laughs, and his eyes sparkle as they gaze into hers. It's only a few more moments before their clothes are gone and then his lower lip is trembling as he gazes down into her eyes. She mentally catalogues this look between the ghost of a smile and the peering up under eyelashes too long for a guy I-really-want-to-kiss-you face.
"So, I think I won. What do I get now?" she smiles innocently up at him, and licks the sweat forming above his upper lip before it drips. He laughs deeply, but his eyes darken again as they sweep down her body below him. He pushes himself up onto his forearms leisurely.
"That depends, Tyra. What is it that you want?" He keeps her eye contact as he slides down her body gracefully.