Asami

My chair creaked as I leaned back, interlacing my fingers behind my head. I looked out of the window out of habit and saw nothing but my face reflected in black glass. I checked my clock. 4:59. My officemate stopped scrolling his phone for a moment to type furiously while I aimlessly clicked through my email, running out the clock like I was one score up in a game no one wanted to play. I glanced at the thermometer. 14°.

When the clock finally rolled over to 5:00, my lethargy evaporated as I pounded the keyboard, logging time as quickly as possible. Control-t, d-e-enter, quick click, then slam alt-n, pausing only to type in a time code here and there. I hit alt-F4 after, closing all my open windows and shutting down the machine. With smooth, automatic movements I slung both my laptops in my bag and pulled my coat from the hook on the door, zipping it up over my black hoodie, whose stylized eagle disappeared under quilted nylon. A brief, ironic salute to my coworker and I was out the door, lunch pail and briefcase in one hand, the other resting in my hoodie’s pocket.

I was unsteady on the stairs as the last dregs of a caffeine pill worked their way out of my system, but soon I was underground, trudging through fluorescent-lit tunnels. The wall art blurred into a colorful blob in my periphery as my focus narrowed to the concrete floor, and my footsteps were drowned out by my earbuds, the shimmering guitars of Explosions in the Sky wrapping themselves around my numb brain and the world becoming a single point on the ground. Step by step, I made my way to the garage.

The cold of the garage came as a slap to the face as I exited the vestibule, and I pulled my arms tighter in as my breath steamed. My ponytail, flattened and lifeless after a day under my baseball cap, slapped against the back of my neck as I whirled my head back and forth, looking for incoming vehicles while simultaneously trying to avoid slipping on the snowmelt coating the ground. Down the ramp I walked until I came across the sleek black form of my Impreza, Asami. I pulled my hand from my pocket and grabbed my key, double-tapping it to unlock her and throwing my briefcase and lunchpail in the back footwell, then sliding my company badge with its retractable clip off my belt loop and against my laptops. I closed the door and leaned against the side of the car, pulling my earbuds out; transcendent chords were replaced by the echoes of other cars, engines revving and tires squealing on the wet concrete as they carried their drivers to the weekend. The case snapped closed and I opened the driver's side door, sliding into the seat. I let my head nod forward with a sign, then pulled it up and stuck the key in the ignition, and went to turn it before freezing as I felt a warm hand on my leg.

I turned slowly and saw her in the passenger seat, burgundy silk pooling around her like spilled wine, sliding over the black hose keeping her muscular thighs safe from the cold. Her long black hair shone, reflecting the cabin light, and, as she shifted closer to me, I saw she'd kicked her heels under the glovebox. She smiled and my heart melted.

“It's time”

~

I drove through the darkness in a haze, keeping the car as steady as I could as my mind raced. Asami. In the flesh. Exactly as I'd imagined her. Low Roar was trickling out of the speakers, but all I heard was her soft breathing and the whisper of silk on nylon, and I had to force myself to keep my eyes on the road as the streetlights sent flashes of burgundy to my periphery. My heart pounded and I gripped the wheel to steady myself. The other cars on the road felt static, like I was navigating a field of boulders, and the once-familiar twists and turns of my commute were strange and ethereal. I forced myself to exhale slowly, only to choke on the inhale as Asami put her hand over one of mine, gently pushing the steering wheel.

“Don't worry. I'm real”

I swallowed and nodded.

“We're going to go for a drive, okay?”

“How far?”

I couldn't see her face, but I could feel her smile.

“As far as you like, Kit”

After ten more minutes on the road, I eased us into the garage and shut the engine off, then turned to look at her. She was leaning to the side to face me, arm propped on the door. Humor sparkled in warm brown eyes, and, as she tucked an errant strand of glossy black hair behind her ear, her earrings seemed to glow faintly, like a pair of dim foglights. Small white scars were dusted across her face, neck, and exposed arms.

“Grab what you need, sweetie. I'll be right here when you get back”

“You're…not going to come up?”

She tilted her head and her smile faded a little.

“I can't. Not yet”

I nodded slowly and got out, pulling my bags from the back before I walked to the stairs. I turned back two or three times to check if she had disappeared, but every time I looked I saw her silhouette reclining gracefully, waiting for me. I hustled up the stairs and dumped my bags on the carpet, then grabbed a backpack and started shoving stuff into it: flannel shirts, my passport, my notebook, a portable charger for my phone. I strode to the kitchen and grabbed my pill bottle (half full, thank goodness) and threw it in the side pocket, then yanked open the refrigerator to grab a drink. Nothing. I shook my head and closed the door, then ran out and to the stairs, pausing only to check that my door was locked. As I descended, though, my gait slowed.

What am I doing? Do I really believe my car manifested as a beautiful woman? Am I drunk? Am I hallucinating?

I stopped, facing the door to the garage. This was a fool's errand; best case scenario, I'd walk out, get in the car, and turn to see an empty seat, then trudge back up the stairs to eat some ramen and go to bed early. Still, I was already here, I might as well check…

I walked slowly to the car, bag on one shoulder, eyes to the floor, waiting as long as I could before I had to face reality. I pulled the back door open, throwing my backpack where my briefcase had been, not looking forward yet. I slammed the door then heaved open the driver's door, falling into the seat, already feeling a dull pang in my chest.

