Page 9 of Cowboy

“When’s the last time you went bowling?”

She blinked as her mind went back to what he hadn’t seemed interested in.

“Years. Not sure why I even suggested it other than I see the bowling alley on my way home every night.”

“Let’s do it.” He grinned at her like it was a wonderful idea. They have food too, that I hear is pretty good. If you’re not too hungry yet we can bowl for a bit, then see if they have anything we want to eat. If you decide you’d rather eat somewhere else, we can do that too.”

“Are you sure?”

“Hell yeah. Let’s do it. You ready to go? You need to grab anything different or extra to go bowling, different socks maybe?”

She tried remembering what they’d done the last time she’d been bowling and couldn’t remember much, other than rented shoes and sliding on the floor.

“I’m good. Ready whenever you are.”

“Then come on. I brought an extra helmet. I want you to feel safe.”

They left, Ava making sure to lock up on their way out, then he led her to his motorcycle.

Ava almost stopped and stared when she caught sight of his motorcycle. It was bigger than she expected and matte black. That made her think for a moment, when was the last time she saw a matte motorcycle? The ones she could remember were bright and shiny, even the black ones.

They reached the motorcycle, Cowboy opened one of the large boxes to either side of the rear wheel and handed her a helmet. He let her put it on herself, which she appreciated. She fumbled with the strap for a moment, but couldn’t figure it out.

“I’m going to need some help with this.”

“Here, let me adjust it for you,” Cowboy helped her with the strap that went under her chin, then explained how to get on, what to expect while riding, and that she needed to be careful of the pipes or she would get burned.

He climbed on the bike, then had her climb on behind him before starting the bike. Cowboy adjusted her arms round his middle then walked the motorcycle backwards, before he twisted his wrist in an odd movement she didn’t understand, and they started moving forward.

Ava had to bite back the squeak of surprise, not that he could have heard it anyway, but she couldn’t keep her arms from tightening around him. The way his chest vibrated, she thought he might have laughed, but she couldn’t be sure. She was too busy holding on and squeezing her eyes shut.

She did as Cowboy had instructed, leaning with him, and not trying to stay up right when they took turns. She didn’t know how far they’d gone but it seemed like they’d been on the bike longer than it took for her to get to work when she’d relaxed enough to open her eyes.

Slowly, she looked around, trying to figure out where they were. Not anywhere she recognized. They were in town, but she couldn’t find her way home from here. Panic raced through her for a moment as she wondered if Cowboy had lured her out and had something in mind other than a date, or the kind of date she’d thought he meant.

She must have done something to tip him off to her worry, because he took one hand from the handlebars, patted her hands where they held on around his middle, then reached up and did something with his helmet.

“You all right back there?” Cowboy’s voice came through what had to be some kind of radio system in the helmet. She didn’t know how to turn hers on so she spoke, hoping he could hear her.

“I’m okay, I think.”

“You think?”

She checked his hands, and they were once again on the handlebars.

“I think. I don’t know where we are.”

“I thought I’d ride for a bit, at least until you relaxed some. You had for a moment then you tensed up again.”

“It—” she had to swallow and try again, “it took me a bit to open my eyes, then I realized I don’t know where we are.”

“And you wondered if I had something nefarious planned. No worries. I don’t but you don’t know me well enough to know that, not yet. I’ll take us back to an area you’ll probably know better, then we’ll head over to the alley. I just wanted to let you get a feel for the bike, and the short trip to the alley wouldn’t do that.”

“No, it’s okay. I’m enjoying riding. And I’m relaxing more now that I know we can talk to each other. The silence other than the muffled roar of the motorcycle was a little unnerving.”

“I didn’t even think about that. I’m used to it and find it soothing.”

Ava didn’t know if she could ever find it soothing, but doubted he’d find the things that she did calming, so decided to let it go. She took a deep breath and forced herself to relax while he steered the motorcycle back onto familiar streets.

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