Chapter Nineteen
Xavier
A day out helping the community with Holly had left me feeling elated. I suddenly felt a desperate need to do something crazy. I wished it could be like the good old days when I’d go speeding on my bike after drinking a few bottles of beer. I wanted to feel the wind on my face, and I wanted to feel the pounding in my heart. There was something about living on the edge that had always excited me. Sadly, that edge was exactly what had gotten me into trouble the last time. I had to be more careful now, but it didn’t mean I couldn’t have fun. I was picking Holly up at seven, and even though I’d promised her a dinner date, it didn’t mean I had to stick to the normal rules. I was going to pick her up on my motorcycle, and even though we weren’t going to drive fast, I wanted her to feel a bit of what I felt when I rode Norman.
I got home, showered, and rushed to the shops to plan a little surprise. I made it just in time to get to her house at seven. When she opened the door, I smiled at how beautiful she looked. She was wearing dark black jeans, a powder blue shirt, and dark blue sneakers. It was a good thing she wasn’t wearing a dress. I resisted the urge to kiss her and was grateful that Rick was lurking in the living room. It was going to be very hard to stop myself, though. I suddenly felt excited for the night ahead even though I knew I shouldn’t be. Nothing was going to happen, I tried to remind myself. Nothing should happen.
“Good outfit for a bike ride,” I said and grinned at her.
She groaned and peeked out the door to see my bike. “What? Your bike? You know I’m petrified of those things.”
“Don’t you trust me?”
“No.”
I laughed. “Come on; I promise nothing will happen to you.”
Just then Rick walked by and greeted me. He too frowned when he saw the helmet in my hand.
“You’re not taking her out on that thing of yours, are you?”
“That thing? Come on, what’s wrong with the two of you? You know I ride carefully. And I’ll go even slower with Holly with me. I promise. I even brought an extra helmet for you, Holly,” I said and held it out to her.
She looked at her father and rolled her eyes.
“Does he drive well?” she asked him.
Rick laughed. “As long as you’re not going too far, I don’t mind.”
“I hate you for this,” Holly said and put her helmet on. She looked ridiculously cute in it.
We walked over to the bike. I climbed on and told her to climb on behind me and wrap her arms around me as tightly as she wanted to.
“You promise you’ll go slow?” she said to me.
I smiled. She was in luck. “I promise,” I said.
I decided to drive around for about fifteen minutes, even though we weren’t going very far at all. I basically did a full circle once I’d passed where I wanted us to be. When I eventually stopped the bike, she smiled.
“What? How did it take us so long to get here?”
I chuckled. “I just did a wide circle. I wanted you to feel what it was like to be on a bike. Did you enjoy it? You don’t have to lie. If you hated it, you can tell me.”
She took off her helmet, and her hair blew in the breeze. “I was scared at first, but I started to loosen up towards the end. And . . . well . . . it was amazing.”
I stared at her. “Seriously? You’re kidding, right?”
She shook her head and smiled again. “I’m not kidding. It was incredible. I felt so free. I’ve never felt that before.”
“It’s even better when you ride fast.”
“Yeah, I noticed that you weren’t going fast. How come? I thought you would love the adrenaline rush of speeding.”
“I do. But I promised you I’d go slow, remember? And I’m a man of my word.”
She smiled. “You sure did. Thank you for that. I actually enjoyed it.”
“I’m glad. I was hoping you would fall for Norman like I did,” I said and then groaned as I said the words. I’d never told anyone that name, but now that I’d said it I knew it was too late.
She cocked her head to the side. “Hang on a second; you’ve named your bike?”
“Uh, maybe,” I said uncomfortably.
“Cool! I named my car.”
I looked up, surprised. “You did? What did you call it?”
“My car is a she, not an it,” she said and chuckled. “And her name is Sarah.”
“Such a normal name.”
“Says the guy that named his bike Norman.”
I laughed. “That’s true. Uh, I hope you don’t mind, but could you not tell anyone about that name. I’ve never told anyone that before.”
She smiled. “Seriously? Of course, I won’t say anything. But for what it’s worth, I think it’s really cool. So, what’s going on? Is there a new restaurant around here?”
I’d taken her to our old high school. It was a place I used to go whenever I wanted a moment away from the world.
“Nope, this is it. This is our restaurant for the evening.”
“I don’t understand.” She looked around as if trying to see if she was missing some hidden restaurant lurking in the darkness.
“Follow me.”
I led her towards the field and took out the small blanket that I had brought with. There were a few lights on the field, but otherwise, it was really dark. There was something about the expanse of grass all around us and the wide-open space that made me feel like I could breathe again. I often wondered what life would be like in a city like New York or London. Didn’t the people get claustrophobic? I needed time away from the world to breathe every now and again.
“We’re having dinner here?” she asked as she took a seat. I was glad to see that she seemed pleasantly surprised by the turn of events. I knew that Holly was the sort of girl that would appreciate something like this. Not everyone would’ve been the same.
I smiled. “We are. I got us some takeout,” I said as I pulled out a few containers out my bag. “I wasn’t sure what you’d like, so I got a bit of everything. I know you said you liked all food, but I wanted to make sure.” I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that all the containers had survived the trip. I’d been worried that they’d open up in the bag and we’d have nothing to eat.
“Xavier. This . . . this is amazing. This is so much better than sitting in some restaurant.”
