“What’s your plan for the day?”Griffin asks as we’re finishing up.I swat away his hand as he tries to clear our plates and hurry to scoop them up first.
“Nothing much,” I admit.“Go find my car and head to my parents’ house.”I don’t want to add that I’m going to be stress-waiting for a callback from any of the fifteen businesses I applied to yesterday and looking for a summer housing arrangement.
“I can take you to your car,” he offers.
“You’ve done so much for me already,” I say.“I feel bad.”
“Don’t feel bad, Casey.”His response is so smooth, so light, that it immediately loosens that tight knot in my chest.“I wouldn’t offer if I didn’t want to, I promise.”
I smile over at him, and for a moment I swear we’re suspended in time, locked into something so sweet and beguiling I can’t bear to pry my gaze away.It happened last night, but I figured it’d been the alcohol.But it’s happening now, in the light of day, and I still feel that crazy urge to climb into his lap and curl up.
We finish cleaning up from breakfast and head outside into the warm morning.A gleaming, brand-new truck sits in the driveway.I let out a low whistle.“Is this sexy thing yours?”
“Sure is.You don’t remember riding in it last night, do you?”
I squint at it.“Not exactly.”
“You said the same thing last night about liking the truck.”
This makes me burst into laughter.“Well at least I’m consistent.You know, I’m not usually much of a lover of vehicles, but clearly there’s something about this truck.”
“Probably because it’s the latest model.”He hits the unlock button and the truck beeps softly.“I bought it on a whim last season and spent way too much on it.Then two weeks later I got injured.Now I kind of regret it.”
As we climb into his truck, I say, “Don’t regret it; instead, celebrate the fact that both drunk and sober friends will be mildly attracted to your truck.”
He looks terribly amused as he glances over at me.“So where are we heading?”
“I left my car by the bank downtown.”
“Like where they have the farmer’s market?”he asks as he cranes his neck to pull out of his driveway.
“The farmer’s market is on the corner of Market Street and Hancock,” I say slowly, trying to pull up my mental map.
He thinks for a moment as he pulls out of his neighborhood.“That’s where it used to be.It moved last year.It’s near the bank now.”
I blink, letting this information settle in.That’s an odd location for the farmer’s market, but who am I to judge?“Maybe we can check it out while we’re nearby.”
Griffin nods, not missing a beat.“Let’s do it.I need some honey.”
I look over at him, squinting slightly.Is this manreal?It’d been like pulling teeth to get Jake to go to the farmer’s market with me in Chicago.Griffin’s been proving himself the perfect man nonstop for the past few days, and if he keeps it up, I’m going to fall head over heels in love with him.
Not ruling out that I haven’t been in love with him on some level since I was fifteen.
Griffin pulls up to the long row of parking where I left my car last night.But as he does, I begin to realize why the farmer’s market location change was relevant.It didn’t movenearwhere I’d parked my car.
It is completely happening around, in between, and on top of where I parked last night.
“Oh my god.”My mouth begins a slow descent to the floor as I see the steady stream of people flowing past my little sedan.It is absolutely buried in the middle of the farmer’s market, and I don’t know whether to laugh or cry right now.
“What’s wrong?”Griffin asks as he eases into an open spot farther down the road, away from the action of the market.
“My car is…trapped in the farmer’s market.”A little laugh escapes me, because it’s ridiculous.I tried to be smart.I tried to be responsible.Instead, Casey’s Chaos struck again, and I left my car in the middle of the farmer’s market zone.“I didn’t realize when I left it there last night.I…this…it’s absurd.”
He twists to look back at the market, and then barks out a laugh.“No shit.That’s your car right there in the middle, huh?”
“No moving it now, I guess.”
“Definitely not.A vendor is using it to display bouquets.”
