The Longest Ride

again.
     

     
    He left early in the morning, arriving in Jersey City a few minutes before lunch. After spending the afternoon with Sophia’s parents and sisters, neither Luke nor Sophia had wanted to battle the crowds in Times Square for New Year’s Eve celebrations. Instead, they had a quiet dinner at an unpretentious Thai restaurant before returning to Luke’s hotel.

In the hours past midnight, Sophia lay on her stomach while Luke traced small circles on her lower back.

“Stop,” she said, wiggling. “It’s not going to work.”

“What’s not going to work?”

“I already told you that I can’t stay. I have a curfew.”

“You’re twenty-one years old,” he protested.

“But I’m at my parents’ house, and they have rules. And actually, they were being extra permissive by letting me stay out until two. Normally, I have to be in by one.”

“What would happen if you stayed?”

“They’d probably think we slept together.”

“We did sleep together.”

She turned her head to face him. “They don’t have to know that. And I have no intention of making it obvious.”

“But I’m only here for one night. I have to leave tomorrow afternoon.”

“I know, but rules are rules. And besides, you don’t want to get on my parents’ bad side. They liked you. Although my sisters told me they were disappointed you weren’t wearing your hat.”

“I wanted to fit in.”

“Oh, you did all right. Especially when you started talking about 4-H again. You noticed they had the same reaction I did when they found out you sell those poor little pigs for slaughter after raising them like pets.”

“I’ve been meaning to thank you for bringing that up.”

“You’re welcome,” Sophia said, her expression mischievous. “Did you see Dalena’s face when I explained it? I thought her eyes were going to pop out of her head. How’s your mom doing, by the way?”

“She’s all right.”

“I take it she’s still mad at you?”

“You could say that.”

“She’ll come around.”

“I hope so.” He leaned down, kissing her. Although she returned his kiss, he felt her hands move toward his chest and gently push him away.

“You can kiss me all you want, but you still have to bring me back home.”

“Can you sneak me into your room?”

“Not with my sister there. That would be too weird.”

“If I’d known you wouldn’t stay over, I might not have driven all the way up here.”

“I don’t believe you.”

He laughed before becoming serious again. “I missed you.”

“No, you didn’t. You were too busy to miss me. Every time I called, you were always on the go. Between work and practice, you probably didn’t even think about me.”

“I missed you,” he said again.

“I know. And I missed you, too.” She reached up, touching his face. “But sadly, we’re going to have to get dressed anyway. You’re supposed to come over for brunch tomorrow, remember?”
     

     
    Back in North Carolina, Luke made the decision to redouble his practice efforts. The first event of the season was less than two weeks away. The two days in New Jersey had given his body a chance to rest, and he felt good for the first time in weeks. The only problem was that it was as cold here as it had been in New Jersey, and he dreaded the chill of the barn even as he set out in its direction.

He had just turned on the barn lights and was stretching before his first ride of the night when he heard the door swing open. He turned around just as his mom emerged from the shadows.

“Hey, Mom,” he said, surprised.

“Hi,” she said. Like him, she wore a heavy jacket. “I went over to your house and when I realized you weren’t there, I figured this is where you might be.”

He said nothing. In the silence, his mom stepped into the foam-padded ring, sinking with every step until she stood on the opposite side of the bull from him. Unexpectedly, she reached out and ran her hand over it.

“I remember when your dad first brought this home,” she said. “It was all the rage for a while, you know. People wanted to ride these things because of that old movie with John Travolta, and practically every country bar put one in, only to watch the interest die out within a year or two. When one of those bars was being torn down, your dad asked if he could buy the bull. It didn’t cost much, but it was still more than we could afford at the time and I remember being furious with him. He’d been off in Iowa or