Free I Can't Die Alone by Regina Bartley Page B

the garage to meet Bo. I’d forgotten to ask him what we were doing so I just wore my jogging pants and tee shirt. 
    When I spotted the motorcycle, I was giddy. I’d never ridden on one before, and I was glad that he was willing to drive me around. He passed a black helmet over to me, and before I put it on I silently prayed that I wouldn’t get sick. Hopefully the fresh air would do me some good and not have the complete opposite effect on me.
    “I’m kind of nervous,” I confessed. It wasn’t that he made me nervous. It was the two wheels, the open road, and the fact that there would be nothing except speed between us, and the asphalt. 
    He lifted his leg over the bike taking a seat. “It’s okay to be nervous, but I promise not to hurt you. I’ll take it easy. If you don’t like it then I’ll let you off. No questions,” he assured me.
    Don’t be a chicken Tori!
    When he motioned for me to climb on, that’s what I did. I took a deep breath before the engine roared to life. 
    “Hold on to me,” he called out over his shoulder.
    I wrapped both of my arms around his waist where they were nearly meeting in front of him. My chest was pressed tightly against his back as I felt the wheels begin to move under us. I squeezed tighter. If I were hurting him, he never said so. He let me hold on for dear life. It was ironic because wrecking would only mean speeding up the inevitable, for me at least.
    We pulled slowly out onto the main road, and I felt vibrations of the road as he picked up the speed. Though I knew he wasn’t going very fast, it felt like we were flying. My heart rate sped up, and I felt Bo’s hand touch mine. Reassurance I suppose, but I didn’t loosen my grip. It was scary. But it wasn’t scary in a bad way, if that makes sense. It felt more like a rush, like I drank an entire pot of coffee and my fingertips had feelings. When we reached a long stretch of straight road, Bo sped up. Not enough to scare me. I could tell. It was just enough to let me get the most of the experience. Slowly, I loosened my grip on him. With only one chance to experience this, that’s what I was going to do. I kept one arm around him as I let the other one go. My arm was anything but steady as I deliberately stretched it out to the side. The wind hit my arm as we continued to ride, and it was the first time in my life that I’d experienced anything like it. That free feeling like I was a bird in flight. I was carefree for that one brief moment in time. It was beyond amazing. It was exhilarating. 
    We rode for a few more miles before we pulled into a parking lot. There was a neon green sign that read “Just Ink” hanging in the window. I was about to get tattooed. Two things marked off my list in one day. 
    “What did you think of the ride?” Bo asked me as he slimbed off the bike. 
    “So cool. I was so scared at first, but then something switched and I loved it. I really loved it. Thank you so much.”
    He held out a hand for me to take, and I did. “You’re welcome. I knew that you’d love it. Come on, let’s get you a tattoo.”
    Two crazy things in one day… I either had to be nuts or dying.
    “This place looks closed,” I pointed out. The parking lot was empty.
    “I know a guy who knows a guy,” he grinned. 
    Bo opened the door and we walked inside. An older man probably in his fifties with a gray and white beard walked out from the back room. 
    “Hey man,” Bo said shaking his hand. “This is Tori,” he introduced me. 
    The man’s name was Michael and he seemed really nice. He led us to a secluded room with an examination type table and we talked about the tattoo I wanted. 
    “Birds,” Michael said.
    “Yeah.” I shook my head. “Lots of birds, maybe taking flight.”
    “Where do you want it?”
    “My back. I’d like to have them on my spine and then flying off of my shoulders.” When I looked at Bo, his eyes were big. “What?” I asked.
    He answered, “That seems like a