“I miss you. Get your ass on the seat and let’s go.”
I couldn’t argue. I missed him, too. More than I would ever admit to him. I zipped up my jacket and climbed on behind him, slipping my fingers through the belt loops of his jeans. He pulled my wrists to his chest and then folded them across one another. Once he was satisfied that I was holding him tightly enough, he took off, racing down the road.
I rested my cheek against his back and closed my eyes, breathing in his scent. It reminded me of his apartment, and his sheets, and the way he smelled when he walked around with a towel around his waist. The city blurred past us, and I didn’t care how fast he was driving, or how cold the wind was as it whipped across my skin; I wasn’t even paying attention to where we were. The only thing I could think about was his body against mine. We had no destination or time frame, and we drove the streets long after they had been abandoned by everyone but us.
Travis pulled into a gas station and parked. “You want anything?” he asked.
I shook my head, climbing off the bike to stretch my legs. He watched me rake my fingers through the tangles in my hair, and smiled.
“Quit it. You’re fucking beautiful.”
“Just point me to the nearest eighties rock video,” I said.
He laughed, and then yawned, swatting at the moths that buzzed around him. The nozzle clicked, sounding louder than it should in the quiet night. We seemed to be the only two people on earth.
I pulled out my cell phone to check the time. “Oh my God, Trav. It’s three in the morning.”
“You wanna go back?” he asked, his face shadowed with disappointment.
I pressed my lips together. “We better.”
“We’re still going bowling tonight?”
“I told you I would.”
“And you’re still going to Sig Tau with me in a couple weeks, right?”
“Are you insinuating that I don’t follow through? I find that a little insulting.”
He pulled the nozzle from his tank and hooked it on its base. “I just never know what you’re going to do anymore.”
He sat on his bike and helped me to climb on behind him. I hooked my fingers in his belt loops and then thought better of it, wrapping my arms around him.
He sighed and leaned the bike upright, reluctant to start the engine. His knuckles turned white as he gripped the handle bars. He took a breath, beginning to speak, and then shook his head.
“You’re important to me, you know,” I said, squeezing him.
“I don’t understand you, Pigeon. I thought I knew women, but you’re so fucking confusing I don’t know which way is up.”
“I don’t understand you, either. You’re supposed to be Eastern’s ladies’ man. I’m not getting the full freshmen experience they promised in the brochure,” I teased.
“Well, that’s a first. I’ve never had a girl sleep with me to get me to leave her alone,” he said, keeping his back to me.
“That’s not what it was, Travis,” I lied, ashamed that he had guessed my intentions without realizing how right he was.
He shook his head and started the engine, pulling out onto the street. He drove uncharacteristically slow, stopping at all the yellow lights, taking the long way to campus.
When we pulled in front of the entrance of Morgan Hall, the same sadness I felt the night I left the apartment consumed me. It knew it was ridiculous to be so emotional, but each time I did something to push him away, I was terrified it would work.
He walked me to the door, and I pulled out my keys, avoiding his eyes. As I fumbled with the metal in my hand, his hand was suddenly at my chin, his thumb softly touching my lips.
“Did he kiss you?” he asked.
I pulled away, surprised that his fingers caused a burning feeling that seared every nerve from my mouth to my toes. “You really know how to screw up a perfect night, don’t you?”
“You thought it was perfect, huh? Does that mean you had a good time?”
“I always do when I’m with you.”