Purposefully Coincidental ✓

7. Carpool

Leo

Seeing Nicole again is surreal.

I haven't seen her in six months. She sent me letters and I've called her a few times, but it's not the same as seeing her in person. Of hugging her.

She was in Australia and the weather was so bad that all flights got canceled and she just got back yesterday.

I sit back on the stool and wipe underneath my eyes, sniffing.

"I've met your whole family. Or is someone else coming?" Josephine teases.

That makes me chuckle. She's good at steering the conversation elsewhere when the mood gets sad and gloomy. "There's still my other cousin, Mateo. And his wife, Carina. But they're both not morning people, so the chance of you meeting them today is slim."

"Aah, that's too bad."

She checks her phone again, types something, then puts it in her purse. "I should get going."

Time went by fast. She's easy to talk to. And I liked making fun of her. She gets red and hides her face in her arms.

It's cute.

"I'll drive you." She shakes her head, but I speak before she tells me it's unnecessary. "Don't fight me on this. I'm driving you." I stand up.

She sighs, then stands up.

"We're using my uncle's truck. I have to pick up something afterwards." I tell her and she nods.

When we reach the truck, I open the passenger door for her. She doesn't get in. Instead, she lets out a nervous breath and looks at me.

"I think I need a ladder or something." She gestures to the high step.

She's around five foot two and she literally has to jump to get in the truck.

"Put your purse on the seat." I instruct and she does without question. "Hold the handlebar right here." She does, then looks at me with furrowed brows. I grab her small waist and lift her up onto the step bar. She lets out a surprised soft squeal.

After she takes a seat, she looks up at me with pink cheeks. "Thanks."

I round the car and get behind the thin steering wheel. When I look to my left, she is fumbling with the seatbelt. This truck is old but a classic. My uncle is in love with his old Ford F-250. It's his first vehicle he purchased with his own money he saved up from multiple summer jobs and even when he doesn;t drive it anymore, he refuses to get rid of her. When I'm home, I only drive it because otherwise it would stay locked up in my uncle's garage.

"Here, let me." I reach over and pull on the seat belt. It's kind of hidden behind the seat, so I get why she's struggling. My face is inches away from hers and she looks up at me with her big doe eyes, her lips parted slightly.

I want to taste her lips so badly.

For a brief second, her eyes dip down to my own lips.

"Thank you." She says after I've fastened her belt.

"My pleasure." I wink. She rolls her eyes. I always find myself winking when I'm around her.

I hand her my phone, so she can put in the address. It's twenty minutes away. After a few minutes of silently driving, she leans forward and looks at the radio.

"It doesn't work." I tell her, knowing she's thinking about putting some music on. She slumps back in her seat. I glance at her for a second. She is looking outside at the scenery.

My left hand, the one in a cast still, steadies on the big and thin steering wheel. Then, with my right hand, I reach over and down the passenger seat. My fingers barely touch the side of her exposed thigh. Her breath audibly hitches. My fingers search for the CD I know is here somewhere. . . got it!

I grab it and straighten, then I wiggle it in the air to show her. "They're all Italian songs but classics." Handing her the CD, she puts it in and turns up the volume.

The first song comes through the somewhat rusted speakers. She immediately starts humming along, knowing the tune after ten seconds of listening to it. I look over at her with a smile. She catches me and murmurs the lyrics. I chuckle as she gets bolder and raises her voice a notch. I turn up the volume even more as I rest my hand on the windowsill and before I know it, I'm singing along with her. Though a little off tune, she doesn't seem to mind though.

The first song ends, and another one begins. Then another and another.

Usually when I'm riding with someone and they start belting out the words of a song, I would just laugh and stay silent, drumming my fingertips to my thighs.

But for some reason I can't explain, before the first song even ended, I'm singing right along with Josephine.

By the time the gps tells me we've arrived, we've sung so many songs. Most of them were off key and I sometimes butchered the lyrics. But she just would laugh softly and continue singing. Even holding her hand in front of her mouth like a microphone before swinging her hand in front of my face when for me to sing into the makeshift mic.

"Thank you for driving me." She breathes, blotting her hair down.

"Of course. I had fun." She nods, agreeing with me.

Before she has a chance to open her door, I jump down and round the car to her direction. When I open her door, she's still fumbling with the seatbelt.

"This seatbelt has a vendetta against me." She huffs.

"Yeah, it doesn't want to let you go, like me." I pout. But she just laughs and shakes her head. But I'm serious though. My body felt lighter during the drive here. I want to keep feeling that way.

"I'm sure we're bound to meet again somewhere. . . sometime." She says.

Without warning her, I grab her by the waist and put her on the ground. Her big brown eyes look up at me. She put her heels on during the ride, but even with them she only reaches my chest.

She glances to her right and I do the same. The beach house is tiny, but cute and colorful. And I see the curtains of the front window moving and shadows playing behind it.

I chuckle and face Josephine again. She's biting that damn lip again while smiling widely. When her eyes meet mine, her smile softens.

"Thank you again. For last night as well."

"Anytime."

Without prolonging the conversation, she makes her way to the beach house. I lean against the car and wave to her before she closes the door.

The twenty-minute ride with her made me feel the most alive in a few years. It made me forget about my past, my deployment, flashbacks, and nightmares. All that was going through my mind was how I'm happy and carefree.

When I step into the backyard of our family beach house, catcalls and whistles greet me. I throw them both of my middle fingers—my left ring finger by default as it's tied to my broken middle finger—and slump onto a lounge chair. All of my cousins and their girlfriends are sitting here. Nicole too, as she's the only one single with me.

"Why so glum?" Luca asks me.

"I haven't slept." I drag both hands across my face. Fatigue is only now starting to take over.

When I hear nothing in response, I look up to see them all grinning. I frown, but when I recall what I just said and roll my eyes.

"He finally got laid, ladies and gentlemen." Mateo says while rotating around as if he's talking to a crowd. He finally woke up, I see.

"I wish." I mumble under my breath, but apparently they all heard me.

"Why the fuck not?" This was Antonio.

I shrug and stand up. "I'm gonna take a nap. Don't wake me up, please." I catch Izzy's eye and she nods. She's the only one that knows of my messed up sleeping habits.

I don't know if it's because I'm so tired or because I've spent time with Josephine, but as soon as I put my head on the pillow, I fall asleep with no trouble for the first time in a while.