Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended.
Chapter Ten
Leaving behind a note - just in case Renee were to wake and assume I had been kidnapped - I walked out the front door, locked up, and smiled at Edward holding the passenger door open.
"Emmett let me borrow it for the day," he commented on the truck.
"That was nice of him."
Edward snickered. "I'm using the term 'let' very loosely. He forced me into giving him a seventy-five percent discount on a pair of hiking boots."
"Oh..."
"It's fine. That boy loves my manager's discount. He takes advantage of me all the time."
And there I go again, imagining a naked Edward.
We drove in silence for a few minutes, until he began going on about the town of Forks and how it hasn't changed much. His little speech gave me time to stare; to watch him silently - and flawlessly - change gears while driving. I wasn't really sure how he did it; I had never been able to drive a manual. It was just so...so...
Impressive.
Edward glanced over keeping his hand on the stick shift. "What is?"
"What?"
"You just said something..." His brows furrowed. "Impressive?"
"Right. The uh..." I closed my eyes for a second, trying to think. But all I could think about was a naked Edward driving stick. "The town. Staying the same; never changing. You know, not getting caught up in all of the...luxuries of...being a city?"
It was quiet for a moment as I trailed off. And mentally kicked the shit out of myself, because what? I had no idea.
Edward stared at the road ahead, not reacting to my comment about...well, about nothing, really. Which brought me back to my thought of him maybe being partially deaf. Which was turning out to not be such a bad thing.
Clearing my throat, I stared out the window and tried to keep my thoughts in order, in case I were to speak out loud again.
If he did hear me, surely he would deem me some weird girl who spoke nonsense. Surely he would second guess being my friend. Surely he wouldn't...be...laughing?
"What's was so funny?"
Edward's eyes crinkled, while mine narrowed. "You."
I sighed. So, he wasn't deaf. And I was apparently funny. "Glad you find me amusing."
"Well, what was all of that about? 'Luxuries of being a city'?"
"Forget it."
"No. I want to hear more about how Forks-"
"Look. If you must know, I was caught off guard by how...well you can drive stick, okay?"
Edward blinked. "Do you want me to teach you how to...drive stick?"
Glaring, because I was sure he was making fun of me, I crossed my arms and said, "That's okay. I wouldn't want you to have to borrow Emmett's truck again. No need to abuse your poor manager's discount again."
"Are you sure? I think it might be fun watching you get flustered while attempting to drive stick."
"Doesn't sound fun to me."
"Then I guess I'll just keep saying 'driving stick' if I want to watch you get flustered."
I had to bite my tongue.
A/N: One more update (storage unit) later this evening. Thanks to the ladies at TLS for rec'ing this, & also for being highly entertaining. And thank YOU for reading.