“Good timing, big guy,” she says. “We could use some help hauling in all these bags.”
“You only love me for my muscles.”
“It’s definitely not your personality,” she teases as I pass behind the bright blue truck to the driver’s side. Lou opens the door, her face beaming with childlike delight.
“This is an awful nice ride, Miss Lou,” I say.
“I got my money back this morning and felt like having some retail therapy,” she says. “It’s a bit much, huh?”
“Scoot over, let me see.” Though she looks surprised, she shimmies across the seat awkwardly with long legs, allowing me access to jump in. Over my shoulder, I see the back seat full of shopping bags. “You take therapy seriously, I see.”
“Easier than trying to get all my stuff from…”
“I agree,” I say before she can finish. “You shouldn’t see him ever again.”
She blinks at me a few times. A little starry eyed.
I don’t hate it. Not fucking at all.
“What do you think of her?” She speaks after a few beats. “It’s not the most practical truck. But I wanted the option to haul things, while also being efficient for trips to and from the airport.”
“How are you going to charge it?” I ask, ignoring the quickening of my heartrate.
“The dealership has a contractor coming out tomorrow to install one.”
“Here at Irma’s?”
Thump,thump,thump. It pounds so strongly I’d be shocked if she couldn’t see it under my tee.
She nods.
“You sticking around, Lou?”
Another nod.
“I like how I feel here,” she says.
“How’s that?”
“Rooted. Grounded. Like I’m wrapped in a blanket,” she says. “Does that sound dumb?”
“No, it doesn’t,” Jules says, reaching in the back seat to grab a few more bags. “Tell her, Grady. I don’t think she believes me.”
Lou smiles, shaking her head a little. Those long, dark locks of hers sway across her cheeks.
“It doesn’t sound dumb,” I say, slowly reaching up to wind a strand around my finger. It sounds like you found home, is what I intend to say. But my parents’ words replay in my head. Live a little. “Will you go somewhere with me?”
“Now?”
“No,” I say. “Tomorrow night.”
“Just the two of us?”
“If you’re comfortable with that,” I say. “If you’re not, that’s okay. I understand.”
“I am,” she says. “I just wanted clarity.”
“I’m asking you on a date, Lou.”
