“Fuuuuck! Why am I doing this? This is stupid!”
Shannon rolled her eyes. “You’re doing this because cycling is a practical skill in Portland. You also don’t have a driver’s license, so… you need a quicker way to get around for those days when the bus doesn’t cut it.”
“I regret telling you that I don’t have a driver’s license.”
“Why? Because now you’re in an empty parking lot looking like an idiot adult trying to ride a bike for the first time?”
“I look like a what?”
Shannon bent down, her teeth grazing Jess’s cold nose. “Gotcha.”
“Whyyy are you doing this to me?”
“Because it’s fun.”
“Fuck you!”
Shannon took a step back, bringing the bike an inch forward. Jess let out an ecstatic sob that was either fear or excitement. Shannon didn’t have time to figure outwhatit was as she led Jess across the barren Northwest parking lot only five blocks from her apartment.
“Fuuuuck you.”
She is seriously not having a panic attack already.Shannon thought Jess merely couldn’t ride a bike. Was she frightened of it? What kind of terrible experiences had she had before? On abike?“You’re doing great, Jess. Look at you. You’re already halfway across the parking lot!”
“Only because you’re helping me!”
“You need to put your feet on the pedals. Do you have your balance yet?”
“No!”
“You’re doing great.”
Shannon led her around the edge of the parking lot for the first few minutes. The dick in her wanted to let go at every turn, hoping instinct would kick in and Jess would soon find herself confidently pedaling like an old pro. Somehow, she managed to suppress the dickish side of herself and prevent Jess from tumbling to the pavement every time she let out a cry of fright and gripped the handlebars as if they were going to fly away from her.
When Jess made it the whole length of the parking lot without flubbing her footwork or gnashing her teeth into her bottom lip, Shannon slowly lifted her palms from the handlebars and grinned to find Jess pedaling herself a few precious feet.
“You’re doing it!”
“What are you doing? Get back here!”
Jess had pedaled faster than Shannon anticipated.Oh, shit.She was now on the other side of the parking lot, veering dangerously close to a white car parked near the dumpsters. The bike wobbled side to side as if it were about to topple over at any instant. The fact Jess cried out for Jesus to intervene didn’t instill much confidence into Shannon’s heart that this would end with anything but blood on someone’s knee.
“Shannon, I swear to God!”
Jess careened into the nearby bushes before Shannon had the chance to catch up and stop her. A shriek echoed loudly enough to send a murder of crows into the air. She had managed to avoid the car, but only by about two inches. Jess had decided it better to smack into the dumpster and catch her landing in the bushes.
“Jess!” Shannon caught up to her a second later. “Are you okay?”
“No…” came a muffled moan. “I’m dead.”
Shannon pulled the bike away before bending next to Jess and helping her sit up. The helmet was lopsided on her head. They both agreed that it would’ve been a great idea to bring some knee and elbow pads, because Jess had definitely scuffed at least one of those.
“See? You’re okay.” Shannon sat on the concrete divider between the parking lot and the bushes. Jess dragged herself to Shannon’s side and ripped the helmet off her head. “Everyone falls down when they try to learn to ride a bike. Doesn’t matter if they’re six or sixty.”
“I really hope I can learn how to ride a bike by sixty.”
“That wasn’t my point.” Shannon patted Jess’s shoulder. That head of light brown hung down as Jess wiped off her face and sighed into the crook of her knees. “Everyone falters when they’re learning to do something. Or, you know…” she sheepishly looked away before she caught a grander view of Jess’s cleavage emerging from her button-up shirt – the top two buttons had come undone in that cycling scuffle. “When you’re coming to terms about something.” Like how Shannon was a fan of cleavage. A fact she hadn’t been willing to accept eight years ago.
Jess smoothed down her helmet hair. “Coming to terms, huh?”
