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He frowns, but I don’t let him get a word in. “Especially if I’m already stealing your helmet. Now how do I put this thing on, anyway?”
He relents, zipping his jacket back up, and moves in closer, reaching out to tuck my hair behind my ears.
I shiver, though it has nothing to do with the cold weather, as he takes the helmet back from me and slips it over my head. Wow, that’s more claustrophobic than I was expecting, but it also blocks out the elements, my nose and ears not as chilly anymore.
I flip up the front plastic piece so I can listen to him explain what to do.
“When you’re behind me on the bike, the key is to keep your movements in alignment with mine. During corners you lean in, so let how I’m moving guide you. If I move, you move. If you shift unexpectedly, it could affect my balance.”
I nod, all of this seeming a lot more serious than I was expecting.
“When you get on, your left foot goes on the peg, and you can hold on to my shoulders for balance as you step up and swing your right leg over. Once you’re on, keep your feet on the pegs, even if we come to a stop. When I brake, brace yourself by squeezing your knees against my hips.”
My thighs clench in response. God, I hope he didn’t notice.
“Am I overwhelming you?” he asks, concern in his voice.
I shake my head.
“We won’t be able to talk once we get going, but if you need me to pull over, tap on my shoulder twice. Any questions?”
I wipe my palms on the edge of my coat. “You won’t go too fast, will you?”
“No.” His surety sets me at ease. “Should be about a three-minute drive over to the library from here. I pass it on my way in. I’ll go slow, I promise.”
“Okay, I’m ready.”
He straddles the bike and lifts the kickstand. “Hop on.”
I carefully place a foot on the peg he indicated earlier and swing up behind him, unsure how to hold on once I’m seated.
“Grip my waist for balance,” he says, as if he can read my mind.
He revs the engine and I startle in my seat, grabbing for him, then flip down the helmet lid.
I feel his chuckle more than hear it and tighten my thighs on the sides of the bike as he backs out of the space and takes off.
Logically, I know he’s not going that fast because cars are passing us, but everything rushes past quicker than I was expecting, the wind buffeting me. How does he do this all the time?
I’m careful not to wiggle around, leaning with him as he makes the turn onto the main campus road that will take us to the library.
The ride I’ve taken a hundred times before in a car seems different with the rumble of the bike under me, exposed to the elements like this. Everything is slightly muted through the helmet, but that doesn’t change how the campus is more alive, my senses attuned to the winter landscape.
I savor the feeling of holding onto Austin, my knees gripping his hips as we come to a stop in the no parking zone in the lot behind the library.
He shuts off the engine and puts down the kickstand. “You get off first,” he says.
I bring my hands up to his shoulders, using them for leverage to swing my leg over, and remove the helmet, running a hand over my hair to straighten it. “That was… crazy.”
He grins. “Crazy good or crazy bad?”
“Good. Exhilarating.” The vibration from the engine still seems to reverberate through me, like it’s flowing through my veins.
“Yeah? I’ll take you on a longer ride sometime, if you like. I’ve got an old helmet at home you can use.”
He’d do that? “That sounds amazing. When can we go?”
He chuckles. “How about when you don’t have an exam to study for?”
