Don't Forget Me

Chapter 20

After Lisa asks Albert to put my "winnings" back in the walk-in, I follow her out the squeaky front door and around the side of the shop, where a fourwheeler is parked in the shade. It's obviously been through it. The green paint is faded and scuffed, and the tires are heavily caked with mud.

I expect to walk right by, but then Lisa plants her boot on the foothold and swings her leg over the seat to the other side. She turns and flicks her head at me as if to say Hop on, but I've never ridden one before and to be honest, I'm a little nervous.

"Don't worry. I have my license." She smirks, dimples forming in her cheeks that I've never noticed before.

Her expression doesn't reassure me one bit, but I guess it beats walking, considering I almost died of heat exhaustion when we hiked out to the woods the other day.

I step up beside it, unsure of exactly where to get on. It must be obvious by the look on my face, because she reaches back and pats the small space behind her. I climb up about 10 percent as gracefully but finally settle in where I think I'm supposed to be.

She stands up and kicks her foot down onto a metal pedal, throwing her whole weight behind it. The thing doesn't start so she does it again and again, until finally, the motor growls to life under us. As she plops down on the vinyl seat in front of me, I scoot back to give her as much room as possible, but I'm not sure this thing was meant for two people.

I fumble around behind me, trying to find a spot to grab onto, but nothing feels sturdy enough.

"Hold on to me," Lisa says, raising her voice over the sound of the idling motor as she readjusts the bottom of her cutoff shirt.

I start to reach for her waist, but just the thought of holding on to her like that makes me feel a little... weird. So instead, I clamp my hands over her shoulders, leaving about half a foot of space between the two of us. She turns her face to the side, and the sun lights up her brown eyes as she peeks back at me.

"Ready?"

"Ready," I reply.

I was NOT ready.

Lisa twists the throttle and my weight gets thrown backward all of a sudden, sending a screech from my throat that I don't even recognize as my own voice. Just as I start to lose my grip on her shoulders, she releases the throttle and I fly forward into her back, completely eliminating the six inches I had left between us.

"I told you to hold on to me," she says, bringing us to a stop.

"Well, I didn't know you meant for dear life!" I yell back at her.

I slide backward on the seat, but then this time, I plant my hands on either side of her waist, wondering if it feels as odd for her as it does for me.

"Ready?" she asks sarcastically, and I roll my eyes from behind her.

"Ready," I reply, sinking my fingers into her skin, my chest tingling as I prepare for takeoff again.

Lisa hits the throttle a little softer this time, and soon we're flying across the field, racing the big puffy clouds as the wind blows them east. When we run over small uneven patches of dirt and rocks, I tuck my head in behind her, blocking the wind from my face.

As we find our way onto more of a path, Lisa pulls back on the throttle a little harder and my stomach jumps up into my throat, my hair whipping all around my face.

I let out a gasp as we take a sharp curve, thinking of my stitches that have just healed. "Lisa! Slow down!" I yell, and immediately, she lets off the gas a little.

Weird or not, I pull myself forward on the seat until I'm right up against Lisa's back. I slide my hands all the way around her, locking them in front of her body almost like a hug. And for the first time since I got on this thing, I actually feel safe.