“Don't you think that was a little much?”

I froze, and turned slowly.

Asami was still in the passenger seat, but she had changed. The burgundy dress and its high slit had been replaced by a black cable-knit sweater and dark jeans. Her feet were bare, and I saw a pair of black sneakers sitting neatly where the heels had been.

“You're…”

“Still here? Of course”

“I thought I was hallucinating”

She chuckled softly, then leaned forward and cradled my face in her hands, their warmth mixing with the heat from the sudden flush in my cheeks.

“And now?”

I felt my shoulders relax on their own, but my head still spun.

“I don't know”

She pulled back, a sadness entering her eyes.

“You'll see. I know it's a lot to take in right now, but you have all the time, all the miles you need”

I nodded, then faced forward, turning the key and shifting into reverse, pulling out of my spot before cranking the wheel and slowly turning to the garage door, careful not to hit any other cars. Asami hummed with approval, and it mixed with the purr of the CVT as I accelerated into the darkness of the Wisconsin evening.

She leaned back and pulled her legs up, hugging her knees to her chest.

“Where to first?”

“Gas station. Need to fill you up first, you're on a third of a tank”

It was silent in the cabin as we drove, until we pulled into the Casey's. I popped the filler cap and hopped out, but raised an eyebrow as I saw her emerge as well, pausing to pull on her shoes. She looked at me and smiled.

“I'll go in and grab some snacks”

I nodded and begun poking the pump, beeps sharp in the cold air; as the fuel began to flow, I crossed my arms and watched her walk, hips swaying and breeze tickling her hair. She caught me looking as she opened the door, and winked before stepping inside.

I had just finished scratching down the fuel cost and mileage and was resetting the trip odometer when she got back in the car. She plunked down drinks in the center cupholder: a NOS and a sweet tea, and fanned the candy bars and the bags of beef jerky and chips that she had bought, grinning.

“Who needs dinner?”

I smiled despite myself. “Whose drink is whose?”

She cracked open the NOS and took a sip, eyes sparkling. I opened my sweet tea in response and drank as I cranked the ignition, then put it down as I shifted into drive and pulled out of the stall. We trundled to the intersection and sat, blinker on, waiting for a chance to pull into the highway. Asami leaned forward and tapped the stereo screen, and the mellow post-rock shifted towards the cool drum and bass of Tokyo Prose. The light went green and I felt her press a soft kiss to my neck as I turned onto the ramp. She hummed again, and the sound vibrated through my throat as I hit the gas, revving higher and higher as we flew into the night.

~

We flew down the I-90 like an onyx bullet, Asami's head and taillights the only man-made illumination for miles. Inside the cabin, I drove one-handed, with my elbow propped on the door, sipping my drink. Drum and bass had shifted to trap, and the joins in the asphalt kept my head nodding in time to the beat. Asami had curled up in the seat and leaned towards me, her hand on my leg, unpainted nails occasionally scratching at my jeans. As I set my bottle back on the cupholder, she tapped my thigh with her index finger. I looked over and she held up a bag of jerky, smiling. I grabbed a piece and smiled back.

Soon, though, the high wore off and the tank ran dry, and we pulled into the parking lot of a grimy Maverik somewhere in rural Minnesota so we could fill up and I could stretch my legs and see if the cold would get my eyelids to stop drooping. Asami leaned against the car, NOS in hand as I stretched and yawned, bending my back til it cracked and shaking out my arms like the boxer I was not. The chill bit through my hoodie, but none of it was enough, and I stumbled slightly while walking back to the driver's side after filling up the tank. Asami frowned slightly.

“Come here”

I paused with my hand on the door handle. She crooked a finger, and I walked back around the car as she took a deep draught.

“Do you need someth-,” I was cut off as she threw her arms around my neck and pulled me into a deep kiss. Her lips were bare, and didn't taste of anything mechanical; no grease, no gas, just a human warmth, slightly sweet from her drink. As her lips sealed over mine, I felt her tongue push its way into my mouth, and a torrent of sweet, warm, tangy liquid followed it. I swallowed it without thinking, as my face heated and my body stiffened. Your first kiss echoed through my mind, floating away as I kept my knees from buckling. Asami pulled away and I followed instinctively before realizing what I was doing. She smirked and wiped away a trickle of NOS coming from the corner of my mouth with her forefinger, sucking it clean with a wet pop that sent a shiver down my spine.

“Feeling more awake now?”

I did. The flush in my cheeks had moved down my body, and I felt like my veins were on fire. No doubt Asami could tell.

“I thought so”

She opened the door and slid into her seat while I walked shakily around to mine and fell in, fumbling as I reset the trip odometer again, a newfound twitch in my hands making my already nigh-illegible cursive look like a daddy long legs had an epileptic fit after using an inkwell as a Jacuzzi.

