Page 27 of Pay the Piper

She can’t. Her ignition relay is tucked safely in my bag, where it’s been since I took a “bathroom break” during our lesson. Pulling up next to her driver’s side, she rolls down the window and seems confused but not overly upset or sad. Good. This was a necessary evil, but I didn’t want to make my girl sad.

“It’s not even turning over. It’s a little click when I push start, and my dash lit up, but nothing else.”

“Let me take a look. Pop the hood for me.”

My inspection takes twice as long as it took me to remove the relay earlier, and when I tell Abby she probably needs a new starter relay, she eyes her phone warily and chews her lower lip.

“There’s an auto parts store not far from here. You can wait here in the AC, and I can have it replaced for you in no time. Or…”

Her eyes flick to mine, brow raised, and the beast within me rejoices. Gotcha.

“Or…?”

Two hours later, she’s shrieking again as we near our destination. Our ride has been tame by my standards since it’s a little soon to give Abby the riding leathers I have at the condo in her size. It was suspicious enough when I insisted on stopping for her helmet and already had a store, size, and brand in mind. Once she felt the wind in her hair, safely braided to avoid a “hair-tastrophe” as she called it, she seemed to forget any of her nerves about being on the bike.

It didn’t take much to thrill her—a little speed here, a tight turn there, and I can tell she’s hooked. Good thing, since she’ll be my backpack for life.

“I’ve wanted to ride for so long, but I didn’t think it would be so fun the entire time. I assumed I’d get bored.”

“You mean you weren’t playing twenty questions with me out of boredom?”

The Bluetooth connection between our helmets was nonnegotiable, mainly so that I’d know if she needed anything and could coach her on how to lean with me for turns. I didn’t expect her to be so chatty, but maybe the freedom of the ride made her feel free enough to ask all the burning questions she’s apparently been storing up for me. Luckily for her, I’ve felt more like myself during the past few days than before Mila left me in Thunder Bay. Once I realized I had a much better outlet for all of my energy and attention than Thatcher, that is.

“Okay, so the point is not to think too hard and say the first thing you think of. What’s your most irrational opinion?”

“I love truffles but hate mushrooms.”

“But…they’re basically the same thing?”

“I have a refined palate, I suppose. Next.”

“What’s your ultimate comfort show?”

“Friends.”

“That makes sense. Was that what it was actually like in the ’90s?”

She shrieks as I reach back to pinch her thigh, dissolving into giggles. I’m only nine years older than her, but she doesn’t know that I know that. More than that, though, I’ve been too distracted by the woman in front of me to dig too much into her past. I know her birthday, though.

“How old do you think I am? For all I know, maybe you were also hanging out in coffee houses in the ’90s.”

“Hmm…you don’t have any gray hair, well, maybe a few, but I’ll have to take a closer look to make sure—”

Fuck yes, you will.

“You definitely haven’t lost any muscle mass.” She squeezes my thick waist for emphasis, and I flex my abs under her touch. “Although that can be misleading since men can get testosterone injections and maintain a decent physique into their sixties—”

“Sixties! Woman—”

“I’d put you around forty, honestly. And I’m thirty, so you do have more experience in the ’90s than I do, regardless. My question was fair!”

“We’ll see if you still think that when we stop,” I pout, but she can make fun of me all day if she keeps laughing. “I turn forty this year, so I really only experienced the late ’90s as a teen. To answer the question, in Russia, it was nothing like Friends. In Thunder Bay…still nothing like the show. I didn’t have breakfast before work at my friends’ apartment once.”

“Sounds like you need to invite yourself over to someone’s place for breakfast.”

“That sounds like an offer. And when do I get to ask you questions?”

“Maybe on the ride back. What’s a tiny thing that immediately brightens your mood?”