Loving The Bad Boy

Dogs Have Feelings Too

"No. Absolutely not. There's no way, Reed."

I stared down at the outstretched motorcycle helmet in Reed's hand incredulously, my eyes widening in disbelief. Did he honestly think that I would in any way feel it acceptable to ride with him on the back of his motorcycle on a first date? That would require much more physical contact than I felt was proper.

Not to mention the alleged motorcycle he was attempting to talk me into climbing onto looked like it might fall apart at any moment. And I couldn't help but take note of the fact that Reed had only one helmet, which meant he'd be riding without one, which would simply be unacceptable.

And god forbid I even contemplate all the germs such a vehicle would undoubtedly carry. The motorcycle already appeared to be covered in a thin layer of dirt, it's original color indistinguishable under the coating of muted brown.

Reed flashed me a devilish grin, glancing over at his motorcycle.

"What if I let you drive? Would that make it better?"

"No!" I snapped, crossing my arms in front of me and glaring over at Reed. "You know very well Reed that I am not capable of doing so."

"Well, that's why I would teach you." Reed drawled, gesture to the motorcycle with his hand. "You're a smart girl, Liz. I'm sure it would only take you a couple of minutes to get the hang of things."

Letting out a loud huff, I appraised the dangerous looking motorcycle a second time, completely flustered by the predicament Reed had presented me with.

"Reed, I can't. I'm sorry. I just-"

"C'mon Liz. Don't knock it before you've tried it. And, I'm going out on a limb here, but I'm willing to bet you've never rode on a motorcycle before."

Of course, he was right. I had never in my life even been presented with such a situation. More pointedly, however, I'd never had a reason to accept such an opportunity, until now.

"I won't crash, Liz. I promise. And I'll go slow."

Hesitantly, I took a step forward, narrowing my eyes at Reed.

"How slow?"

Reed smirked, knowing he'd won me over.

"I won't go over 45."

I blinked at him, appalled by his interpretation of the word 'slow'.

"I don't want you going a mile over 25."

Reed half-laughed, half-choked in disbelief as his face contorted in amusement.

"Alright, deal. You better hurry up and climb on, though. At that rate, it's gonna take us a hell of a lot longer than I expected to get where I'm planning to take you."

Taking the helmet from Reed, I awkwardly fit the oversized piece of headgear over my head, my eyes narrowing in suspicion at Reed's words.

"I thought we were just going to the pizza parlor a few blocks away."

Reed waited till I'd managed to fumble my way onto the back of his motorcycle before responding.

"Yeah. We are. And then were going somewhere else."

I was willing to bet by the tone of his voice that even though I couldn't see him, he had some sort of wickedly mischievous look plastered across his face.

"Liz, you're going to have to hold on to me before we take off, unless falling back onto the pavement is what you're going for."

When I made no move to wrap my arms around him, Reed let out a slight sigh, glancing back at me over his shoulder.