24. The chapter with the riding lesson

Christian

A slightly more spontaneous smile appeared on her lips, but despite her acceptance the mood between us was still awkward. I stopped by the cafeteria to buy our lunch and a few minutes later we were sitting under the shade of a tree near one of the many wooden mills that were scattered around Grayfox Mills. That property was just outside the campus and was always empty and quiet, having become one of my favorite places when I wanted some peace.

" Wow, this place is really quiet," Rose commented, looking around.

" Yes, I like it here.

" A secluded and somewhat shady place. Why am I not surprised? " she teased, making me feel a little more at ease.

" You just said it was a quiet place," I commented, opening my backpack and taking out the paper bag with our lunch.

" But yeah, I bet the only ones who come here are you and the spirits that live in that abandoned windmill," she quipped.

I just laughed at that remark, watching her face again, as much as she tried her best to joke, it was quite clear that she was not that comfortable. I took one of the individual pizza boxes out of the paper bag and handed it to her.

" How are you?”

" Like I was run over by a tractor and then left by the side of the road," she sighed, holding the small paper box without opening it, "the worst part is that everyone is staring at me.”

" I know that everything that happened was shit, but soon it will pass, people forget fast " I reassured her " And while they don't, a pepperoni pizza should help.”

A small smile appeared on her lips before she began to concentrate on her pizza, accepting the can of soda I offered her next. We ate in silence for a few minutes, until she spoke again.

" What about your face? " Rose pointed to the bruise on my cheek that surrounded the cut made by the ring the jerk was wearing on his finger.

That area was sore, but it was nothing I couldn't handle. It could have been worse.

" It was nothing, I told you, just a scratch," I assured her.

" Yes, you did," she looked away again, looking embarrassed.

I was thinking of a way to bring it up, but she was quicker.

" Chris, about yesterday... I'm so sorry for what happened... I'm so ashamed"

" Rose, I apologize if it seemed like I rejected you, I didn't mean to offend you, I just couldn't correspond with you in that state.”

" No, you did the right thing. It would be very strange to wake up in the morning and have you there, I was not in my normal state," she pleaded, turning to me.

I absorbed those words, fully understanding their meaning. She was not willing to do that again when she was sober, so the least I could do to preserve our friendship was to pretend to feel the same way.

" It was a drunken accident, it happens. You don't have to worry about that, I'm just glad you didn't get hurt last night," I assured her.

" More than my pride, you mean.”

" The good thing is that your pride is too big to suffer much damage," I teased her, getting a small laugh in return.

I watched her sitting next to me in silence. The mood had lightened a bit after our brief conversation, but it wasn't enough to return her to her usual irritating state. It was then, as I looked at my motorcycle and the deserted place we were sitting in, that an idea I was sure I would regret came to me.

" Come on, get up," I ordered as I stood up, gathering the pizza boxes and soda cans into a paper bag and stowing them in the bike's side saddlebag.

" What? Are we going already? I thought we would stay here longer," Rose returned with a frown, accepting the helmet I offered her.

" And I thought you wanted to learn to ride," I indicated to my fat boy with my head.

I watched with pleasure as Rose's face lit up at the realization of that sentence, and she took the helmet from me, holding on tightly to keep from jumping for joy.

" You can do the little dance," I crossed my arms, waiting for a few seconds while the girl exaggerated her excitement. “Now that's enough.”

She stopped jumping, smiling as she looked at me.

" I'm ready now," she tried to remain serious.

" Here we go. The basics, first you're going to get on the bike, carefully," I instructed.

" I thought you'd never let me touch your precious Harley," she mocked, doing as I told her.

I watched her for a second, and I must admit that she looked pretty good there. Even though she was wearing only a paint-smeared jumpsuit and her hair was tied up in a bad ponytail.

" If you scratch my bike, I will slit your throat and throw your body into the river," I threatened, trying to rid myself of the shadow of that irresistible attraction from yesterday.

"Please leave my body with clothes on," she requested with a pout.

" What? " I frowned as I approached her to show her everything she needed to know.

" I don't want to be on the front page of the newspapers as the girl who was the victim of a sex maniac in Grayfox Mills," Rose explained to me.

" Sex maniac? " I crossed my arms, raising both eyebrows in response.

" You could spread some candles and draw some symbols on the floor, so that I would be immortalized as the victim in a macabre and sinister ritual," she continued rambling.

" Has anyone ever advised you to go to therapy? Because there's definitely something out of place in your little head," I drummed my knuckles on her helmet.

Rose laughed, leaving the mood behind. I climbed on the bike behind her, getting a little closer to her body.

" Come on, first of all, you need to adjust the rearview mirror.

" Okay," she agreed, adjusting the mirror.

I moved even closer to her body, fitting it to mine, feeling my heart speed up with all that closeness. I ran my hands down her arms until I reached her hands, guiding them to the handlebars. My face was close to hers, and for a second I took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of her skin that was even better than yesterday without the alcohol in the way.

" Right hand, brake and accelerator. You have to twist your wrist slowly to accelerate. Left hand is the clutch," I began to explain, losing focus a little when Rose turned her face to look into my eyes.

I could kiss her right then and there, more than kiss her, my mind was working frantically on the most diverse possibilities of what we could do there.

" Rear brake on the right foot " I ran my hand down her leg, adjusting it to the position needed to use it.

Rose stood still for a few seconds, alternating her gaze between my mouth and my eyes before taking a deep breath, looking straight ahead again as if affected by our situation.

" Ready? Neutralize by pulling the pedal up and you're good to go," I let her go, trying to control my body, which was beginning to react to hers.

The first time she tried, the bike jerked and died, but it didn't take long for her to get the bike moving, struggling to balance herself.

" Look forward, not at the wheel, you'll knock us down," I warned.

A few times I had to help her keep her balance, but Rose soon got the hang of it, moving forward at a slow but steady pace, stopping when she reached the windmill. I lowered the side stand of the bike, while Rose looked ecstatic.

" I did it, and I didn't fall once! " she turned to look at me.

The intensity of the desire I felt for her at that moment surprised me, everything about her seemed to attract me. I moved my hips a little so that she wouldn't notice my chaotic state.

" You did much better than I expected," I got off the bike, turning my back to her, taking advantage of a trash can near the locked rear door of the mill to take out the paper bags with our lunch packages that were in the leather bag on the side of the bike, along with Rose's wallet.

" Will you let me try another day? " She probed me, standing next to me.

I watched her, giving a small, sideways smile at the expression that took over her face, quite different from when I had met her earlier. At least she had forgotten a little about what happened before.

" I'll still kill you if you scratch my bike, but we can try.” I crossed my arms and turned to face her.

We spent a few seconds staring at each other in that position, the tension between us seemed palpable, and I expected just a little attitude from her to encourage me to act. Attitude that didn't come.

" Are you ready to go back? If we delay any longer we'll be late," I looked away, putting on my helmet before getting on the bike.