already have driving experience. You’re not sixteen so it shouldn’t be a problem.”
She was laughing as he pulled her toward the rental office. “Gus, there’s no way you’re getting me on one of those.”
“Want to bet?”
She looked away from his dimples and tried pulling her hands out of his. “No.”
He looked around at the other people walking around the All Terrain Vehicle road park and smiled mischievously. “Well, we could stand here and make out. I’m fine with that,” he said and pushed her playfully against his car, leaning down to kiss her.
Alana ducked easily under his arm and started walking towards the rental office. “I’ll take option number one, but I’m not driving one of them. I’ll ride behind you,” she said emphatically.
“You’re sure you don’t want to ride on your own?” he said, his eyes not giving anything away.
Alana shook her head. “No thanks, I’ll trust you, just so long as your hands are on the handle bars,” she said.
“Sounds good to me,” he said and went into the rental office to arrange for a bike for them to ride and helmets.
After a fifteen minute lesson, they were off. Alana held onto his shoulders, a helmet on her head and goggles over her eyes. She wasn’t sure why they needed goggles, but was ready for just about anything.
“You’re going to need to hold on tighter than that,” Gus called back to her over the din of the other ATVs and motorcycles that were already speeding around the track.
“Why?” she asked, not wanting to touch him anymore than she absolutely needed to.
“You’ll fall off the back,” he explained.
“I’ll be fine,” she countered.
Gus shrugged his shoulders at her response. “Suit yourself,” he said and tightened the strap on his helmet.
Gus gunned the engine and they were off. Alana almost fell off the back of the ATV at the first hill. She finally understood why he had warned her to hold on tighter. She didn’t need to be told twice. By the time they’d crested the dirt mound, she had wrapped her arms around his waist and was holding on with all her might.
After several mounds, Alana was able to relax and enjoy the ride. She was getting the hang of it and didn’t even mind the mud that seemed to be going everywhere, even on her face and hair that was sticking out from underneath her helmet. Within a half hour, she was encouraging him to drive faster, laughing excitedly as they charged up one hill and down another, racing against time or another rider.
Within a few hours, she was laughing so hard and begging for a break. She was starving and needed something to drink to ease the dusty feeling inside her mouth from all the dirt flying everywhere.
For lunch, he pulled out a picnic basket and blanket. He spread the basket out under a tree near the track and they feasted on cold, fried chicken, brie cheese, crusty bread and red wine. They laughed as they watched the other riders struggle through the course, some of them falling and others almost going airborne because of the speed they had as they jumped some of the mounds.
“Where did you learn to do this?” she asked, taking a bite out of the crisp, green apples he had packed.
“I used to sneak away from school with a friend and ride these things. I was about sixteen when I first tried it. I was pretty much hooked from the first ride. So was my friend.”
“You’re pretty good. Why don’t you have your own?”
He smiled at the memory. “My parents would never let me get on these things. Like you said, they’re dangerous.”
Alana waited for him to continue but he just chuckled at whatever he was thinking. “Okay, obviously you know a little more about this. Confess,” she said, laughing at his expression.
He hesitated for only a moment. “I was about seventeen when my father suspected something was up. He followed me one day when I was supposed to be heading to school and found out what I that I was skipping school. Apparently, he’d seen my report card that had a specific number of absences. But when he went for my parent teacher conference, the number wasn’t the same.”
“I’m impressed that he actually went to the parent teacher conferences. Most parents, mine included, just blew them off. You must not have been getting very good grades.”
“No, you’re father probably trusted you and when you got good grades, it was because you were