Your Eyes Tell

4 / then

Nick Peterson's car, a secondhand Nissan Sentra, isn't nice. It's an ugly thing.

There are mysterious dents from its previous shitty owner, some uneven marks from when an asshole keyed it when he parked it at a Hansen party, and it slips into more moods than his girlfriend does—the engine makes a loud, screeching noise sometimes, and the air conditioning is...shit at doing its job. Nick's friends hate riding in it because they end up sweating all the way through their clothes, and Yves complains a lot.

Nick loves it, though. It's the first thing he bought for himself after working shitty part-time jobs in high school and spending an entire year in college riding a bicycle. His savings are gone now, too, but it's worth it.

Especially if he gets to pick up his girlfriend from work in it.

Nick taps his fingers against the steering wheel, humming, and makes a right to Porter Brakes, the car wash and auto repair shop Kaia's family owns.

It's the cheapest car wash in the city—mostly because it's just a side thing for the shop, but also because there are no fancy machines. It's all manual—scrubbing, washing, drying.

Not that the Porters can afford it. They can. It's just that Kaia insists on doing the job herself and on hiring a bunch of broke high school and college kids for some loose change.

When Nick pulls in, she turns around, car wiper blade in hand, and her entire face brightens.

Nick's heart races, and then he also grins when she jumps on her feet, raising her arm to wave at him in big gestures. Her skin is lined with sweat, and her tank top and shorts are wet with water, and the blue ball cap with the rim facing outward on her head is his.

He parks the Sentra into the space next to the car she's working on and rolls down the window, where she's already waiting. "Car wash, please."

Kaia bites her bottom lip, leaning forward with her elbows on the window. "Regular or premium?"

"If I choose premium, will my girlfriend perform a dance number?"

"No, but she might make out with you in your car."

Nick's eyes widen, and then he covers his face with one hand, neck heating. "Premium."

The laugh he gets is loud and pretty and bone-melting. Kaia leans forward, tiptoeing so her head can reach his, and plants a kiss on his cheek. "Premium coming up."

"Whoa, hey." Before she can turn around, Nick manages to grab her arm. With his other hand, he brings up the Frappuccino he picked up on the way and held it out to her, fingers in between the straw. "Chocolate chip."

Her eyes shined and widened, closing her lips around the straw. She's staring at Nick while she drinks, and he grins.

"I literally love you," she says, groaning, hanging her head back. "Thank you."

Nick puts it down on the cupholder, and he reaches out to brush her curls away from her face, gently adjusting the cap on her head. "And you don't actually have to wash my car, you know. I'm just here to pick you up."

Kaia's tongue darts out to lick her lips, nose scrunching, and she steps back to inspect it. "Um, I think it needs the wash, babe."

He rolls his eyes. "Fine. Whatever. Do your thing."

Kaia's still grinning, face glowing, and this time, before she skips away, her hand goes to his face and she kisses him on the lips, smile pressed to his mouth.

Even after a year, Nick's toes curl, his stomach erupts in fucking butterflies, and his mind goes oh shit, oh shit, watch your teeth, holy shit this is nice, I'm gonna die now.