“No, you seemed pretty content in your dream.”
He blushed. Eager to change the conversation, “Did a little shopping, did you?”
“What?” She looked down at the bags she was carrying. “Oh, yeah, a little. Actually, I got something for you.”
“Did you now?”
“Yeah, a sort of…thank you.” She smiled.
“Thanks for what?”
“I don’t really know.” She said as she handed him his present.
“A cactus? Is this so I can prick myself?” He thought for a moment. “Or is it a metaphor for how I’m a prick?”
She laughed. “No, though you can be.” She smiled at him and his heart melted a bit. “It’s so you’ll always have your scenery from that first night nearby.”
He laughed. “I told you, I wasn’t there for the cactus.”
“Call it an inside joke.”
“Well,” he said. He smiled an honest smile at her. “Thanks. I like it. I really do.”
She noticed the photos on his lap. “Oh, I totally forgot about those. Anything interesting?” She moved to his side.
“Other than pictures of mailboxes you mean?”
She didn’t react to his comment, as though it was perfectly normal to have pictures of mailboxes.
“There was one photo that made me curious.” He showed her the picture with the mystery man.
She walked away and started taking clothes out of her shopping bags.
“Something wrong, sunshine?”
She let out a small laugh that sounded like a slight cough. “You haven’t called me that in a while.”
“I haven’t needed to.”
“That’s me and my ex-boyfriend.”
He looked a little puzzled.
“The one I’m ‘running’ from.”
“Oh. Sorry. Knew there was a reason I didn’t like him.”
Kennedy shook her head at Emmerick as though she were in disbelief. “How can you not like him? You don’t even know him.”
“Maybe not, but I can see his devilish grin.” He paused to see her reaction to his observation. “And the disappointed look on your face.”
“You get all that from that one stupid photo?”
“Yes. Care to confirm my suspicions?”
“Well, that’s the day we broke up.”
Emmerick gave her a look that asked her to continue.
“We’d been dating for a little over a year. He was frustrated with me because I wouldn’t take it to the next level.” She sighed. “The night before that picture was taken, I gave in. My first time.” She looked down. “My last time.”
“So why’d you break up with him the next day?”
She sighed. “He acted like he owned me. Like I was a conquest that he conquered. He didn’t respect me. He acted like, how do I put it, like a high school kid who wanted to show off that he hit that. He got a piece of that ass.” Her eyes were burning now. “I trusted him, I opened up to him, and it backfired. The way we ran into each other, the way our relationship started, I thought for sure it was meant to be. Obviously I couldn’t have been more wrong.”
“What do you mean ‘the way you ran into each other?’”
“It was a complete chance meeting. I was at a coffee house with some friends. I didn’t even pick the place. I went to sit down, and he was there, across from where we were sitting. He recognized me and asked if I’d go for a walk with him.
“Apparently, I wasn’t over my crush, so I agreed. He told me about how he regretted what happened in high school. That if he would have known how I felt about him, he never would have dated my friend. He thought that I didn’t like him, and that was why my friend asked him out. He thought I must have just been screening him for her.
“Like an idiot, I fell for it. We were holding hands by the time we got back to the coffee house.” Silent tears were rolling down her cheeks. “I’m so stupid. I don’t know why I’m crying about it. He was an ass. He doesn’t deserve tears.”
“Kennedy. I’m, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought it up.”
“No, it’s ok. I needed to tell someone.” She wiped away the tears. “Any good photos in there?” She tried to snatch them from his lap, but he didn’t let her. His pulse quickened; he didn’t want her to realize that he took one.
“Well, I like the one of you and me, personally.” He held it up for her to see.
“Uck, I look awful.”
“I disagree.”
She rolled her eyes. “What else?”
He handed her the rest of the stack. As she flipped through them she looked as though she was concentrating. A half smile crossed her face.
“What?”
“I found my favorite.”
“Which?” He asked as she held up the candid one of him. The one she took to finish off the roll.
“Really? That’s an awful picture. My hair’s all crazy and I’m making a stupid face.”
She burst out laughing.
“What now?”
“Emmerick, that’s the face you always wear.”
He blushed. “Yeah, sure.” He grabbed the stack of photos from her. “That’s enough of that,” he said as he put them in her duffle. “What are we doing today?”
“I don’t know. You pick.”
“I could go for another tickle fight.” He started toward her making tickling motions with his hands.
“Ha! In your dreams.”
You have no idea, he thought.
“Try again.”
“A movie?”
“That could work.” She reached for the remote to check what was available.
He stopped her. “At the theater.” He smiled. “Followed by dinner.”
“What, like a date?” She looked slightly frightened.
“No. I just want an excuse to get you in a dark room.” He grinned.