I drove for a long time after that, eyes on the road, music a blur in the back of my perception as I replayed that moment over and over again, reliving every piece: the warmth radiating from her as she squeezed me to her chest, how plush and sweet her lips were, the way the taste of her mixed with the energy drink like a single-malt with Shasta. I could feel her presence next to me, once again curled up in the passenger seat, but I dared not look, even with darkness obscuring my face. She put her hand on my thigh again and sparks shot through me, my leg stiffening and pushing the gas pedal, edging us over the speed limit. Her hum, amused and satisfied, broke through the 808 haze and I flushed again.

It was early morning when we arrived at our destination, a place I hadn't been to in nigh eight years: Wall Drug. The blue-grey light filtering through the clouds guided us to a parking spot, and I shut the engine off with an exhausted sigh, pulling my hat off and running my fingers through my hair.

“You should sleep”

I raised an eyebrow. “Where?”

“In here, silly! You've always thought of doing it”

She wasn't wrong; I had contemplated a nap in the backseat many a time. But still…

It was like she heard my thoughts. “I'll keep an eye out, honey. You can put the sun shield up, and, if anyone stops by, I'll explain. We're customers, right?”

“Prospective…”

“Good enough. Now, go rest. I've got you”

A small voice in my mind complained, suggesting going to a diner instead, but I ignored it and clambered over the center console, curling up in the back seat, and had drifted into the sweet black before realizing I had forgotten to grab a blanket.

~

I shivered as I awoke, and curled into myself harder. The blanket helped, but it was thin, and my winter jacket was too busy pillowing my head to make a contribution.

Wait.

I sat up, blanket falling to my waist; it was the green one from the back hatch, the one I kept for emergencies but had never used. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and yawned. Asami was still in the passenger seat, but she too had gone to sleep. She had reclined the seat as far as it could go and lay on her back, elegant even as she dozed in a parking lot. I shrugged my jacket on and pushed the blanket to the side, then checked my watch. Noon, if it was correct, which it usually wasn't. I pulled out my phone instead: 10 AM. I stifled another yawn as I tapped Asami on the shoulder.

“You awake?”

She didn't answer. She didn't move. I grabbed her shoulder and shook it gently.

“Asami?”

Still no response. I shot over the center console and landed in her lap, fingers seeking her pulse.

“Asami!”

As I found the artery in her neck, her eyes opened and she blinked slowly, gaze glassy. “Kit?” Her voice was husky.

“Are you alright?”

“I was…” she yawned. “I was just taking a nap”

I pulled her into a tight hug. “You worried me there”

I felt a smile grow on her face. “I start slow in the cold, remember?”

I released her and she leaned back, stretching. “True…did you put that blanket over me?”

“You looked cold”

“And my jacket?”

“You know your neck hurts when you sleep without a pillow”

“And why didn't you wake me if you were tired? We could've traded shifts”

She smiled sheepishly. “You looked too cute curled up like that. You weren't frowning like usual, either; you looked like you were at peace. I didn't want to disturb it”

I felt a warmth in my chest, then realized where I was sitting and blushed again. I started crawling over to my seat but Asami pulled me back by my arm to where I was laying on top of her in the passenger seat. “Don't be shy, honey”

“At least let me put the heater on; the windows are all fogged up”

She hummed and the sound vibrated through my body. “Just reach over and turn the engine on, okay? Don't leave my lap”

I did so, and Asami pulled me back into her as soon as it caught and growled to life. The air from the vents was cold after sitting for hours, but she wrapped her arms around me as we lay, her warmth enveloping me.

“Let's just stay like this for a while. We have all day to explore,” she whispered, warm breath tickling my ear. I nodded and she pulled me closer, pressing her lips to the back of my head.

~

As the cabin warmed, we dozed, until I finally cracked an eyelid and realized it was coming up to 1 PM. I was about to dismiss it and return to nuzzling into Asami's turtleneck when my stomach, evidently getting impatient, expressed its dissatisfaction. Asami laughed and I scowled.

“Come on, let's get some breakfast”

The cold was brutal after hours in the warm embrace of Asami and her heater, but thankfully didn't last long as we scurried inside. It was warm after we got past the doors, and a wave of memories hit me: the ice water in the South Dakota summer, wandering around with a five dollar bill deciding what to buy, snapping photos of all the kitsch.

“It's been a long time, Asami”

She pouted. “It was before me, wasn't it”

“Asami…”

“You were here with Yui, weren't you?”

“...are you jealous?”

Asami flicked a strand of hair over her ear. “I could never be jealous of an old cow like that”

“Asami, she wasn't like that”

“You drove her!”

“Only for a year”

“It wouldn't have been longer if you hadn't wrecked her!”

I stared. Asami was…jealous of Yui? The car I had only driven for a year, that had been an object rather than a partner?

“Was it because she was my first?”

Asami sniffed. “No”

“So…”

“But I would have been a much better first car. Yui was too big, too slow. You'd have been fine making that turn in me”

“Asami, the lady that hit me was doing 70 in a 45”

Asami huffed, but didn't respond otherwise.

“C'mon, let's get some food. You're hungry too”

She was silent as we walked to the cafe. It was evidently the off-season; a few families were around, along with a handful of solo travelers, but the bustle I recalled from the summer was absent. When we reached the cafe, she studied the menu for a long time before walking to the counter to order pie a la mode. I joined her and ordered a buffalo burger, along with ten cents of coffee (one for each of us). The impact of the price was lessened somewhat by swiping my credit card to pay, but that wasn't what I was paying attention to. We found a booth and sat facing each other, and Asami's gaze pierced me like a Comanche arrow, with about the same pain in my heart.

