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flirtatious.
    Finally, he smiled. “I guess you’ll just have to wait and find out.”
    I smiled despite myself, rolled my eyes, and settled back in my chair for my nap. I heard him open a book, but I was asleep after a few moments.
    Half an hour later, the bell rang and I jolted awake to the sight of Norah hovering over me. Adrian quietly packed up his books to my left as I sat up and tried to remember where I was.
    “Hey,” she said. “Mom called the office. She and Dad are having a problem with one of the horses, so they can’t come pick us up. I usually throw my bike in the back of Molly’s mom’s truck and she said she could take you, too.”
    Before I could respond, Adrian stood. “Actually, if you don’t mind, I was going to take Caitlin home.”
    We looked in tandem at Adrian. Then Norah turned to me, obviously expecting an explanation.
    “Uh, yeah,” I said belatedly. “Tell Molly I said thanks, though.”
    “All right, well—see you at home.” Norah was wide-eyed as she walked off.
    As we left the library, snaking our way through the rush of students, it took about point-three seconds for everyone to notice that I was walking with Adrian. And I mean everyone : parents, students, even the faculty heading for their busted-up cars. I very much got the impression that Adrian was a big deal here—and Adrian deviating from the norm was practically unheard of, based on everyone’s reactions. Distracted by our audience, it took me about six seconds to realize what vehicle Adrian was heading toward.
    I stopped dead. “You’re kidding me.”
    Ignoring me, he unlocked a helmet from the seat of a matte-black Harley-Davidson. I walked up to him, knowing and not caring that everyone had stopped to watch us.
    “You drive a motorcycle.”
    “Yeah.” He put his sunglasses on.
    I couldn’t stop staring. “You drive a Harley .”
    He handed me a helmet then settled onto the bike. “Yeah.”
    I took it, dumbfounded. This was not what I had expected when he offered to give me a ride, though it did explain why there wasn’t room for Norah. The bike was huge, which made sense since he was at least six feet tall, but it meant the backseat, where I imagined I was supposed to go, was at waist level.
    “Hey, Adrian,” I said casually, testing out his name in his presence for the first time. “How do I, y’know, get on?”
    He pointed at the back footrest. “Step there, hold on to my shoulder, swing over.”
    I stalled. “What if the bike falls over?”
    “The bike will not fall over.”
    “How do you know the bike will not fall over?”
    He stared down at me. “Because I’m on it.”
    Good point.
    “When we’re on the road,” he continued, “lean when I lean. Don’t ever lean the opposite direction. If there’s some emergency, tap my chest. I don’t have mics in the helmets, so we can’t really talk once we get going.”
    I could feel dozens of eyes on us as I put my foot on the back pedal, used his shoulder to brace myself, and swung my leg over the seat ungracefully, wriggling into place behind him. The passenger seat was shallow and backless, which meant if I wasn’t basically spooning him from thigh to neck, I would fall off. Not really wanting to touch him, but seeing nothing else to hold on to, I rested my hands lightly on the sides of his waist and leaned back so at least my chest wasn’t plastered to his spine.
    He stuck the key in the ignition. “You planning on staying on the bike?”
    I nodded vigorously. “Yes.”
    He started the engine. “Then hold on. I don’t bite.”
    I threw my arms around his waist, afraid he was going to take off with or without me, and could feel the vibrations through his jacket as he laughed. Kicking up the stand, he backed up the bike and pulled out of the parking lot. Even over the hum of the engine, I could hear the rabid gossip start up the second we were on our way.
    It wasn’t long before we were out of sight of the town and up in the winding