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“Doesn’t this feel like a-terrible idea?” Alex’s voice comes out higher pitched than usual, and Steph grins broadly, reaching out to brush a stray strand of hair back from her girlfriend’s face, letting her knuckles linger along Alex’s cheek.
“It was your idea.”
“So?”
“So-” Steph pushes Alex’s glasses back up her nose, enjoying the look of discomfort in her eyes more than she should be. “Are you really gonna wuss out on me now? You’re the one who said my driving made you feel like we were in a high speed car chase.”
Alex huffs indignantly, rolling her eyes. “I stand by that, you were going like-way over the limit-we could’ve died ."
Steph’s smirk doesn’t falter for a moment. “But we didn’t . I know what I’m about, Chen.”
Alex’s brow furrows, disapproving frown firmly in place until Steph surges forwards, kissing her quickly, pulling back before Alex can respond. The dazed, slightly flustered look on her face is exactly what Steph had been aiming for, cheeks flushed and eyes wide, almost all of the previous anxiety banished in favour of something soft and fond.
Reaching for her hand, Steph smiles encouragingly. “You’ll do fine, babe. Driving’s not so bad. And besides, we’re in the middle of a fuck off massive parking lot, and there’s literally no one around. You’d have to like- try to hit something. Plus-” Taking their joined hands, Steph pats the central handbrake with a wry smile. “If things really go like off the fucking wall wrong? I can just pull this baby right here. Stop the whole car.” Eyes trained on her girlfriend’s face, she raises their joined hands, pressing a kiss to Alex’s knuckles, still smiling. Alex still doesn’t look entirely convinced, but she doesn’t protest as Steph guides her hand to the wheel.
“I’m going to crash your car literally my first time ever behind the wheel,” she grumbles, her scowl not even remotely convincing, a telltale quiver at the corner of her mouth giving away her amusement. The late summer sun is warm and bright and Steph isn’t shy about admiring the way it lights up Alex’s soft brown eyes, doesn’t care when she gets caught staring, instead offering up a a slow, crooked smile, letting her gaze drop to the faint shadows disappearing under the collar of Alex’s shirt, raising a brow suggestively.
“Y’know how all the weird creepy car fan guys say girls go crazy for a guy who drives manual?” She asks, watching as a furrow of confusion appears between Alex’s brows, lower lip disappearing as she gnaws thoughtfully on it, puzzling over where Steph might be going with this train of thought. A faint thrill goes through Steph as she leans in close across the centre console, letting her fingertips ghost along the remains of the marks she’d left along Alex’s neck and collarbones only a couple days ago, lips almost brushing Alex’s cheek, enjoying the way her breath hitches slightly, blood rushing to her cheeks, and Steph doesn’t need the same kind of empath abilities to know exactly what’s on her girlfriend’s mind right now. It always feels like the sweetest kind of payback when she gets to make Alex flustered for a change, the chances to surprise her like this far and few between, but maybe even all the better for it.
“Well,” she says, voice low and suggestive. “I don’t know about the ‘guys’ part, but…” she hooks her fingers in the neck of Alex’s t-shirt. “They weren’t wrong about the rest of it.”
She pulls back with a self satisfied smirk firmly in place, letting her gaze linger along the tempting curve of Alex’s lips, the hot blush high on her cheeks, watching as her hands flex on the steering wheel before taking a deep, steadying breath and glancing over, glaring across to the passenger seat, uncharacteristically ruffled, a change from her typical composure.
“Distracting me right now is a really good way to get your car crashed,” she complains. “And that so wasn’t fair.” The petulant scowl she’s wearing is unfairly adorable, but then, Steph’s fairly certain Alex is capable of looking adorable no matter what.
“Have I ever played fair, baby?” She says with a broad grin, and the wink she shoots Alex earns her a middle finger.
“You’re so fucking annoying.”
Steph just blows her a kiss. “You’re into it. Now, I believe you promised me you were gonna crash my car?” She teases, and Alex rolls her eyes with a groan, hands shuffling restlessly on the wheel.
“Don’t be mean, driving’s scary ,” Alex protests softly, and Steph reaches out to rest a hand on her knee, squeezing reassuringly.
“You’re gonna be fine. Accelerator on the right, clutch on the left, brake in the middle. Keep your foot on the middle one when in doubt, only tap the right one a little, and you’re gonna do great, okay?” She pauses, glancing up at Alex, and makes a split second decision. Something she knows Alex can’t back down from. “Soon enough you’ll be driving almost as well as me.”
“I think you’ll find I’ll be driving better than you.” A competitive light sparkles in Alex’s eyes, rising to the challenge put to her just like Steph knew she would.
“Oh please,” she scoffs, making a show of her bravado, playing up the challenge. “I’m the best driver around. Most efficient, most fun, most competent. But don’t worry, maybe one day you’ll catch up.”
“‘Catch up’? Please,” Alex snorts with laughter. “You’re such a fucking hazard on the road, Gingrich, I can’t believe you’re still in one piece.”
“If you think you can do so much better,” Steph nods to the key in the ignition, waiting to be turned, a triumphant smile on her face. “Then prove it, pretty girl.”