“Asami…”

“I understand. You weren't to know, especially then. And you had your own woman to worry about”

“I sense a ‘but’ approaching”

She frowned, but it looked like it took more effort than it had before. “You were still attached to them, weren't you? And you still think about them sometimes. You've told me”

I sighed. She had me there. “What do you want me to say?”

“Tell me you won't think about them anymore”

I raised an eyebrow. “That's it? No blood oaths, no yubitsume?”

“That's all”

“Asami, of course I won't think about them anymore. I have you now, and you're much better than either of them, by any measure”

She still wasn't smiling, but her frown had lessened and I thought I saw a dusting of rose under the scars of her face. She went to speak, but was interrupted by our number being called from the counter.

The food was delicious. I devoured my burger; no proper dinner and no breakfast had practically inverted my stomach, and I realized just how ravenous I was when I took my first bite. As I tore apart the chunk of meat with the restraint of a coyote presented with a pound of bacon after three months on Atkins and half a joint, Asami took small, elegant bites from her pie, carefully ensuring that each one including a bit of cherry, a bit of crust, and a bit of ice cream. After I cleaned my plate and finished wiping grease from my face, I looked up to see that amusement had taken the place of anger, and she turned her fork towards me.

“Open wide, Kit”

I obeyed, and was rewarded with the last bite of her pie: a delicious mix of fruit, pastry, dairy, and her. She put the fork down and tilted her head, smiling softly as she picked up her coffee cup and sipped. I drank deeply from my own, the caffeine clearing the last remnants of the fog that comes from staying up too late, then put it down with a clink.

“Are we good?”

Asami took another sip in mock contemplation, before draining her cup as well.

“We're good, honey”

We wandered around for a while after that; I insisted we grab some ice water, despite the cold, and we stood leaning against the wall drinking, watching the odd family go by. As I stood, left hand in my pocket and water in my right, I felt Asami shift closer. Her hand made its way onto my forearm, where it gently but insistently pulled my hand out of my pocket, letting it dangle for a moment before sliding her hand down, past my wrist, and clasping it. She held it then, for just a moment, before slowly, tenderly, sweeping her hand up and interlacing her fingers with mine. As she tightened her grip, warmth enveloped my hand, shooting up my arm and blooming across my chest. I felt myself relax, just slightly, leaning into her shoulder, and she responded in kind. We leaned on one another, sipping our water slowly, savoring the moment for as long as we could before the rattle of ice cubes in an empty cup brought the rest of the world rushing back in.

From then on, we kept our hands together as much as we could.

In the western apparel shop, she tried on a pair of black cowboy boots and paired them with a black Stetson, looking for all the world like she was about to break hearts at the rodeo. I pulled out my phone to snap a picture and she posed, hips cocked, thumbs in her belt loops, and a sparkle in her eye; however, she put the accoutrements back as soon as I put it back in my pocket.

“You don't want them?”

“They're not really my style”

We went to the jewelry shop next and, as she browsed through bracelets, I spotted something that suited her perfectly, and grabbed it as quickly and discreetly as I could, palming the box so she wouldn't see. After we checked out, we briefly separated so I could open the box and show her what I'd bought.

“Earrings?”

“Ten karats, baby. C'mon, put them on!”

She acquiesced, and soon gold hearts sparkled between strands of glossy black.

“You look beautiful”

Asami smiled. “Next time, I'm buying you a gift”

“You're already all the gift I need,” I said, grabbing her hand and squeezing it softly. She hummed and adjusted her grip, pulling me closer and lightly nipping my ear as a middle-aged couple walked past.

“What a lovely young couple! They remind me of us on our honeymoon”

“Do you remember how we couldn't keep our hands off each other?”

“I remember when sweaters used to fit you like that”

“Harold!”

The sound of a soft smack floated past as I buried my face in Asami's shoulder, blushing, while she chuckled. A thought drifted through my mind: They see us both.

We walked outside, where families milled around, children playing and parents taking pictures. Asami and I stood in front of the jackalope, taking in the sheer ludicrousness of it, when I felt a tap on my shoulder, and turned to see another couple standing behind us.

“Do you want us to take your picture?”

They see us too

I handed the boyfriend my phone, and Asami and I posed in front of the rabbit; she draped an arm over my shoulder and leaned in while I held her waist and pointed up at its antlers. We smiled as the man took enough photos to make a calendar and thanked them both as I took my phone back. I returned the favor, pulling what I knew about photographic composition from my memory, and walked away, once again hand in hand with Asami.

Outside the store, we sat in the cabin, engine warming and vents blowing cold air. Asami sipped a root beer (“I wanted to try your favorite soda”) and another sweet tea for me sat untouched as I dragged my finger across my phone screen, consulting Google Maps for our next destination. Not much interested me until I recalled an old name.

“Asami?”

“Hmm?”

“How'd you like to visit the Bakken formation?”

