One More Night | One Shot

One More Night

When I saw him that night for the first time in so long, I knew I couldn't let him walk away again.

***

"I was hoping you'd follow," he says when I stumble into the parking garage after him.

I hold my breath, trying to play it cool even though I feel a wave of uneasiness in my stomach.

It's really him.

"A motorcycle?" I manage to speak. "Since when?"

He's already mounted on the bike, a helmet between his hands and an amused glint in his eyes as he watches me watch him.

"Never rode one before, I take it?" he chuckles.

"No, it's just that I'm afraid of no seatbelts. And dying..." I chew on my thumbnail.

"You don't trust me?" His gaze is steady, soft, and warm.

"Trust you?" I repeat.

After what happened? Nothing can be the same again.

"No," I bite my lip. "I don't trust you."

But...maybe that can change.

"But I do believe in second chances."

I walk over and grab ahold of his shoulders from behind, hoisting myself onto the bike.

The moment my arms go around his chest, fingers interlocking tightly, the engine roars through my body sending pulsations into my veins. I gasp, feeling the rumble of his deep laughter through my fingertips.

"You sure you know what you're doing?" I ask over his shoulder.

He just angles his head to look at me and says, "Don't let go," instead.

I shake my head.

Never.

***

In the distance, the silhouette of the skyline is full of stars, millions of them so bright they reflect off of the skyscrapers that disappear into the night. The city spreads below me and somehow the world feels so wide.

So free.

Neon lights glitter everywhere and all-around buildings collide in a mixture of shadows and shapes just like the cars rushing along the tangled lines of the streets creating twisting threads of light.

I throw my head back, breathless.

***

When we pull off to the side of the road smelling like the wind and the city, I still can't believe I'm this far from home, so late past my designated curfew on a school night.

With him.

I lift myself off the bike clutching his shoulders, trying not to notice the way he's looking at me with those dark eyes. Unexpectedly, his hand drifts to my hip as he's helping me down, my shirt riding up where my jeans begin. 

My heart hitches in my chest.

His fingertips settle against my skin causing my own fingers to tighten around his shoulders. I want to tell him so many things.

Stay. Just stay with me for one more night.

But then he's leaning in, our foreheads touching, breaths mingling. Our lips brush and I know he understands.

Please.

He runs his fingertips softly down the curve of my spine.

Pulls me closer until there is no space left between us.

Until all I can feel is the beating of his heart against mine.