Dree stepped back, wiping the tears off her face with her palms.
Maxence stooped and asked her, “Are you okay now?”
She nodded. “I should be askingyouthat. Are youhurt?Do you need medical attention? I’m a frickin’nurseand I’m supposed to rendermedical aid,not be a ninny!” She grabbed his collar and began tugging at his coat’s zipper.
He laughed at her. “I’m fine. I’ll have some bruises, but I don’t think I even broke a rib. I’m just sore.”
She sighed and braced herself with her hands on her knees, her chest still heaving.
Maxence looked over her head, where Father Booker was still sitting astride his motorcycle, both his boots planted firmly on the ground. He’d removed his helmet and was watching them with a pensive solemnity in his eyes.
Priests should not have women throwing themselves at them like this.
Max took a step backward and settled one hand on Dree’s shoulder, a solidly platonic gesture that also kept her away from him.
Dree drew one last sigh and looked up at him with her clear blue eyes still swimming with tears. “Your bike is back there somewhere? Why did you leave it?”
“It’s totaled. Some pieces might be salvaged for parts. The oil and petrol had leaked out of the engine and gas tank. I got most of the important stuff out of the saddlebags, but some rice and other dry goods that I couldn’t carry in my backpack are still in the storage containers.”
“But you’reokay?”she asked again.
Maxence showed her the scrape on his helmet and the shredded leather on his thigh. “I had good gear.”
“Well, thank heavens for that.” She turned to the other guys and spread her arms. “Okay, guys. We have five motorcycles and six people. Who’s going to double up? It seems most efficient if the two lightest people ride on one bike together, which I assume would be me and Batsa.”
Batsa’s dark eyes widened, and he looked at each one of the other guys as if he needed someone to defend him. “I am a married man. I do not think my wife would like me to ride on a motorcycle with a young woman. That is not what I signed up for.”
Isaak and Alfonso began scrutinizing each other, but neither one wanted to be the horny jerk who insisted theywantedto ride with the pretty young woman they’d been eyeballing for weeks.
Isaak said, “Alfonso, I do not feel comfortable with you lying against my back, as I have said time and time again in our tent.”
Alfonso sputtered, “I would be driving. You would be against my back, and I’m not comfortable with that, either, for you have smacked me in the face while sleeping more times than I can count.”
Isaak turned back to Max and Dree. “Maxence should have to double up with someone because he’s the one who crashed his motorcycle. If Maxence and I were on the same bike, it would slow down a great deal. He should ride with someone else.”
Alfonso said, “Max should not ride with me, either. It would slow us down just as much.”
Father Booker grumbled, “Don’t look at me. I’m definitely the heaviest one of us.” He patted his slightly thick midsection. “It would make no sense for me to double up with anyone.”
Batsa said, “I have a wife and children. I do not want anyone lying on top of me.”
Dree braced her gloved fists on her hips. “Well, he has to ride with one of us. We’re in the middle of nowhere.”
Alfonso shifted to one foot and looked at the sky. “I guess he could ride on the back of my bike.”
“This is nonsense.” Dree rolled her eyes. “If you guys are too insecure in your masculinity to snuggle up with another dude on a bike, Max can ride with me. Besides, I’m the lightest, so it makes sense that I should be one of the two people on a bike.”
Maxence shrugged. “It makes sense.”
It made more than good sense to him, and his heart double-timed in his chest.
Alfonso scowled and stomped back to his bike.
As they walked back to her motorcycle, Maxence said to Dree, “You can ride on the back. I can drive the motorcycle.”
She scoffed, “Evidently,no, you can’t.I’ll drive.”
Luckily, all the motorcycles they’d rented had extended seats that allowed for a second rider.