“That oilfield you always joke about going to work in when you feel like you're not doing anything useful?”

“Yeah!”

She smiled. “I'll go anywhere, so long as it's with you”

My breath hitched slightly, but I steadied myself as the blue temperature light clicked off and I flicked the car into reverse. “Let's go take a look”

We peeled out of the parking lot as the opening strains of Ain't No Rest for the Wicked twanged from the stereo, and Asami's new earrings glinted as a ray of sunshine broke through the grey clouds.

~

The light grey of the clouds had turned nearly back as we turned onto the I-94 near the state line, and they were pregnant with rain. The odd rumble of thunder provided an ad-lib to the ethereal breakbeats of Tokyopill that Asami and I had listened to for the last few hours, our fingers laced together and resting on the shifter as I once again drove one-handed.

A fat raindrop landed on the windshield and my lips curled into a smile. Asami curled her hand in and rubbed the back of mine with the soft pad of her thumb, and, as the rain began to fall, I clicked the stereo volume down a few notches from the steering wheel. Drops just as fat as the first began to slap against the windows and roof, and my shoulders loosened as I leaned back in my seat.

The comfort didn't last long.

A flash of lightning and a roll of thunder brought with them a torrent of water so thick I could barely see twenty feet in front of me. I flicked the headlights on for safety, but they didn't help pierce the watery veil. Asami didn't say anything, but her grip tightened slightly before she released my hand. We pulled off the highway at the next off ramp and into a no-name gas station. I parked and turned the engine off, and ran my fingers through my hair, sighing as the downpour pounded on the roof.

“I know it's always nice to drive you when it rains, but this is a little much”

“Mhm. Like that time in Kansas, remember?”

“Yup. That only lasted, what, twenty minutes?”

I was on my phone now, checking the radar. “We're in a massive red splotch. It's probably gonna be an hour or two before we can get moving again.”

“Oh, how dreadful”

I looked over and saw her smirking as she gestured to the backseat.

~

We made as cozy a nest as we could without having to get out of the car; the seats tilted back as far as they'd go without removing the tonneau cover, the emergency blanket pulled from the back hatch again, and my jacket serving as a makeshift pillow like last time. When it came time to arrange ourselves, Asami gently pushed me forward, and I lay facing the back hatch, her climbing over the center console after I found a spot to curl up. My heart skipped a beat as her arms enveloped me, and was pounding by the time she had fully pulled my back against her chest and hooked a leg over mine.

“Shh. Just relax, Kit. I've got you”

I focused, slowing my breathing, and little by little the tension seeped out of my muscles as I melted into her embrace. She hummed approval, once more sending vibrations through my body, and gently kissed my neck before placing her head on my shoulder.

“Why don't we stay just like this until the rain stops?”

I murmured an agreement, already drifting in the haze between sleeping and waking, and I felt a smile grow on her face before she moved her head back to press her face into my hair as I began to fall.

~

Rain continued to pound on the roof and pour down the windows, and the neon signs in the c-store windows were blurry splotches of red and blue light. Thunder rolled, but nary a flinch passed through I or Asami's bodies. We were still in the back, bodies so entangled that even our hair combined, her long black shine mixing with my shorter, duller brown. The windows had steamed from our breathing but neither of us paid any mind as we dozed. I had shifted in my sleep and now was chest-to-chest, my head in the crook of her neck, lips brushing a thin white scar. Time was liquid; eons passed between each drop the sky released, yet as the rain began to thin to a gentle drizzle we both awoke feeling as if we had just laid down. She pressed a kiss to my forehead.

“Five more minutes?”

I nodded, just barely, bangs brushing her throat, and she smiled before hooking her leg over mine and her arm over my back and pulling me closer. Her heartbeat slowed to sync with mine and we both eased back into the soft, warm blackness.

Five minutes passed, then another five, then another, and by the time we stirred again the rain had stopped fully and the sun had set. I wiped at the foggy windows with my hoodie sleeve, yawning. The c-store was still open.

“Fancy some dinner?”

Asami mumbled something that sounded like a yes, so I pulled my Reeboks on and trudged inside. The air was cold, but not sharp; the moisture had dulled the edge and the wind had not yet picked up. The store was dingy, fluorescent lights buzzing like a displeased hornet, and I wandered around, yawning and grabbing snacks: another NOS for her, sweet tea for me, a bag of Donettes, a bag of jerky, some chips; I examined the food under the heating lamps and concluded that none of it was fit for human consumption, walking to the coffee machine and filling up a large travel mug instead. I plunked my haul down at the register manned by a grizzled and bored-looking man, who disinterestedly scanned my items.

I walked out, bags in hand, and opened the back door, tossing the bags in the footwell before sliding in myself. Asami had pulled herself upright, leaning on the door and stretching her legs across the seat. She pulled them back so I could sit down, and I did so before realizing that something about her was different.

“Did you change your clothes?”

Indeed she had, discarding the turtleneck and jeans in favor of black yoga pants (which highlighted her sculpted thighs to an unreasonably pleasing degree) and an oversized grey hoodie. Her long black hair had been pulled into a messy bun, leaving the golden hearts I had given her free to dangle as they saw fit. She tilted her head to the side.

