Page 98 of Best Man
“You seem so quiet tonight,” he said.
She broke eye contact in a hurry. “Yeah. I know. Sorry.”
“What is it?” he asked gently. “What’s bothering you?”
She hesitated at first. “I’m just out of it. It’s been such a crazy day since the moment I woke up.”
That didn’t sound good.
“Crazy how?” he asked.
“Because …” She trailed off with a huff, as if her inability to speak her mind frustrated even herself. “I dunno. It’s, um, a long story.”
A long story? That sounded even worse.
“Oh. Okay,” he said.
The gulf between them was widening, and Niko’s disappointment grew with it.
They walked through the parking lot filled with fancy cars before coming to a stop in front of Niko’s Ducati SuperSport. The sleek motorcycle came in titanium gray and had flashy red wheels.
“This one’s mine,” he said, bending down to unlock the helmet. He passed it to her. “Here. This is for you.”
She blankly stared at the motorcycle helmet as if it scared her and she didn’t want anything to do with it.
“Oh. I didn’t realize you rode your motorcycle here,” she said at last, sounding disinterested.
Niko was stumped. It wasn’t like he’d sprung this on her. Sheknewhe rode a motorcycle—they’d talked about it over the past few weeks. She’d never been on one before and she’d told him how excited she was to ride with him. But now she was getting cold feet?
“You still want to ride with me, don’t you?” he asked.
She hesitated. “Y-yeah, sure.”
“Okay. Here. Let me help you with this.” He stepped closer, slid the helmet onto her head, snugged up the chin strap and snapped the button shut. He flipped the visor up so he could see her pretty blue eyes. “There we go.” He stepped back to admire her. “Damn. Look at you. You are going to look so hot on the back of my bike.”
He straddled the sport bike and turned the key. The engine fired with a sporty snarl. But instead of hopping on the back where she belonged, she stood off to the side.
“Wait, where’syourhelmet?” she asked, her voice muffled in her helmet.
He pointed. “You’re wearing it,” he said casually, and gestured at spot behind him. “It’s fine,” he reassured her when her eyes widened with fear. “Hop on.”
She folded her arms. “I don’t know, Sasha. Maybe I should call a cab?”
“A cab? Why?”
“I don’t like that you don’t have your own helmet. What if we get in a wreck? What if something happens to you?”
“It’s a short ride to my hotel. Besides, I’m safe, and I’ll go slow for you.”
She looked off into the distance, unconvinced and looking like she wanted nothing to do with him. Niko’s heart was breaking. He wasn’t sure what he’d done or where it’d all gone wrong, but he was sure this was the beginning of the end. When communication broke down, it always meant things were ending.
“Or you can call a cab if you want, I guess,” the tone of defeat slipping into his voice. He cocked his head. “Please, just tell me something, because I don’t understand. A few days ago, you wanted to ride with me. Now you don’t want to? Whathappened, Paulina?”
“Nothing. I’m just being crazy.” She sighed. “I’m so sorry, Sasha. I hate to be like this with you. It’s just …”
Whatever it was, she had too hard of a time speaking it. The words simply wouldn’t come.
Niko sighed, too. “It’s okay, Paulina. I don’t want you to feel unsafe.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. “I’ll call you a cab.”
