your mind.”
I shrugged. “Okay.”
“Get dressed, and I’ll meet you outside.”
I looked down at the same sweatshirt I had been wearing since Point had put me to bed three nights ago. “You mean I can’t wear this?” I laughed.
He shook his head. “I love seeing you in my shirt, Dee, but I think that needs a wash.”
“And I probably do, too.” Greif was a strange animal. It made you not want to do anything except wallow in your own feelings—bathing included. “Give me twenty minutes. I’m gonna try to wash off the past three days.”
Point pressed a kiss to my forehead. “I’ll wait forever for you, Dee.”
The nickname that normally drove me crazy was now an odd comfort whenever Point said it. It had become something only he could say.
I made my way to the bedroom and grabbed some clean clothes. Jeans and a long-sleeve thermal were as fancy as I was going to get. I grabbed a puffer vest from the closet and headed to the bathroom.
It was still mild outside, but I knew being on the back of Point’s bike was going to be chilly if I didn’t dress warm enough.
Twenty minutes later, I stood outside with the sun shining down on me and Point’s bike in front of me.
“I haven’t been on the back of a bike in three years.”
Point handed me a helmet. “And that makes me strangely happy.”
I laughed and plopped the helmet on my head. Point reached up and snapped the buckle. “I guess I knew the only bike I wanted to be on was yours.”
Point pressed a kiss to my lips.
“Thank you,” I whispered when he stepped back.
“There’s nothing you need to thank me for, Dee.”
A laugh bubbled from my lips. “Uh, yeah. There is a ton I need to thank you for. The big thing I need to thank you for is for putting up with my emotional ass.”
“I don’t have a problem with your ass. Emotional or not.”
A smile pulled at my mouth. “You’re crazy.”
He threw his leg over the bike and looked back at me. “That may be true. Now get your ass on my bike, and let’s just ride.”
I clambered onto the back and wrapped my arms around his middle. The smooth leather of his cut was cool to the touch, and I pressed my cheek to his back. I had kept telling Point he had changed in the three years since I had seen him, and I felt it again right there.
He still was the boy I fell in love with five years ago, but he was now a man. Had any of this happened when we first got together, I didn’t think we would have made it through it.
Only because I don’t think either of us could have been selfless with our love. Point was giving me everything he had, and he didn’t care that all I did was cry or lay there like a sad sack. He gave me what I needed when I couldn’t give him anything back.
Point backed the bike up and rolled out of the driveway. He drove a large loop around town, and neither of us tried to talk. It was strange to feel the way I did and then look around to see the world still turning.
We made our way out of town and just drove. Over roads I had never been on and past houses I had never seen. I had been in Whitmore for over a year and had never really explored.
“Where are we?” I called over the roar of the engine.
Point laid his hand on my knee and turned his head slightly. “No, damn clue,” he shouted.
I laughed my ass off, and finally felt a little joy. “You really are just driving, aren’t you?”
Point squeezed my knee. “We both need it.” He left his hand on my knee and kept driving. We passed a sign pointing to the highway, and Point took the turn. “This should take us back to Whitmore.”
It should. Seventy-three ran straight through Whitmore. Granted, I didn’t know how long it would take until it did. I didn’t look at the time, but we had to have driven for at least two hours with no direction in mind.
We roared onto the highway and lived in the fast lane, passing any and every car. We passed a sign touting it was over fifty miles to Whitmore.
“We’re that close to Whitmore?” I called. It was going to take less than an hour to get back home.
“Yeah,” Point called.