“Do you like them? I thought they fit the weather a bit better”

A brief image of how precisely she changed her outfits flashed through my mind and I felt my cheeks start to heat, but I tamped down on it.

“You look good”

She smiled, a twinkle in her eye letting me know that she knew exactly what I was thinking, and shifted sideways, pulling my shoulder to hers.

“What'd you get?”

“Junk food”

She laughed. “No fine cuisine hiding in the bain marie?”

“They had some wagyu tartare, but I thought it was too low-class for you”

“Of course. Nothing can match the regal delicacy of stale chocolate donuts”

We sat there, eating our dinner and swapping jokes, safe in each other's company, until every last crumb of pastry, potato, and beef was consumed.

~

It was nearly one in the morning by the time we hit Williston, but we didn't stop; instead, we rolled through and kept heading west till we found what we were looking for.

Despite the hour, I was excited. “See that? That's a Devon rig. It's contracted out, of course, but their logo has to be around here somewhere”

Asami smiled but said nothing.

“Did you know I interviewed with them? It was gonna be a position in OKC but I figured they might send me up here since I was a supply chain guy”

“But they didn't give you an offer”

I scowled. “The bastards”

I pulled us off the road and found a quiet spot to park. The wind and dust had dried the car off, so I grabbed my backpack out of the hatch and stuck it on the roof rack as Asami climbed up with an easy grace. I climbed up with greater difficulty, legs stiff from driving, but Asami lent me a hand and we reclined against the bag, arms around each other as we watched the rig lights glitter in the night.

“I've always wanted to come up here. Not necessarily to work, just to see what's going on, you know?”

“I remember. What makes here different from the rigs in Oklahoma?”

“I don't really know. Geographic distance, maybe, or the name. ‘Bakken.’ Sounds like a movie villain. Could be that I heard about it a lot from my dad, or that North Dakota is just more exotic than the Permian”

I turned slightly. “Hey, you run on gas. Do you notice any differences based on the type of crude it's refined from?”

Asami thought for a moment. “I'm not sure. I do notice that the gas at some stations tastes better than others, though"

“Really? What's your favorite?”

“It's not really a favorite…it's all the same thing, at the end of the day”

“C'mon, tell me!”

“Well…” she looked off into the distance. “I always like what Love’s had”

“Really?”

“Mhm. I wasn't so big on OnCue, either”

My heart sank. I had fueled up at OnCue almost every time when I lived in OKC. I rubbed her back. “I'm sorry for putting that in you. I didn't realize…”

She squeezed me tighter to her. “Don't worry about it, honey. You couldn't have known, and it worked fine”

“But I still gave you something you didn't like, over and over again…”

She put her fingers under my chin and tilted my face up and towards her. The rig lights shone in her eyes, small stars twinkling in warm brown pools. “Listen, Kit. You have nothing to apologize for”

I started to speak but she put a finger on my lips.

“From the moment you first put your hands on my steering wheel, I've been there. I was hazy at first, you didn't know me and I didn't know you, but, as the miles passed, we both began to know each other”

“The first scar, the first time I was hurt, I watched you as you cursed and shouted at the kid who reversed into me and cracked my front bumper. I heard you muttering to yourself as you got back into the driver's seat, the way you had to control yourself. The next few weeks, how you hunted your compensation from him and his parents, the way you hounded him after he hurt me. I knew how you felt about me then, and how I felt about you”

“The next time, the man on the bicycle, I felt your resignation when you knew you wouldn't be compensated; the way you drove me so gingerly back home, glancing at my blind spot every couple of seconds, wincing as my mirror rattled around the footwell”

“I watched you grow in confidence, as your driving became more aggressive; burning fuel swinging around corners; testing the limits of my grip in the rain and snow. I watched you suffer: exhaustion after lifting weights, despair in your relationships, the way you held onto my wheel for dear life as you shivered on those dark mornings while you drove to swim, and how your hair smelled of chlorine and slowly froze on your head once you finished practice; my heart broke for you each and every time, but I was unable to reach out to you”

“I remember all the times we flew across the turnpike, from OKC to Tulsa, and along the interstate from Tulsa to Fayetteville; the regret you felt when you had to garage me every time you came back freshman year; the way you locked and relocked me when you got out and went to go to your apartment as an upperclassman”

“I've been here. Waiting. For you”

I heard only silence after she finished speaking. All those years, she had been there? And despite all of it, the shouting, smacking the steering wheel, close calls on the highway and curb kisses when I wasn't careful enough, she still loved me?

I didn't speak. I couldn't speak. Words swirled in my head but none came out, and I felt a tear leak from my eye and trickle down my cheek for the first time in a decade. Her expression was soft, and she leaned forward to kiss it from my skin as I tried to blink the rest away. My breath hitched and I felt my lip tremble as she pulled me in, my face in the crook of her neck, bangs drifting into the grey hood draped down her back. Warm breath tickled my ear as she whispered to me.

“Shh…let it all out, baby. You're safe now. I'm here”

She held me then, for a long time, till the sounds of the world returned and I drifted off, thinking only of her.

