“So what would you like to do today?” he asked, breaking the silence.
I didn’t realize he wanted to spend another day together. I thought about it. “I don’t know, actually. It’s nice outside, but I don’t really wander too much.”
“Well, we’ve already established that you don’t know how to drive a standard vehicle.”
The statement seemed completely out of the blue, but there was a gleam in his eyes that told me he already had an idea before he mentioned anything.
“Noooo, I don’t.” I drew out.
“Good. We have plans then. We can stop by your house for a change of clothes. You’re going to want to wear something with long sleeves and jeans.”
“Turner, it’s not that cold outside.”
He grinned. “Oh, it will be with the top off on the Jeep. You’re going to learn how to drive my baby today. I need to go get cleaned up. Make yourself at home, grab some more coffee if you’d like—eat something too, please. I won’t be long.”
My mouth was hanging open. Was he kidding? What made him think that I could drive the Jeep? I knew it was a standard but honestly, I had no interest in learning. He drove it just fine. Riding with the top off was the only appealing part of this little excursion. And where did he plan on taking me to do this? I was bound to hit something or somebody. I swear to God, I wouldn’t be held responsible for any damage to his vehicle or a human. This was nuts.
Turner came back out of the bedroom freshly wash, hair spiked every which way from being wet and looking sexy as ever. He had on a gray, long sleeved shirt, and a pair of worn jeans. He looked like he was ready to go off-roading or to get dirty. It was mouth-watering.
“You ready to go?”
“Uhhhh, sure?” I said confused.
“Grab your clothes and let’s head out.” He picked up his keys and put his wallet in his back pocket.
Looks like I didn’t have much choice in the matter. But have I had a choice with him since we started this whole thing? Sighing, I knew better than to argue. I went to the bedroom and put my clothes on from the night before. When we got down to the jeep, Turner jumped into the driver’s seat and we took off down the road, headed to my house to I could get cleaned up too.
“There are some dirt roads about fifteen miles down the way. We’ll switch spots there,” he shouted over the wind in my ears.
The top was down, and at the speed we were cruising, it was definitely cool. I didn’t feel like responding or yelling loud enough for him to hear me so I kept my mouth shut and waited ‘til we got to where we were going. Turner had a nice sound system in here and it played over the sound noise of the wind whipping around. My hair blew across my face and I reached up and tied it into a ponytail to keep it all back. I was going to look a mess by the end of the day. It didn’t take long until we were pulling off to the side of the road and there were trails of dirt and hills. This looked more like a dirt bike road than something you’d drive a Jeep on.
“Here?” I asked.
“Yep, here.” He grinned. Turner pulled forward and pulled the parking break up. “You ready?” He unbuckled his seatbelt and looked at me expectantly.
“So you really want me to do this?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Any way I could talk you out of it? I’m not really in the mood to give you, or me, whiplash today.” I came across grumpy.
“Turn that frown upside down. It’s easier than you think. Hop out and switch spots with me.”
I did as he asked, and apprehensively buckled back up.
“Okay, I’m sure you understand the concept of the gears. The thing you need to pay attention to and feel is when the RPM’s hit between these two numbers. You’ll hear the engine rev and that’s when you shift. Got that so far?”
I nodded.
“Push your left foot down on the clutch ‘til it’s on the floor.” He watched me do it. “Now, I want you to slowly give it some gas. It’s going to be like an equal give and take.” Turner was showing me hand motions trying to explain. “It’s okay if the gas revs the engine while you’re in first gear. As you gradually remove your foot from the clutch, the Jeep will move forward. You ready to try?”
My palms were sweaty. “No.”
He chuckled, placing his hand on my forearm giving it a squeeze. “Relax, this is fun and you’ll be surprised how easy it really is.”
“That’s what you say now,” I mumbled under my breath.
“What’s that?”
“Nothing,” I said rolling my eyes.
Having my first go, I visualized the motions he made with his hands. “It’s an equal give and take.” Right. My foot was pressed into the clutch, and I slowly gave it some gas. As the engine roared, I gently began releasing my foot from the clutch. The Jeep crept forward a couple of inches, and I got excited.
“We’re moving!” I smiled.
Clearly getting too excited, I did things a little faster than I was ready for. I picked my left foot up before there was enough gas being given and the Jeep jerked forward, hard. Turner uttered something along the lines of “gas, gas, gas.” Too late of course. We stalled.
He rubbed his hands together. “Again.”
I looked over at him. “Are you crazy? I’m going to break your damn Jeep. This was the dumbest idea you’ve had so far, which is saying something ‘cause we’ve done some insane shit, Turner.”
The belly rolling laugh that came out of him almost made me want to crack a smile, but I held my ground. “Do you know how many times I stalled before I actually was able to shift out of first gear? I thought my dad’s transmission was going to fall out. No quitting. Go again.”
I sighed. Much like the first time, I stalled again. And then again, and again. I slapped my hands on the steering wheel and cursed under my breath. This was one of the most frustrating things I think I’d ever tried to do in my life. If he told me I “could do it” one more time I swear, Turner Brooks was going to go home with a black eye.
“Alright, listen, I know it’s aggravating. Give it one more try. If it doesn’t work, we can switch spots and I’ll take you for a spin around the trails.”
“Fine.” I know my tone was that of a petulant child, but I didn’t care. Had I been standing I might have even stomped my foot on the ground.
Taking a deep breath, I tried to recenter myself. Doing everything he instructed of me when we first tried all of this, I took my time and was determined to at least make it into second gear. As if I willed it to happen, the vehicle moved. When it started to shake, I gave it some gas and I was finally able to make the shift. I squealed.
“Oh my God, I did it.” I lifted both my feet off the pedals and the Jeep shot forward and died. I busted out laughing. “Crap.”
He was grinning ear to ear, and looking at me like I was the most entertaining person on the planet. “You’re cute, you know that?”
“I’m cute?” I was still giggling. “You won’t think I’m so cute when I make your transmission fall out.”
He shook his head. “Nah.”
It got quiet and he was staring at me.
“What?”