Whatever, Cowboy.

So Much for Talking_18

  Once again, Arizona took forever to get downstairs after her shower but Austin had to make sure the bike was ready to go and that we were wearing our jackets and helmets, so it wasn't that much of an issue.

  Austin moved to the warm garage and opened the door to the outside world, embracing the evening summer heat. His once damp, barely dried hair fluffed in the most uncoordinated manner. He pulled his heavy geared jacket over his shoulders and looked around his work area for his pants. He didn't necessarily have to worry about riding boots because he was already equipped with dirtied and tattered Dark Olive Suade explorer boots.

  Arizona stomped through the door, her heavy Doc Martins demanding to have a big show stopping moment. "Pants." Austin warned as a heavy pair of padded motorcycle pants was flung through the air toward Arizona's chest. "Jacket."

  "Wait!" Arizona cried out, barely catching the last throw. "Austin. Rude."

  "You took an hour to freshen up and dress up. That's not my fault, procrastinater." He spat, his words like weak acid. Arizona didn't mean to take offense but somewhere, deep down, his words hurt. She put her gear on silently and did not make comments afterward. Austin knew, by this hint, that he had hurt her and his guilt quickly forced him to apologize. "I'm sorry, Arizona. What I said was rude and rushed, I didn't have time to calm down and that turned out to cause an outburst." He gave the conversation silence to make room for Arizona's input but her remained silent, her eyes slow and glazed. Her frown was stone. "Ari, I love you. You know I love you, and you also know I didn't mean to hurt you." Arizona slowly approached Austin who was already in full gear, probably overheating. One moment, she was about 2 feet away, and the next, she was clung to Austin's torso. Hugging him so tight he almost couldn't breathe.

  "Are you kids leaving yet, Hun? It's 4:23, I thought you'd wanted to leave already." Their mom informed them from the house door.

  "Yeah, we'll be going in a few minutes."

  Austin and Arizona shuffled around the bike in full gear. Austin turned the bike on and waited to hear the exhaust kick and drop into a deeper tone before waving Arizona on. She climbed up and double tapped Austin on the stomach to let him know she got up okay. Austin kicked the support peg up and pushed toward the end of the driveway. Their mother and father waving from the porch behind them as Austin led onto the street.

  Once they finally arrived to Burger Royalty, Austin parked in the triangle stripped area, his makeshift parking spot for most places. They didn't bother to remove their gear or helmets until they got inside to order.

  "Hi, what can I get you two?"

  "Hello. May I get a number 1 combo with Carry Cola, please? Ari, what do you want?" Austin ordered, turning to a struggling Arizona. She couldn't get her helmet off, which as funny as it was, Austin helped immediately by unstrapping the chin strap for her. Arizona fought with her hair and ears to remove the helmet again, this time the helmet actually came off.

  "I am so sorry." Arizona said, out of breath, before continuing, "Can I have a number 3 combo with a vanilla shake, please?"

  As Austin and the cashier finished paying for the order, Arizona ran to her favorite seats and patiently waited for Austin. She looked at her phone and marked the time, "4:58."

  "Exactly, almost 5. Now eat so we can go." Austin hustled, the bags of food in his left hand and his helmet in the other.

  "Are you sure you don't just want to eat it when we get to our houses then?"

  "That's pretty inconsiderate to Alex or Tyler though."

  "True. Okay." Arizona resided, her argument not well enough thought through to continue. Austin stuffed the sandwich in his mouth as if he hadn't eaten in days. By the time Austin was finished, Arizona had barely eaten half. She pushed her fries toward him with a confused yet disgusted face.