~

It was dark when I awoke. Asami was still holding me, but we were in the back seat again, blanket over us; my jacket was still on over my hoodie, and Asami had scrunched up her hood to use as a pillow instead. Her neck was propped up enough that I could burrow my face into it, breathing in her and only her. Loose strands of her hair tickled my nose and lips, and I tried to suppress a sneeze.

I failed.

I felt her breath lighten, and she turned towards me till our foreheads touched.

“Good morning”

“...morning”

A blissful smile made its way across her face and she pull her head up to kiss the tip of my nose before bringing her forehead back to mine.

“How are you feeling?”

I thought for a moment. “Lighter, I guess. Like I finally was able to sit down at the end of a long walk”

A sadness flashed in her eyes, gone as quickly as it had come. “I know, honey. That's why I'm here”

She kissed me again, on the lips this time. Light, chaste. “Now, what do you want to do today? Take a turn in the drilling chair?”

I cracked a smile. “How about we head west, hit the peninsula again?”

“Of course, darling. Anywhere you go, I'll follow”

Thus decided, we didn't get up for a while longer, instead staying in each other's arms, listening as our breathing matched. Eventually, Asami yawned and sat up, propping herself with her arm. “Come on, Kit. Let's drive”

I nodded and pulled myself up, pecking her on the cheek and then grunting as I clambered into the driver's seat. I busied myself with watching the engine warm and checking the map, and had just located a cozy-looking diner to brunch at when Asami slid into the passenger seat, clad once again in jeans and her turtleneck. A few flyaway hairs stuck out, but otherwise she was once again supremely elegant, in a soft manner. I smiled, and went to grab the wheel before hissing as spikes of pain shot through my hands.

“Kit? What's wrong?” Concern filled her voice.

“Forgot to curl my hands while I slept. The skin on my knuckles is cracking; hurts like a bitch”

I turned to crank the heat up and use the vents to warm the skin like I had so many times before, but Asami intercepted my hand and brought it to her lips. My breath caught in my throat as she slowly, tenderly kissed my cracked index knuckle, tongue swirling over and into the split, working her saliva into the skin; it began to stretch, and my gasp at the pain faded into a sigh of relief. Asami continued down my hand, mouth absorbing the pain from each crack and split, and, as she kissed the last knuckle on my right hand, she gestured, inviting me to stretch out my left. I eagerly accepted. Across she went, tongue swirling, sucking slightly if it was bleeding. When she finished, she held my hands in hers, and licked the spots of my blood off her lips before flashing a conspiratorial smile.

“Feel better?”

I shivered.

“I'll take that as a yes”

We drove off, fingers once again intertwined on the shifter. The car was quiet: no music, no chatter, just the purr of the engine and the noise of rubber on asphalt. At the diner, we sat at a booth next to the window, gazing out at the morning light while sipping our coffees, and, eventually, eating our breakfasts. I ate a plate of the worst eggs Benedict I had ever had the misfortune to consume, while Asami quickly-but-neatly mowed down a stack of pancakes, slathered with butter and liberally drizzled with syrup. I paid and we were back on the road again, her pressing a sticky and sweet kiss to my nose and giggling as I licked it clean.

The prairie rolled past under a massive sky, and time once more blurred; minutes became hours, hours became minutes, music faded into and out of existence. The sun ticked back and forth like the pendulum of a grandfather clock until clouds overtook it and snow began to drift down, dusting the roads and grass alike, and I pulled off at the next exit I could find, on the hunt.

“Where are we going, honey?”

“You'll see. You'll love it”

Asami hummed, legs curled against her chest like usual, as I found exactly what I had been looking for: an empty parking lot. I turned into it and drove to the center, then stopped and shifted into park. I turned to Asami.

“Buckle up, sweetheart”

I reached down to my left and pressed a button, holding it and watching the dashboard lights until a new one lit up. I had disabled traction control. I sat back up and readied myself, blowing a thin stream of air past my lips while pushing my hair back. Then I stamped on the gas and yanked the wheel to the side.

Asami gasped as the wheels spun and we slid across the snowy asphalt. I pulled the wheel further down and the back began to slide, before I let it rotate gently through my fingers and Asami's gasp turned into a giggle. She reached for my phone as I accelerated again, and the sound of 808s and cowbell began to pulse through the car as we floated over the snow, leaving slush and the odd tire mark in our wake. She gasped and giggled and bit her lip by turn as I yanked the steering wheel to and fro, letting it drift back to its initial spot, then drummed my fingers on the top before cranking it around again.

After we had turned the pleasant white carpet into a muddy warzone, I brought us to a stop with a jerk and leaned back, turning off the phonk and putting my arms behind my neck, looking over to Asami with a smirk. “Not bad for a civvie, huh?”

She was red-faced and breathing heavily, pushing on the dash to steady herself as her chest heaved. Her hair had a sheen to it, but not the usual gloss; this was something else. “Asami?”

