As we were busy posting the picture. Their voice brings us to reality.
They tilt their head slightly, still not showing their face, only those sharp eyes watching us with quiet amusement. "So... who exactly are we getting revenge on?"
"Our charming, lying, cheating boyfriends," I say sweetly, turning back to black one. "Ex-boyfriends, actually. They leave us stranded here after acting like kings. So now... we make them jealous."
"Hm." His gaze doesn't waver. "You two shouldn't be out here alone like this. Especially not like that." His eyes flick down, subtly hinting at our slightly drunk state.
I swallow hard, suddenly feeling the edge of the night settle in. "Well, we don't exactly plan to get abandoned."
At that, he looks at his friend and gives a slight nod.
His friend leaning on a gray bike, sighs but pushes off the seat. "We're heading to the city. You both coming, or planning to fight off the highway ghosts yourselves?"
Saoirse wobbles slightly and immediately grabs my arm. "We're coming."
I blink. "Are you sure? What about our bags?"
Black one looks at me again. "You're not walking anywhere in this state. Hop on. We'll take you somewhere safe and I will tell someone to pick it up for you."
I hesitate, just for a moment. He hasn't even shown his face, and yet something about his voice that makes me trust him. More than I ever trusted the guy I dated for two years.
Saoirse is already clumsily climbing onto the other bike, giggling the whole way. "My driver's cute," she whispers too loudly.
I turn back to my guy, still standing silently beside his black bike. He holds out a helmet to me.
I take it.
As I put it on and climb behind him, I whisper, "Thanks… mystery man."He doesn't respond, just starts the engine. But before we take off, he says just loud enough for me to hear over the rumble:
"If I were your boyfriend, I would've never left you behind."
With that engine starts with a deep roar beneath us, shaking my legs. I hold onto his waist carefully at first, then tighter once I feel how fast the wind rushes past us.
In the distance, the city lights shine, but around us, it's all dark. Just the wind and the sound of the bike on the road. I rest my cheek on his back, feeling his breath and after a while, I feel safe.
Not because I knew him. But because he acted like a gentleman.
Saoirse and the other rider are a little ahead. She throws her hands in the air, laughing into the wind, her hair flying wild behind her. I can tell she's over the breakup. Leora never holds onto heartbreak for long.
But me? I'm not heartbroken.
I'm just tired. Tired of being let down, of giving people my time and energy only for them to vanish the moment things get real.
As if he can hear that thought, the he slows down slightly, letting the other bike drift ahead. We're alone again, just enough distance to make the road feel like it belongs to us.
"You okay back there?" he call over his shoulder, his voice just loud enough through the helmet.
"Yeah," I say, tightening my hold slightly. "More than okay."
He doesn't say anything for a moment. Then, "You're quiet now."
"Guess I'm drunk."
He laughs softly, low and warm. "Drunk or not, you've got guts."
"You think asking a stranger to fake-hug me for a photo is gutsy?"
"No," he says. "Climbing onto the back of a stranger's bike in the middle of the night is gutsy."
I smile behind him. "I don't feel scare of you."
Another pause. Then, quieter: "I still don't know your name."
"And you still haven't shown me your face," I counter.
He doesn't argue.