Chapter Nine
Roxy’s POV
Jetlag was kicking my ass. It’s four in the morning, and the of three channels on the TV in my hotel room, two are showing infomercials and the other is scrolling through the TV Guide of shit I could be watching if I had more than four channels. So, I peeled myself off the couch to go over my materials for the conference, which starts up in two days. By eight a.m. I was dying to get out of my hotel room, so I grabbed a newspaper out of the lobby, and headed to the nearest Starbucks to kill the hour before the shops opened up.
Niall’s phone call came in the late morning. We’re both free today, so he wanted to try to get together before both of our schedules became more hectic. He was going to pick me up in a few hours to start the first segment of my tour of LA. As I stared at my new purchases laid out on the spare bed in my room, I contemplated the day’s outfit. He said to dress comfortably, and when I asked him to be more specific, he simply said “jeans”. Typical.
My phone rang. “Hi Niall, you stuck in traffic?” I asked, pinching the phone to my ear with my shoulder as I slipped on my shoes.
“No, I’m here. At your hotel. I was going to come up to get you, but there are a lot of people outside here, and I don’t want to…well..you know. Do you think you can just come down when you’re ready? No rush.” He said.
“Sure thing. I will be down in five.” I said, picking up the random clothing items that landed on the floor as I had second and third guessed my outfit.
“I can’t wait to see you. Oh hey Rox, throw your swim suit in your bag. You might need it.” He ended the call without giving me a chance to question him further. I took the elevator down and weaved through the lobby, which really was quite busy. I stood out front for a moment, looking around to figure out which car Niall was in, when I heard a cat-call whistle. I spun around expecting to have to tell someone off, to find Niall perched at the corner of the building, his hands in his pockets.
“What are you doing over there?” I asked, and walked up and greeted him with a hug. “I almost didn’t recognize you on this continent. Which car are we in?”
“We aren’t.” He said as he took my hand and pulled me to the side of the hotel.Parked there was a black and red Ducati sport bike. “I rented this for us.” He said, handing me one of the two fancy-looking helmets that were sitting on the seat of the bike. “We’ll need to do something about those shoes.” He said as he placed his helmet on and lifted the visor, so I could see his face.
“I don’t know about this, Ni. I am scared. I’ve never been on one of these things.” I said nervously, looking down at the helmet in my hands. I didn’t want to be a wet blanket, but my pulse was rising for all the wrong reasons.
“There’s nothing to be nervous about. I’ve been riding these things forever. My brother and I had one growing up. I promise I won’t do anything crazy.” He said as he helped me with the helmet and on to the bike. He took his place in front of me, and wrapped my arms around his waist. “You have to hold on, and lean with me as I’m driving.” He flipped my visor down and gave me a thumbs up. Once I returned the gesture, he started up the engine, and we took off.
We stopped a short while later at store specializing in motorcycle gear. I hopped off the seat, still feeling the vibration in my legs. I was still slightly on-edge, but Niall was a good driver, and it was hard not to enjoy being so close to him with my life in his hands. I am normally so in-control, that sometimes it can be refreshing to be forced to let it go.
We made our way to the shoe section of the store. Everything was so pricey. “Sit here.” He said, leading me to a bench. “I will go grab some options while you try on. We’ll be here for days if I turn you loose. What size?”
“Eight.” I said, knowing what he was up to. “Just pick some cheap ones!” I said loudly as he walked away on his mission. He brought back three pairs and a pack of socks. I fell in love with very first pair, which were black leather with double buckles and studs going up one side. “Those are deadly.” He said with a smile. “Yeah, these are awesome. But how much are they?” I said, unzipping them and putting them back in the box. “They’re on sale! The price for you young lady, is a peck on the cheek.” He said, turning his head to the side and leaning in.
“Niall, you don’t have to do this…”I started, but he just stood there with his cheek in my face. I gave it a quick kiss, and he snatched up the shoe box and headed for the register. “Thank you.” I said as we walked out of the store and back toward the bike. “Don’t mention it, love.” He replied. “Are you getting hungry? I am going to take us to this place I know just outside the city. They have cold beer and a killer burger.”
