The last hour of Bailey’s shift almost kills me. I spend every second watching the clock tick down and when it’s finally time to leave I’m practically bouncing on my toes.
“Are you guys ready?” I ask as soon as they clock out, and Bailey smiles at me.
“I thought this day would never end.”
I reach out and take her hand in mine as we walk out the back door.
“You’re holding hands,” Hazel says.
I hold my other one out for her. “Do you want to hold hands, too?”
Without a word she slips her hand in mine and we walk out across the parking lot. When we get to where the employees park, I point to my car.
“Do you want to ride with me? I can bring you back here.”
“Why don’t I follow you in case we need to leave early?” Bailey says.
I don’t ask her what she means by that, but she’s probably doing it for Hazel, so I agree. We walk over to her car and I lean down and give her a kiss on the lips before she gets in.
“I don’t want him to do that to me,” Hazel whispers loudly as she gets in the car with Bailey.
I have to bite my lip to keep from smiling as Bailey closes the door and they begin talking. I turn and walk to my car, but as I do I hear the sound of an engine straining to start. I look back to see smoke coming out from under Bailey’s car as she keeps trying to crank it up and it won’t turn over. There’s a loud grinding noise and then silence.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” I ask when I rush over and open her driver side door.
“It’s okay. It actually happens a lot. I think it’s the transmission,” Bailey says as she gets out of the car with embarrassment in her eyes.
“No worries. I had a Jeep that you had to roll to get it to go into first gear.” I squeeze her arm and shrug it off.
“Really?” she says, and then she smiles.
“I got really good at it,” I admit. “I’ve got a guy who works on my cars for me. Why don’t you leave your keys under the mat and I’ll have him come pick it up tonight? I’ll take care of it.”
“I’m not sure I can afford to fix it right this second,” she says, looking away from me.
“Hey,” I say, touching her chin. “Let me help you, babe. I can take care of it. He owes me anyway.”
“Seriously? Why are you being so nice to me?” she asks.
“Because you deserve it. And I like taking care of what’s mine.” I step closer and place my hand on the back of her neck. I hold it there and lean down to press my lips softly to hers. “I’m here now, okay? You don’t need to worry about anything ever again.”
“I’m hungry,” Hazel says, and I laugh. “Can we take your car? This one is broken.”
“Yes, we can,” Bailey says, and we all pile into mine.
I text my friend on the way to the restaurant so that by the time we’re leaving it’s been picked up and taken to his garage.
We spent the whole meal talking about things we love like music and food. Hazel was disappointed she didn’t get the tickets on the radio today, but I told her I could try to find some. Seeing her eyes light up at the possibility made me want to take her to a hundred concerts. The sisters talked about what movies they love to watch together and the fun things they’ve done. Neither of them talked about their mom, and I guess that was a good thing. I made Hazel order two desserts because she couldn’t decide, and you would have thought it was Christmas morning. Bailey and I held hands the whole way through dinner and I kept looking over at her just to make sure she was real. How could someone so perfect be sitting next to me?
When we left I asked if it was okay to drive them home. And then, since I’m at the store again Monday, I asked if I could pick them up and take them to work. Hazel agreed before Bailey did, but eventually they both said yes. Hazel even invited me over for Sunday Funday. I had no idea what that was, but I’m going to be there bright and early. I want the whole day with them.
“Hazel, I’m going to talk to Shawn for a second, okay? Go ahead and go inside,” Bailey says when we get to the house.
“You’re going to kiss,” she says before she gets out of the car and closes the door.
We laugh, but she’s right. As soon as the door closes, I pull Bailey to me and kiss her like I’ve been starving for months instead of hours. It’s hot and heavy and I run my hands over her breasts and between her legs as she pulls me closer. We’re like teenagers alone for the first time and I can’t keep my hands off her.