I'm No Good At Goodbyes

Chapter 62

We rode quickly down the flat dirt path, no doubt in my mind that Austin was pushing normal car speed with the quad as he easily navigated it through the trails like a cowboy making a routine trip through the prairie, knowing exactly where the obstacles were that he needed to avoid. I clutched onto him tightly, the side of my cheek resting against his back as I looked out at the mountains that seemed to surround us like guards watching over their kingdom.

They were beautiful, each one never really looking identical to the one before. Some being slightly higher, others more jagged, some barren of any kind of vegetation while others were covered in tall skinny pines from the foot to the summit. Yet some were still covered in the tiniest bit of snow that still clung to life in the shadow of which it dwelled. Regardless how they appeared they were all beautiful in their own way and definitely not even closely related to those that surrounded us at our home in Cottonwood.

I felt the speed at which we were traveling start to slow, Austin's one hand leaving the handlebar as he brought it down to rest on top of mine, before he removed the other letting the quad idle in it's spot as he turned around to look at me. He pushed his glasses up on top of his hat, an already prominent dust line forming from where they sat as he did the same to me.

"You okay back here my little Koala Bear?" he asked with a chuckle, his thumb reaching out to rub at something on my cheek that was undoubtedly a dirt patch before he gave up, my assumption being that he wasn't able to make it go away no matter how hard he rubbed.

"You look like a little racoon" I chuckled, a playful look coming over his face as he tried his best to pretend that I hurt his feelings.

"Well, I hope I look like a cute racoon if you are going to insist that I look like one" he smiled as I leaned forward and rested my chin on his shoulder.

"Only the cutest one that I have ever seen" I said quietly into his ear, his head turning so he could press his lips against mine, the softness of it being taken away by tiny dust particles resting on his pouty lips before we pulled away slowly.

"How about the second cutest because I think you take home the award for the cutest racoon today" he smiled as I squeezed my arms around him tightly, his head looking around us quickly as I looked at him confused.

"Did you lose something?" I asked him.

"No, I'm just wondering if you saw that tiny human that was trying to give me a tight hug. I seem to have missed her" he said, his tongue poking into the side of his cheek as he glanced over at me out of the corner of his eye.

"Fine you know what, no more hugs for you" I said as I pulled my arms away from him, my hands gripping onto the rack behind me as I looked at him with a raised brow.

"You know, it'll be awfully uncomfortable to ride up that tiny path like that" he said, his right index finger pointing up a narrow, steep and rocky incline. "Plus, I need to make sure you are there. It's bad enough I can't even feel you back there unless you hold on to me tightly" he said making air quotes around the last word.

"Okay, then after we climb this hill of doom that looks extremely fun" I said, a small chuckle leaving his lips as he shook his head. "No more hugs for you"

"Hmmm I think we'll see about that SiSi, I'm sure I can get you to change your mind" he chuckled. "Hold on my little Koala" he said, making a left turn as he hit the throttle hard so we could make it up the incline quickly.

We crested the top of the hill, Austin not slowing any as we weaved through the tiny path that led through the dense forest, the loud noise of the quad scaring the birds and small animals that were resting peacefully in their nests out of hiding as they quickly scattered in all directions.