Page 34 of Unbroken

He walks over and wordlessly takes his leather jacket off the back of the bike.

“You’ll wear this, and that’s not a suggestion. It’s not safe for you to ride on a motorcycle without leather.”

“What about you?”

He gives me a withering look and rolls his eyes, then holds the sleeves out for me to slide into. I blush and look away as I slide my arms in.

I was right. It’s soft, buttery leather, still warm, and it smells like him. And I love it.

“But I don’t have a?—”

He slams a helmet on the back of my head before I can finish. Then he helps me adjust the strap.

“I guess you keep a spare helmet with your rags?” I ask.

“Yeah,” he rumbles. “But this one was fitted for yoursister.”

My god.

I’m wearing a helmet that my sister was supposed to wear… on the back of her husband’s motorcycle.

But then he adds quietly, “She never wore it. I just kept it with me in case she decided to change her mind and give it a go.”

And my heart—oh god, my heart.

I amnotokay. I think I need therapy or something.

“I don’t know how to ride on the back of a motorcycle,” I admit, and I feel like I want to pout like a child. I’m not crazy about admitting I don’t know how to do something. I value my independence and autonomy.

But he doesn’t tease me. Doesn’t laugh. Just looks at me with that quiet, steady gaze and says, “You don’t need to know much. Just get on and hold tight.” He climbs on, turns slightly, and motions. “Put your left foot on the peg. Swing your right leg over. Then sit close—yeah, like that. Now wrap your arms around my waist.” I do. I can feel how strong he is, how large and muscular. It’s immediately intimate in a way I’m not prepared for.

“Just hold on,” he says. “Keep your arms around my waist and don’t let go. I know how to drive this. I’m not going to hurt us.”

Then he kicks the ignition, and we start moving. And my crazy, self-deprecating, grief-riddled thoughts—cease.

Becausethis. Is. Amazing.

My heart soars, my brain clears, exhilaration floods my limbs. And we’re not even going fast yet.

Myarms are wrapped around the only person in my life I can depend on, on the back of his bike, my hair that escaped the helmet flying behind me as the wind whips past and cars blur by us.

I’ve never felt so free in my life.

“This is awesommmme!” I scream into the air, and my words are immediately swallowed by the wind. I don’t even know if he hears me.

He rides with masterful skill, like he was built to ride it—with confidence and grace. I think he’s maybe showing off a little, and that’s fine with me.

I don’t know how to explain it, except to say it’s…beautiful. Like a horse galloping wild through a field. An eagle taking flight. A waterfall crashing on craggy rocks below.

There’s something majestic, powerful, and intoxicating about watching him ride. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life.

I blink back tears. I didn’t know how much I needed this.

I don’t want to stop.I want him to keep going forever.

I want to stay right here, on the back of his bike, forgetting my pain, my fears, my worries.

Forgetting that my sister died in a way she never should have.