Biker's Virgin

"It could be, though. Don't you want that?"

"Tiff, I say this with love," I started, eating some more applesauce, "but have you ever thought that maybe being this interested in your brother's love life might not be all the way normal?"

"You're my best friend, and it's your love life, too. Why? Did something hap

pen?"

"No, nothing happened... At least it... I hope it's nothing."

"I knew something was up. What happened?"

"Can we still sit?" I asked. We made our way back to the living room. She had been leafing through one of the left books we had gotten together at the store the other day, and she moved it to make room for me on the couch.

"Okay, spill."

"Like I said, I don’t think it's a thing."

"But?"

"But last night, he showed up at my apartment. I was happy to see him, of course, after that amazing date we had had. He came because he wanted to talk to me. I was scared. Like, what was it he couldn't say over the phone?"

"What was it?"

"You know that he's trying to play football again, right?"

"Yeah, and?"

"And, he talked to his old coach about it. He said he could get him into a combine next month."

"That's great news. What's wrong with that? How long will he even be gone?"

"It'll last a week, but that’s not what I'm afraid of, Tiff."

"Then what?"

"We both know how good he is. That place will be crawling with scouts; it's practically a guarantee that he catches someone's eye. Fast forward to when he finds out they want to offer him a contract, but he and I are together." I paused.

"You can't think-"

"It happened once before. He was protecting me, remember? What if the team that wants him is based in California, and he for some reason feels like he would rather dump me again than just tell me that?"

"He learned his lesson the last time he did that, Vee."

"It hasn't been long enough for me to believe that's true," I admitted.

"Doesn’t he get any credit for trying to fix things?" she asked. I shot her a dirty look, eating more applesauce. "I'm just saying. He's back and trying to make up for what he did. I think that counts for something."

"That trust took almost three years to build and he broke it in one afternoon. Has it even been a month that we've been talking again? I can't afford to feel safe doing it with him again so soon."

"Have you told him how it felt?" she asked.

"Sort of, here and there."

"Then he knows he hurt you, and honestly, Vee, that's the last thing he wants to do again."

"How do you know?" The applesauce was all gone and now felt like it was bubbling in the bit of my stomach

"Because of everything he's been doing since he got here. He's done nothing but try to fix things. That looks and sounds like he's serious to me."