The four o'clock came back at six with six passengers and no damage.
My sheet. My count. My initials in the corner.
I was still wiping down the desk when Drew's headlights swung across the gravel.
He came in with two cups and set one on the counter. It had gone cold hours ago.
Drew: I'm an asshole. I laughed because it was easier than telling Trent to shut his mouth.
Drew: You're my rock. You know that? You're the only thing in this yard that holds together.
I kept wiping the counter. My hand did not shake.
Alina: You didn't say one word. Not one.
Drew: I know. I'm saying it now. Come here.
He held his hand out, palm up. Like I was something he could ask for.
I looked at it too long. Then I put down the rag and took it.
Trent was on a cooler by the boathouse with a beer. Paige stood beside him.
Trent: Yo, Drew. Don't take all night.
Trent: Some of us need the office key. Unless you're planning to bend her over the desk.
Paige: Give them ten minutes. He's not that good.
Paige laughed at that. Not at Trent. At me.
Drew: Shut up, man.
Trent: Relax. I'm joking.
Drew let it go. My face was hot, and my hands were steady.
He put me in the truck and shut the door on the whole yard.
The cab smelled like sunscreen and warm vinyl.
Drew: Forget them.
He kissed me before I decided whether I wanted him to.
Not soft. Drew never kissed soft when he wanted something.
His hand slid into my hair and tilted my head back against the seat.
I kissed him back. I hated how fast I did it.
Drew: Tell me to stop.
I didn't. I pulled him closer by the front of his shirt.
The buttons gave way under his fingers. One. Then two.
His hands found my breasts under the cotton, warm and sure.
Drew: I'm sorry. Fuck, I'm sorry, babe.
He said it into my mouth, then against my throat.
I arched into him and got a hand in his hair. My breath fogged the window.
This was the part I could believe. This was the part he never got wrong.
I pulled him down harder. I wanted to stay in it.
Then his phone lit up in the cup holder. Trent.
Drew: Ignore it.
It rang again. He swore and picked it up.
Drew: What.
Trent: Where'd you go? Don't lie to me. I know exactly what you're busy with.
Drew: I'm smoothing it over. That's all.
Drew: She's good for the business. She runs the whole yard and never asks for a thing.
He said it easy. Like it was a compliment.
Trent: Good for the business. Jesus, Drew. You gonna marry the cash register too?
Drew laughed. Short and low, like Trent was funny.
His hand was still on my waist.
Drew: All right. Twenty minutes.
He hung up and looked at me like nothing had happened.
Drew: Where were we.
I pulled my shirt closed and did up the buttons. My fingers were steady.
Alina: I have to close the office.
Drew: Alina.
Alina: Twenty minutes. You said twenty minutes.
He sat back and let me go. He looked confused, like I'd changed the rules in the middle of a game.
Maybe I had.
Inside, I sat at the desk and put my initials next to the four o'clock again. Small and straight.
Good for the business. That was the whole of me, said out loud in his voice.
He could still make my body believe him. That was the problem. I just wanted to be chosen when nobody was watching but me.