Alex just scoffs, no hesitation as she reaches for the gearstick, pulling it into neutral before her hand goes to the key in the ignition, turning it deftly. “Oh, you’re fucking on.”
She doesn’t crash the car. Stalls, and swears, and complains, but doesn’t crash. And an hour later, Alex makes a slow, shaky circuit of the whole parking lot without stalling once, finally putting the car into park. As she releases the wheel, she looks over at Steph, not a trace of irony in the glowing smile lighting up her whole face, and Steph’s pretty sure it’s an expression she’ll never get tired of looking at, her own lips curling in a matching grin.
“So,” she says fondly. “What happened to crashing my car?” Her comment earns her a delighted, exhilarated laugh from Alex.
“Didn’t I tell you I was gonna turn out to be a better driver than you?” She retorts, Steph just grins, reaching for the handle on the passenger side door.
“That you did,” she agrees, a wicked smile stretching across her face. “So let’s swap back so I can drive us home and you can claim your reward.”
Alex is quick to react, releasing her seatbelt and kicking the door open, sliding out of the car, and the two meet in the middle, laughing in the late afternoon sun. Steph’s hands settle on Alex’s waist, turning to crowd her back against the hood of the car, and Alex is still laughing a little as she rises up on tiptoes, arms looping around Steph’s neck as she closes the gap between them, bringing their lips together.
Kissing Alex is something that never loses its rush, no matter how many times she may get to do it, and Steph lets out a soft huff of approval as she presses closer, hands sliding brazenly under the hem of Alex’s shirt, savouring the soft, warm skin under her palms. Alex’s breath hitches in a sharp gasp, arms tightening around Steph’s shoulders as her lips part slightly, and the tempo of Steph’s heart kicks up a few paces. It feels almost too easy, too appealing to give into the temptation to just stay here indefinitely, making out against the warm metal of the car’s hood in the golden evening light, but eventually, reluctantly, she pulls back, breathing a little ragged.
“So,” she says, and the unevenness in her voice would be embarrassing if it didn’t match the blown out pupils of Alex’s eyes from behind her crooked glasses. “I’ll drive, you control the playlist?” She suggests, and Alex nods, rising up to steal a final quick kiss before releasing her, heading around to take up her position in the passenger seat.
It takes more than a few deep breaths for Steph to compose herself again, shaking some of the tension out of her shoulders before pulling the door to the driver's seat open. Already in her seat, Alex smiles serenely, looking unfairly calm compared to the way Steph’s feeling, all strung out and a little overheated.
“Guess you really were right about the manual driving thing,” Alex says mildly, and it takes all of Steph’s self control to focus on checking her car’s setup instead of scrapping the whole ‘going home’ plan entirely. As she reaches down to readjust the seat, pushing it back, Alex snorts with laughter, watching her reposition the rear view mirror as well. “Oh come on,” she says, grinning. “Don’t be dramatic, I’m not that much shorter than you, it can’t be that big a difference.”
“It absolutely is that big a difference, shortass,” Steph retorts, smiling fondly as she gets an eye roll for her remark. “You did pretty good today, though. With the driving. Does that mean I get to say I told you so now?”
Snagging her phone from the centre console, Alex just flips her off as she checks the volume on the speakers.
“Never.” The dismissal is half hearted at best, any impression of irritation entirely belied by the delighted smile curving her lips and the self satisfied blush dancing across her cheeks. Putting the car into neutral, Steph shoots a smug grin across the car.
“Yeah well suck shit, I told you so.” She turns the key in the ignition, smoothly pulling the car forwards. “Pretty soon you’ll be the one speeding us around at twenty over the limit.”
A guitar riff ripples from the speakers, underscoring Alex’s laughter as she pushes her glasses up and rolls the passenger window down. “No fucking way,” she says fondly. “One of us needs to keep their license, so I’ll be going the fucking speed limit. Like a sensible person.”
Taking the quip as a challenge, Steph pulls out of the parking lot towards the highway, hitting the accelerator with far more enthusiasm than is strictly necessary, coaxing a yelp of surprise from Alex. The pedals move easily under her feet as she changes gear, grinning broadly as the speedometer climbs higher.
“This is a fifty five zone,” Alex points out, but Steph just nudges the speed even higher, closing in on sixty.
“That’s boring, though,” she counters, and Alex sighs, giving up on the endless, unwinnable argument between them that’s turned into a game more than anything else, instead flicking through her music, queueing up a few songs.
“You’re the one who’s gonna pay the speeding fine, I guess,” she says, voice soft with amusement and fondness.
“Well, I mean now that you’re well on your way to being a fully licensed driver, I’m warning you, if you drive like Ryan ‘grandma’ Lucan, you’re never getting behind the wheel of my car again,” Steph says, and she doesn’t need to look over to know Alex is biting back laughter.
“I’m gonna tell him you said that,” is all she says, and Steph risks a quick look across at her, smile wide with mischief.
“Babe I’ve told him myself. Like, all the time. I’ll tell him myself if you want. I’ll text him right now.”
“Steph you’re driving ,” Alex complains. “Eyes on the road, fucking daredevil.”
“Fine, then you text him,” she says, and beside her, Alex snorts.
“Why do I put up with you again?”