falling for 13 || Johnny Kavanagh

Wait For Me

G R A C E

The door to the petrol station opened, so I put my polite smile on, waiting for them to pick up whatever they were buying. Until I saw Johnny Kavanagh, leaning heavily on his crutch but somehow still managing to look effortlessly confident, strolled toward the counter like he owned the place.

"Johnny?" I said, completely taken aback. "What are you doing here?"

"Just wanted to say hi," he replied casually, leaning an elbow on the counter. "Is that not allowed?"

"Hi," I said, giving him a skeptical look. "Now, seriously—how did you even get here?"

"Uh, I drove," he said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"You drove?" I repeated, narrowing my eyes. "You're not supposed to be driving yet."

"Doc said it's fine as long as I'm careful," he said with a shrug, looking entirely too pleased with himself.

"Careful?" I echoed, but before I could say anything else, something outside the window caught my attention. My jaw dropped. "Is that your Audi?"

"Yeah," he said, glancing out the window where his black Audi was parked, looking pristine and shiny in the evening light. "Missed her too much to keep letting my Da drive her."

"I thought you were meant to be taking it easy," I said, shaking my head.

He grinned. "Driving's not very strenuous, baby."

"That's a big, fancy word," I shot back, trying to keep a straight face. "Why didn't you tell me you were driving again?"

"Wanted it to be a surprise," he said, still grinning.

"Well, consider me surprised," I muttered, folding my arms across my chest. "And slightly horrified."

He just laughed. "Relax, Gracie. I'm fine."

"I'll believe it when you're not hobbling around with a crutch," I said, giving him a pointed look.

"Fair enough," he said with a shrug, then leaned closer, his voice dropping slightly. "But since I'm here...wanna go to the cinema?"

"The cinema?" I repeated, caught off guard by the sudden change of subject.

"Yeah," he said, completely unbothered. "There's a new movie out. Thought we could go see it."

I hesitated. "I'm not done here until eight."

"Perfect," he said, straightening up. "I'll wait for you."

"Johnny, you can't just—" I started, but he was already heading toward the door.

"See you at eight," he called over his shoulder, tossing me a wink before pushing the door open. I stared after him, completely flustered, and then turned my gaze back to his Audi, which he was now leaning against like a scene out of a movie. Unbelievable.

***

By the time eight o'clock rolled around, I was ready to bolt out of the petrol station. My legs ached from standing all day, and my uniform smelled faintly of diesel, but I still couldn't shake the small buzz of excitement as I clocked out.

As I walked outside into the cool evening air, there he was—leaning against his Audi like he owned the place. His arms were crossed, and he had that cocky grin plastered on his face. It was maddening, but I couldn't stop the grin from creeping onto mine.

"You stayed the whole time?" I asked, shifting my bag on my shoulder as I walked toward him.

"Of course, I stayed," he replied, straightening up. "Told you I would, didn't I?"