Page 30 of German

Spying him over the rim of my cup, I said, “We both know that’s not true.There’s nothing boring about you, Christopher German.”

Our eyes met then and we sat in silence for a few heartbeats.Finally, when the tension became palpable, German said, “Where’s our first stop today?”

Smiling, I announced without an ounce of hesitation, “I need to go to campus to drop off my used books and meet with my counselor.”

“You can’t do all of that online?”German posed, clearly wanting to put the kibosh on me ever leaving the house again.

I shrugged.“I could, but I’d rather do it in person.”

“Maddy, it’s my job to keep you safe,” the obstinate biker began to lecture.

“It is,” I quickly agreed.“And that’s why Daddy hired you.When I need to go places, you escort me and keep me safe.Who’s stupid enough to mess with a big, bad, biker from the toughest MC around, right?”

German sighed and looked longingly down at his coffee.“Got any to-go cups around here?”

The ride over to campus was about an hour away.For once, I didn’t mind that German drove.Cranking my seat back and the radio up, I popped on a pair of sunglasses and enjoyed the ride with the top down.Not even five minutes in, I fell asleep and awoke when we rolled gently into the campus parking lot.

Stepping out of the car, I stretched like a cat that had been lazily napping in a sunny windowsill.“I can understand why you like riding your motorcycle so much.There’s just something about the fresh air that’s so peaceful and exhilarating.”

German paused and his intense brown eyes drank in my stretch.“You like the bike, Babe?”

Grateful I was wearing oversized sunglasses that helped disguise some of my blush, I smiled guiltily when I realized the motorcycle was symbolic of the man himself.“Sure.All that power and speed.The freedom of the open road.What’s not to like?”

Gaze burning into mine, German’s whiskey-toned eyes practically smoldered.“I’ll take you for a real ride sometime.Then you can get the full effect.”

I wasn’t sure if we were speaking in innuendos or not at this point.My skin grew warm and my nipples hardened at his promise of taking me “for a real ride”.Whatever that meant, I was in.

“I’d like that,” I practically moaned, my body kicking into sixth gear like my car did on the highway when German had opened her up and tested her strength and stamina.

German’s cell chimed with a text.The moment shattered, he dug into his pocket and extracted the device.Frowning, he read the message and then typed something back before repocketing the phone.

I’d been enjoying our morning so much, I’d almost forgotten last night’s travails.That text caused everything to rush back in one powerful flood of fear and concern.“Everything okay?”

“Yeah.It was just my Brother Pipe getting back to me with something.Are we going to the bookstore first?”German asked, slyly diverting my attention away from all the drama.

Reaching into the car, I pulled out my backpack full of used textbooks.I could have bought the electronic version, but I was a tactile kind of girl.Call me old-fashioned, but I liked holding onto a book.Being able to write in the margins or bookmark something physically when I was studying.

“That makes sense,” I said, lugging the weighty backpack up and over my shoulder.

German walked over and snatched it from me.“Lead the way.”

I didn’t protest his carrying my books.Why the hell would I?Not once in high school had my childhood boyfriend done that for me.I only wished men did things like this more often.The gesture was so sweet, so romantic, I could have smiled.Or cried.

Making our way over to the bookstore, I piled my returns on the counter and got pennies on the dollar for my castoffs.That’s why I hadn’t turned them all back in.Besides being a semi-book hoarder, I liked being able to reference the most useful ones whenever I wanted to reread something I’d learned.

Strolling around the gift shop, I began shopping the racks of merch.Secretly, I would have loved going to school in person and living on campus.However, my father had convinced me to do it online because we traveled so much.Now I couldn’t even do that.The thought of my father at the conference I’d looked so forward to attending with him all year suddenly stung so deep it made me ache with sadness and despair.

I didn’t tolerate my father’s absence well.I hated to be apart from those I loved.My therapist had labeled it ‘separation anxiety’ due to my mother’s unexpected death.At different points in my life, the thought of being away from my father had nearly been unbearable.Now, as an adult, I could manage it.But most days I felt like I was white-knuckling it until he returned.Strangely, German’s presence had helped me cope with my father’s absence.Though I still fiercely missed the man, I didn’t feel like I was holding my breath and counting down the seconds until he came home.

Grabbing some sweaters for me and my father to wear when he got back, I saw a long-sleeved thermal I thought German might appreciate.Snagging that item too, I popped it into my growing pile of purchases and finished skimming the store before going to checkout.

As I paid, I could see German out of the corner of my eye leaning against the back wall.The man wasn’t half as casual as his relaxed stance might suggest.He was definitely scoping the place out, making sure no one bothered me.

When I turned around with my bags, I noticed my friend Kayla standing behind me.“Hey, Kayla!”I said, genuinely pleased to see the girl.“What are you doing here?”

Kayla was one of the few people I knew on campus.And, strangely enough, we hadn’t actually met on campus.We’d met at the vet’s office I worked at.She, too, had owned a senior orange cat, Mario, who she’d unfortunately had to put down six months ago.As I’d comforted her loss in the office, we got to talking and I learned we went to school together.Kayla was three years into a nursing program while I was a business major in my senior year.As we’d talked, we discovered how much we had in common.I’d told her that once she was feeling up to it, I’d take her for drinks to celebrate Jenkin’s long life.That hadn’t happened yet.But since she was here now, I decided to invite her to lunch on campus.

As inconvenient as that might be with German in tow, I figured my having a babysitter wasn’t going to change any time soon.And, with how busy both Kayla and my schedule were, I might as well seize the day and make the most of the moment.

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