Biker's Virgin

"How is she?"

"Fine. We didn't all just sit around and wait a year for you to get back, Rome," Tiffany teased.

"You know what I mean," I said back. A year was a long time, but also, it

really wasn't. It was the difference between a minor child and an adult and enough time for the planet to make a trip round the sun, but more things were the same than were different. Dad was still working, she was still at school, and family we had nearby were fine. It was like I hadn't left.

"What about your friends?" I asked her casually.

"My friends? You didn't really know many," she quipped. What I didn't want to say was tell me how Veronica's doing. From what I could tell from her letters and talking to her while I had been gone, they hadn't stopped being best friends in the past year.

"What about that girl Grace?" I asked, grasping for any name I could remember.

"Gracie? She took a leave of absence. She got pregnant." I tried to think of another one of her friend's names. Veronica was always the closest friend that she had had, so I was coming up blank.

"Are you dating anyone?"

"Not really. I don't have a boyfriend if that's what you're asking," she said.

Fuck, she was going to make me do it. I didn't want to come right out and ask her about Veronica, but I had to know how she had been. I had never felt lonely while I was gone. I had gotten letters from my family all the time and even got to talk to them. It still wasn't enough, though. It had been a whole year since I had said a single word to Veronica, and I was just getting how fucking long that was.

Anything could have happened. A year was long enough to meet someone new and start a relationship. It was long enough to get pregnant and have a baby. It was long enough to forget about her, but I hadn't. I hoped secretly that she hadn't, either. If she had, then that would have been my fault – but it wouldn't change the fact that I still cared about her.

"What about Ron?"

"Veronica?" she asked, putting her cup down.

"Yeah. What's she up to these days?" I asked, trying to sound casual.

"I thought you'd never ask," she said grinning. "Last I saw her, she was great."

"Yeah?"

"She has a year before she graduates, her own place without a roommate… She's great," she said. Good. That was good but I could have guessed that myself. I could have heard that from anyone, my dad probably could have told me that. I wanted more.

"Is she seeing anyone?" I asked.

"You sure you want the answer to that question?" she asked.

Fuck, I should have seen that one coming. Ron was incredible, there was no way she would still be single. She was the kind of girl a lawyer fifteen years her senior would try to marry. She was the kind of girl a freshman would be begging to give him a chance; any guy would be begging for a shot with her. She was perfect. Smart, funny, ambitious, driven, and she was mine. Up until a year ago, she had been mine. Now some other guy got to say that.

"Who is he? Do I know him?"

"You don't. His name is Sean. I think he's a philosophy major or something. They met at school."

"How long have they been together?"

"Why do you have so many questions about your ex?" she challenged.

"She's your friend. I just figure I'm going to see her again. We were together for a long time."

"Yeah, and then you dumped her."

"You think I don't remember that? I'm not proud."

"It took you a year to realize that?"

"I thought I was doing the right thing."