Helmet hair and heartbeats

Jake’s friend Tommy left his motorcycle parked outside Caribou while he grabbed coffee, and Jake jokingly asked if I wanted to sit on it. My immediate reaction was ‘absolutely not’ because I’m the person who reads all the warning labels and triple-checks that doors are locked. But something about the way the afternoon light was hitting everything, plus Jake’s ridiculous grin, made me pause.

Helmet hair and heartbeats

Before I could talk myself out of it, I was swinging my leg over the seat. Tommy came back out just as I was figuring out where to put my feet, and instead of being annoyed, he tossed Jake the keys and said we could take it around the block. My stomach dropped and my heart started racing, but I heard myself saying yes before my brain could catch up.

The moment right before I said yes

Ten minutes later I had the worst helmet hair of my life and couldn’t stop grinning. We only went maybe fifteen miles per hour and stayed on the quiet streets, but I felt like we were flying. Jake kept checking over his shoulder to make sure I was okay, and I kept squeezing his waist tighter every time we turned a corner.

I’m still not sure what made me say yes when every logical part of me was screaming no. But sometimes the best stories start with ignoring that voice in your head that lists all the reasons why something might go wrong. Plus, Jake looked way too pleased with himself when I climbed off that bike - like he’d just discovered something new about me that I didn’t even know was there.