Niall’s POV
I took my eyes off the road briefly and glanced down to see her hands clasped around me, her thumbs moving slowly across the fabric of my shirt, keeping time with the cracks in the road. She caught my reflection in the side mirror, and flipped up her visor to flash a smile. This is living, I thought to myself; what it’s all about. I work too fucking hard, and I have given up too fucking much. I’ve let this life get to me, let it wear me down. But right now, with these tires on the pavement, the rush of the wind on my skin, and a girl that makes me laugh holding me tight, I feel like the world is getting right again.
About twenty minutes outside the city, we’ve hit a bit of traffic. I’m not so good with traffic. But, I try to be on my best behavior, for her sake. I put my feet on the ground as we came to a complete stop. Roxy loosens her grip, but keeps her hands at my hips, peering over my shoulder to try to figure out what’s holding us up. From the car next to us, I hear the familiar sounds of the guitar, and “hey girl it’s now or never…”. Roxy hears it too, and she starts excitedly poking me in the ribs.
She hops off the back of my bike, pulls off the helmet and begins to dance around. I don’t know what’s gotten into her, but I am enjoying the show and having a laugh from the anonymity of my helmet. She’s reached into the car playing our song and turned the volume way up. The people in nearby cars are enjoying it as well, and some are playing the same radio station at full volume now. I notice one man is even recording with his phone. This girl’s gone nutty. As the song plays on, Roxy dances back over and flips up my visor, just in time to sing my small solo “we’ll be doing what we do, just pretending that we’re cool..” to me, her arms draped across my shoulders, her hips still swinging.
By the third repeat of the chorus, she’s coaxed three little girls out of the back of a station wagon and they’ve all linked hands and are dancing in a circle, spinning one way and then the other, all while jumping to the beat. She looked like a fool, and she just did not care. It was like a scene from a movie. I could see movement in the cars up ahead. Roxy’s noticed too, and she gets the kids back into their car before running back over to the bike and jumping on, shoving on her helmet just as I begin to inch forward. I was able to get up to full speed in no time. I needed off this motorway, so I headed for the next exit.
Roxy’s POV
I pressed myself against Niall, thankful for a moment to catch my breath. I am not sure what came over me just then, but when I heard that song start to play, I felt nineteen again, stupid and carefree. As I smiled into his back, I wondered what he must be thinking of me, and my random dance party. He hadn’t said a single word.
I have to remind myself to lean with him on the bike as he changes lanes, and he takes the exit ramp. He’s going a bit faster than I’d like, but I just close my eyes and grip a little tighter. He takes the hint and slows. As I open my eyes, we’re turning into an empty parking lot of an old car dealership, right off of the freeway.
“Is this the place?” I ask Niall as he cuts the engine and takes off his helmet, dropping it to the ground as he spins around to face me. “What the hell was that back there?” he yelled over the sound of the cars on the freeway. “Huh?” he pressed.
I didn’t know what to say. I wasn’t sure what his reaction would be, but I certainly didn’t expect him to be angry. I took of my helmet and got off the bike, trying to come up with words to explain away the look of confusion on his face. “I…I’m sorry, I…” I started. He stood and placed his hands at the sides my face. Our eyes locked and he paused briefly before bringing his lips to mine. He moved one of his hands toward the back of my head, as I rose up on my toes in response. I placed my hands loosely at his waist, the tips of my fingers gripping just slightly. I wondered if his eyes were open, but I didn’t dare open mine to find out. My heart was racing, the pace increasing each time he pulled away slightly to inhale only to return to my lips again.
His hand left my face and fell upon my hip, as I finally opened my eyes. He took a step back, and didn’t take his eyes off mine, waiting for me to speak. “Whoa.” was all that I managed. I was in a state of shock, and a smile made its way across his face. He bent over to pick up his helmet and took his place on the bike. “Hurry and get on. I’m ready for that pint.” He said.