“I’m glad you like it. I thought it would be nice to do something different. Quite a change from the noisy club too.”
“Do you come here often?”
“I do.”
She chuckled. “So this is how you get the girls?”
“Actually, you’re the first girl I’ve ever brought here. I tend to come here alone. It’s a great place to think. Sometimes I just come here and sit for a little while, gather my thoughts. It’s so peaceful here.”
She smiled at looked at me strangely.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” I asked.
“There’s so much more to you than meets the eye. I like that.”
“Do you ever feel like people just don’t get you? I feel that all the time.”
“Xavier, that’s the story of my life. You know that about me already, though. Nobody ever gave me a chance. But I had no idea that someone as popular and good looking as you would feel that way too.”
“I’m not popular.”
“You are, or were. I mean, I don’t know what your life is like now, but I doubt it’s very different from how it was from before. Everyone wanted to be around you.”
“Being surrounded by people doesn’t mean that I don’t get lonely.”
She shook her head. “I would never have known that. I probably should know not to judge people, but still . . . to me, you’ve got it all.”
“Nah, we all have our insecurities. So, how does it feel to be back here?”
“Kind of surreal. If someone told me back then that I’d be sitting here at night with a handsome man, I’d have laughed at them. And yeah, I know this is not a date or anything, but it’s nice to know that my life has changed so much.”
“I would’ve still done this with you back then, you know.”
“I know. You were the only one that was nice to me. And Andrea. She was cool too. Man, I used to get teased so much. Maybe it’s a good thing. Maybe I’ll become a stronger person because of those days.”
“No way. Nobody should have to be teased. That’s not how life should be.”
“Why were you so good to me?”
“What do you mean? We’re friends; why shouldn’t I be good to you?”
“You were so popular. You didn’t have to be so nice to me.”
I groaned. “Holly, I know I didn’t have to do anything. Have you ever stopped to wonder if maybe I just wanted to do those things for you? I’ve always believed in sticking up for people.”
“Well, thanks, Xavier. I mean it. Hey, does anyone still call you Fireball?” she asked suddenly.
I groaned. “How do you remember that?”
Fireball was one of the nicknames given to me by the motorcycle club I was a part of. All the guys in my family were a part of a club at some point in our lives. People were spread far and wide now, so they went to the chapter that was nearest to them, but every year or so all the chapters tried to have a rally to get together in one location. They were good people, and I felt a sort of kinship with them. It obviously had something to do with our love of motorcycles that made us like each other so much.
“I just remember you all had nicknames. You once named them all for me, and I was delighted.”
“Oh yeah, I remember that. I thought you’d laugh but you thought it was amazing and you said that you wished you had a nickname too.”
“And then you said that I would just have to join the club if I wanted a nickname.”
“And that’s when you laughed.”
She chuckled. “I’d forgotten all about that.”
“I’m sure there are tons of things in our childhood that we have forgotten.”
“This is nice, Xavier. Just catching up like this. And this food is incredible.”
“I’m sorry there’s no wine. I don’t like to drink if I’m riding, but I should’ve at least bought you some. I’m an idiot.”
Holly laughed. “Are you kidding me? After the other night, I don’t want to see alcohol for a long time. I can barely think about it, so I’m glad that you didn’t bring any.”
“Oh yeah, I forgot about that. How about coffee or tea?”
“Coffee would be amazing. I’m only really a tea drinker when I’m at home. Nobody makes tea like my father.”
I tried not to pull a face at the mention of the milky tea that she obviously loved so much. I was sure even Rick thought I loved the stuff because I couldn’t bear the idea of hurting his feelings.
“I’d also love some coffee. Let’s finish up here and then go back to my place,” I said casually. “Because I don’t have any here.”
“Hey, you tricked me into going back to your place!” she exclaimed in mock horror.
I laughed. “You don’t have to.”
“Just kidding. I don’t need tricking,” she said and giggled.
We finished up our food, took a walk around the field and then made our way back to the bike. Just then a car drove past and slowed down. The car stopped in front of us, and when the window wound down, I saw it was one of the ladies from the church. She’d been there when we were helping out that day. I forgot her name, but she clearly knew who we were.
“Oh, I thought it was the two of you. What are you both doing here at night? This is a strange place to be hanging around.”
“I took Holly for a spin.”
“Does your father know about that, Holly?” she asked.
“He sure does,” she said and smiled.
“Well, okay then. Have fun. Be careful.”
As she drove off, I looked at Holly and laughed. “I love everyone from this community, but sometimes they can be a real pain. She’s always been a nosy one.”
Holly chuckled. “Yeah. She didn’t look too impressed with us.”
“So, ready for another ride?”
“I’m actually looking forward to it.”
“I’ll go the long way home. Then how about we watch a movie? I have a good scary movie at home we catch watch.”
“Oh no. I hate scary movies.”
“Yeah but you also hated motorcycles until recently. And anyway, I know just the man to protect you.”
She rolled her eyes. “You’re a pain; you know that?”
I laughed. She hopped onto the bike and wrapped her arms around me, embracing me from behind. I could feel her warmth radiate across my back, and I loved it. I knew she wasn’t that scared of it anymore, but she still held on tightly. It felt good to have her holding me that way, and as we drove the long way home, I realized that it almost felt too good. What was I doing? I kept telling myself that this wasn’t a date, but it certainly felt like one.