Page 4 of Roadrunner

“Why were you flying through the desert like someone was chasing you?”

“Club president lives a couple miles from where you broke down. I was headed there.”

He hadn’t checked his phone once since picking me up. No calls, no texts. Whatever he was headed toward, it didn’t seem urgent. “Not an emergency, I take it?”

“Nope.”

“So why ride like that?”

“I always ride like that.”

I was watching his forearms and lost the thread for a second. I wanted him to be half as interested in me as I was in him. I’d been in town almost a week and hadn’t met one person I cared to know better. He was better company with three-word answers than most people were with paragraphs.

He cleared his throat. “That it?”

“No. I’ve got more.”

He relaxed into the corner of the booth and crossed his arms.

I leaned forward. “You spend a Saturday fixing a stranger’s tires, then just sit here with her like she’s one of your buddies.”

“Is there a question in there?”

“Yes.”

“What is it?”

“I just asked it.”

“That was a statement.” A flicker of a smile. “Ask the question.”

I didn’t want to sound like a kid, but I needed to know where I stood. “Do you have children?”

“Kids? I’d have to be married first.”

“You’re not married?”

“If I was, I wouldn’t be sitting here with you.”

“Girlfriend?”

“Same thing as married. If I had one, I wouldn’t be here.” He leaned in. “I’m a one-woman man. I said I’d give up an eye for an afternoon with you. What part of that wasn’t clear?”

There was no point circling any longer. I had circled enough rooms already.

“I’m going to be here four years for school. I don’t know anyone. I don’t have a boyfriend.” I crossed my fingers under the table. “Do you want to hang out?”

He looked genuinely confused. “Isn’t that what we’re doing?”

Not the answer I wanted. I slumped in my seat. “I guess.”

He watched me for a second, like he couldn’t decide if he was reading me right. I looked away.

Then he cleared his throat, dropped a twenty on the table, and stood. “Let’s get out of here.”

My stomach dropped. “You think the Jeep’s ready?”

“Doubt it.” He straightened his vest. “Doesn’t mean we have to sit in a bar with someone who can’t legally drink in it.”