She rolled her eyes. “Fine, but nothing scary.”
“Deal.”
They found a theater and picked a movie. Every time he tried to put his arm around her, she removed it. After what seemed like the hundredth time, she gave up. He was pleased.
After a while, she leaned her head on his shoulder. The movie was good, but she felt rather sleepy. He offered her some candy and she held out her hands for him to pour some in.
The credits started to roll. “Did you like it?” he asked.
She looked up at him to answer. His face was closer than she expected. She sat up, away from him. “It was ok, you?”
“I thought it was pretty funny.” He stood and stretched before offering a hand to help her up.
Of course she didn’t take it.
“Where do you want to eat?”
“Surprise me.”
“That will be a little hard without blindfolding you.” The people walking in front of them turned to look back. Apparently they missed the beginning of the conversation. It didn’t help when Kennedy blushed at the attention.
“You’re impossible.”
They walked the rest of the way to his bike in silence. He put Kennedy’s helmet on her head. Her hair was sticking out the side so he tucked it behind her ear.
“You know, I’m capable of putting a helmet on.”
“I know.”
She waited for him to elaborate, but he didn’t, so she got on the bike behind him.
He took her to an Italian restaurant. It was semi-fancy and rather intimate. They ate their pasta and talked about the movie, the trip, and where they would go next.
Upon leaving the restaurant, they decided they would head out in the morning. Kennedy had enough civilization and after she explained what had happened at the food court in the mall, Emmerick agreed with her.
When they got back to the hotel, Kennedy changed into her pajamas. She hadn’t realized how long they had been out. We must have been talking for a long time at the restaurant, she figured. It was the best date she never had.
Emmerick felt the same. He didn’t want it to end. He decided to give up on
the sweatpants and instead just stripped to his boxers.
After crawling under the covers, he invited Kennedy to join him. He wanted to keep talking. She told him stories from her childhood. He laughed more than he probably should have, but he couldn’t help but imagine a mini Kennedy doing the things she was describing.
He shared his stories as well. Most of them centered around his relationship with Claire. Kennedy seemed to enjoy hearing those.
She spoke of her times in college and how she didn’t fit in there either. She explained how it destroyed some friendships, which paved the way for a few others to blossom.
He shared how wild he had been in college, barely studying, always partying. He got his act together after a few years and managed to graduate with honors.
He was going on about a story involving his dorm mates and a drunken dare when he noticed that she had fallen asleep.
She looked at peace in her sleep, like her guard went down for the few hours she was out.
He turned out the light and fell asleep watching her sleep.
When he woke, Kennedy was still sleeping with her head on his shoulder. He could smell her hair. Still addictive. His arm was around her, holding her in place. He was sure that wasn’t how they had fallen asleep.
He tilted his head toward her ear and said, “Good morning, sunshine.”
It was barely a whisper, but it woke her. She was groggy. She stretched and twisted but he didn’t let go. Once she realized what was going on, she shot up.
“We better get a move on.” She headed to the bathroom. “I just need a shower first. Then we’ll go.”
What the hell is her problem? “Ok. I guess I’ll pack up.”
When her shower was done, he took his while she packed her things. She was strapping her bag to the bike when he came out the door with his.
She put her helmet on without a word and he followed suit. One of those mornings, apparently, he thought. Her behavior seemed to be becoming more and more erratic as each day passed.
Emmerick pulled onto the interstate and headed west. He wanted to get to the coast. The longer they drove, the more Kennedy seemed to be shifting. She was uncomfortable; that was obvious.
He thought about pulling over so she could stretch, but he decided to let her suffer through it. Maybe it was mean of him, but it was his small revenge against her craziness.
It took over five hours to reach the coast and he didn’t stop until they were there. He pulled into a gas station to fill his tank, and she went across the street to a diner, without saying a word.
He joined her and they ordered their food before they finally started talking.
“Everything ok?” He really wanted to understand her foul mood. Maybe it was because he hadn’t pulled over during the five hours.
“Yup. Everything’s great.” She smiled an obviously forced smile.
“Ok. So I was thinking we would head down 101 to the 1.” When she didn’t comment, he continued, “You know, the highway that follows the coast.”
“Yeah, I know what the 1 is. It sounds like a good idea.”
“I was thinking we could make a few stops along the way, more often than usual. See the beaches, go in the ocean, that sort of thing.”
“Yeah, ok.” The food arrived and she started eating without another word.
Emmerick followed suit. He had never been more confused by a woman in his life. He even considered calling Claire for some insight. Maybe Kennedy said something on the phone that would make sense of this. Or maybe Claire could just explain the inner workings of women in general. He had thought that growing up in a house full of them would have given him a good idea. Obviously he overestimated his comprehension.
