“Well, if it makes you feel any better, it wasn’t really good for me until…,” he trailed off and then sighed. “Alright, I can’t lie to you. It’s pretty much always good for me. But I’m a guy. I am pretty sure that it’s different for you chicks.” His tone was relaxed but his body was tense, he gripped the steering wheel tightly, showing white knuckles. And he kept clenching his jaw, it flickered beneath his skin.

“We don’t have to talk about this, you know.” I looked out the window. “I’d actually prefer it if we didn’t talk about this. It’s… weird.”

He sighed loudly, and he mumbled, “Thank god,” under his breath. His body instantly relaxed behind the wheel. I shook my head a little. Same old Kent. Sex and me didn’t go together. Ever. Not in his world. That much hadn’t changed.

I looked around as we pulled into a parking spot, confusion setting in as to why we were at the liquor store. I looked at him and frowned. “What are we doing here? Neither of us are old enough to get booze.”

He put his hand on my shoulder and gave me a look of pity. “Oh, Els. You stay here. You can’t go in there, you’d blow my cover.” He chuckled as he got out of his car and went into the store. I looked around nervously as I waited for him. What if a cop came and saw me in the car outside the liquor store? What if a robber came by and tried to do the deed while we were here? What if… I didn’t get to finish my thought because Kent came back to the car with a large brown paper bag under his arm. He tried to the handle, but I’d locked the car. He knocked on the window and then stooped down to look at me. He cocked his head to the side and raised his eyebrows causing me to giggle.

His voice was muffled through the glass, “Come on, Elly. Open the damn door.” He stood back up and looked around, waiting for me.

I unlocked the door and then, just before he could open it, I locked it again. He stooped down and frowned. “Elly!”

I grinned some more. I could’ve done that all night but when I noticed that a cop had pulled up a few spaces down I unlocked the door and hunched down in my seat. Kent got in casually and twisted around to put the bag in the backseat. “Play it cool, Els. You’re going to get us caught.”