His thoughts were interrupted by Kennedy’s voice. “Do you think I could drive for a little while?”
He almost spit his food out laughing. “Have you ever driven a bike before?”
“Well, no. How hard could it be?”
“Pretty hard, if you don’t know what you’re doing.”
“Please.” She pouted and batted her eyelashes.
He couldn’t resist. “Fine. But not today; it’ll be dark soon. You can drive tomorrow.”
“Deal.”
“Hold on, don’t get ahead of yourself. I reserve the right to take the privilege away should you prove dangerous.” He smiled to himself picturing her trying to drive a Harley. “Deal?”
She pouted a bit but still agreed.
When they finished eating, they drove south down US-101 until well after the sun set. He wanted to get to California, but when six hours had passed and they were still in Oregon, he knew it was a lost cause, so he pulled off the highway to get a room.
The motel was similar to the one from their first night together, but this time they shared a cabin.
The night was colder than they were used to. They hadn’t been close to the water at night yet, and the breeze made everything seem almost ten degrees cooler.
Kennedy’s thin pajama pants didn’t seem to be doing the job, so Emmerick threw his sweatpants at her. The cabin didn’t have two beds, so they just shared.
The next morning, Kennedy woke first. She was excited at the idea of driving down the coast. She lightly touched Emmerick’s face with the corner of the sheet. He swatted at it in his sleep. It made her laugh. Eventually, he hit himself pretty hard in the face and woke himself up. She was falling over laughing.
“Keep it up,” he croaked with his horse, sexy morning voice, “and we’ll see if you get to drive.” His eyes were still closed.
She stopped immediately and apologized before hopping out of bed to get dressed. Thinking his eyes would still be closed, she didn’t give much consideration to her modesty while she changed out of her pajamas.
He took it all in. Was he supposed to have some sort of super human resistance to stop him? Yeah, right.
She dug through his bag and threw clothes at him. “Let’s go. I’m starving.”
He rolled out of bed without thinking. He didn’t realize his mistake until her eyes widened, her face turned red, and she turned away.
He sighed and shrugged it off. Bound to happen sometime. He was actually surprised it took this long; they had been sharing a room long enough for this sort of mishap to happen more than once.
He dressed and zipped up his bag. “Ok. Let’s go get you some sausage.” He winked at her.
She shook her head and rolled her eyes then followed him out of the cabin to the bike.
After breakfast, he taught her how to drive. He had to start it for her, but other than that she seemed to be in control of the bike.
“Ok, now slowly release the clutch and give it gas.”
She jumped at the sound of his voice in her ear. “What the hell?”
He laughed. “The helmets have microphones and earphones. Makes it easier to communicate when you’re traveling with other bikers.”
“And you’re just now telling me about this?” She was horrified. “Have they been on this entire time?”
“No.”
“Good.”
“Why?”
“No reason.”
She had said things to him in the roar of the wind when she knew he could not hear her, things she didn’t want him to hear. She was incredibly thankful that the helmets had not been on.
“Hmmm. Well, let’s get going. We’re burning daylight.” He desperately wanted to know why she seemed concerned that the helmets may have been on without her knowledge, but would have to let it go for now. He needed to concentrate on her driving.
He started to reach for the back of the bike for a grip but then had a better thought. Instead he held her waist. If he were to grip her the way she did him, it would be sexual assault.
She did surprisingly well with the bike. He let her drive for a few hours. She seemed uneasy when the road got too curvy, so he had to talk her through it. She found his voice comforting, like a guardian angel in her head, guiding her. Eventually, she got tired of driving. She
wanted to enjoy the scenery. Besides, she favored being behind him. She could hold onto him and smell his cologne. It was intoxicating.
Emmerick noticed this benefit too. He could smell her shampoo pretty well while sitting behind her. It hadn’t been as potent since she had cut her hair, but having the wind whip it at him helped.
He was glad when she pulled off the highway. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could hold her waist like that without things happening.
“I give up.” She said through the com. “I want to look around, not drive.”
“Fine by me.” He scooted forward after she got off the bike. “Now get back on and let’s get going. I’d like to make it to Cali sooner rather than later.”
They drove until they were three hours north of San Francisco. By the time they finished eating, it was too late to go to the beach, so they bunked down for the night. They would see the beach in the morning and spend the day there.
The Beaches
Emmerick woke up early. He went outside to watch the sun rise over the ocean before heading to the store. He had purposefully gotten a room with a kitchenette so he could cook Kennedy breakfast. He told her that it was the cheapest room they had available when she asked about it. He wanted to surprise her, but she seemed determined not to be surprised.
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