She clicked her seatbelt off and was on me before I could say another word, mashing her lips into mine, biting them like she wanted to tear them off before shoving her tongue into my mouth with such violence I felt like a maiden on her wedding night. She pulled back suddenly, took a shuddering breath, and then locked her lips against mine again, only releasing them when my vision began to go grey. A thin string of our saliva briefly connected us, then snapped as she heaved herself back into her seat, staring up at the cabin roof with glassy eyes. I licked my lips, which had begun to swell, but was otherwise silent. Slowly, she composed herself, retaining her posture and shakily combing her hair with her fingers before crossing her legs primly. “We're doing that again, and soon”

It dawned on me what had just happened, and I drummed my fingers on the steering wheel again. She kept herself admirably still, but I still saw her breathing quicken before she brought it back to normal. I smirked and shifted us back into drive, easing back onto the highway as we continued our cruise to the coast.

~

The clouds over the Olympic Peninsula hung low and threatening, and the grey mist floating above the road whirled hypnotically as we pushed through it. Asami was back in her hoodie and yoga pants, earrings glinting every time the light from a pair of oncoming headlights hit the gold. The smell of pine hung thick in the car, mingling with our combined scents to form an aroma like a fleece blanket. I had both hands on the wheel, but hers was once again on my thigh, scratching every so often and squeezing on particularly tight turns. The thick, hazy guitars of Blushing added to the layered sensations, and it was only the carbonation and caffeine from my Dr Pepper that kept me from floating away into what felt like the most perfectly made bed I could ever have.

Asami noticed my eyelids drooping. “You're tired”

“Just…” I stifled a yawn. “Just comfortable”

“Pull over”

I obeyed, and we pulled into one of the Olympic National Forest's carveouts. I got out and began to stretch, but Asami yanked me by the hood and dragged me into the back seat, pulling the door closed and straddling me, squeezing my hips with her powerful thighs. She leaned over, holding herself up with her arms as her hair, shaken from its bun, brushed and tickled my face.

“You knew what you were doing in that parking lot, didn't you”

“Only the last part”

She exhaled deeply and her warm breath dusted my face. “Remember on the drives from Fayetteville, where you put your thoughts in different places and picked them up when you got home?”

“Yeah, the method of loci. So?”

“Let me show you”

She lowered herself down onto me, head past my shoulder, feeling like the world's most beautiful weighted blanket. She took one of my hands in hers and placed in on her hip, then began to slide it down, past the elastic hem of the hoodie, across supple, spandex-coated muscle (glutes and hamstrings, a voice in my head reminded me), and then pulled me forward til my fingers touched the pit of her knee. A memory flashed through my mind: hats and kicks, married to the figured bass; lush pads fuguing. She let it lie, shifting her arm across and dragging my other hand to the crook of her elbow; this time, I saw 9term, reconfigured for Windows, a hundred mice sweeping and chording. She pressed her lips to my ear and whispered, “Do you understand?”

I pulled my hand back up her leg and pressed it to the small of her back, and felt my shoulder relax as she exhaled, ruffling the strands of my hair that were sprawled on the seat. Muscle memory took over as I found all the places I knew, now different and fuller. With each discovery she responded and shifted, till we were both entangled in the kind of comfort you get curled up in bed as a blizzard howls outside, and we dozed.

~

The piney air was bracing, but the now-open windows had flushed out the thick scent I had begun to love, and my hoodie sleeve had grown damp as absorbed the fog streaking past. I squinted into the distance, looking for signs of approaching vehicles, but being met only with the mockery of swirling grey.

“If only one of us had a functional pair of foglights”

Asami clicked her tongue. “If only one of us had properly installed the foglights when he got them rather than procrastinating for three years”

I snickered. She had me there.

Eventually we cleared the Washington border and passed into Oregon, and joined the I-5. Our hands once again met on the shifter, and each drum of my fingers on the wheel was met with a stroke of her thumb. The miles flew by, and soon the trees were thinning around us as we shot south through northern California. The clouds were long gone, now, and sunlight streamed into the cabin, motes of dust winking. The temperature slowly climbed: thirties, forties, fifties, and into the upper sixties by the time dusk was beginning to settle. As I parked us next to a fuel pump, I tilted my hat forward and swiped the lining over my forehead, catching small pricks of sweat. The sleeves of my hoodie had been rolled up for over an hour now, and my jacket was tangled with the blanket somewhere in the back seat. Asami, once more in her turtleneck and jeans, tugged at her collar before getting out of the car as I started filling her up.

“I'm going to go inside. Do you want anything?”

“Sweet tea and a box of Newports”

“Swishers or nothing”

“I'd prefer nothing, then”

She sashayed into the c-store as I watched the sunset. When she returned, she carried a plastic bag in one hand and her sneakers in another, her sweater and jeans draped over her forearm. She had changed into a flowing sundress, white with black flowers, and sandals with white straps. The image hit me like a cinder block. I removed my hat, smoothed my hair back, and put it back on as she walked up, smiling.

“Like what you see?”

“Very much”

I took her old clothes from her and she tossed the bag in the passenger footwell before folding the dress under her and sliding in, keeping the door ajar to let air circulate. I headed around to pop the hatch and throw the sweater and jeans inside when a thought occurred to me. I stopped and pressed my face into the black wool, inhaling deeply.

The sweater was still warm, and the scent was thick and musky and undeniably her. Notes of sweetness stood out from the odd drop of NOS that must have fallen as she drank (or perhaps from my–our–first kiss that night in Minnesota). I breathed her in as much as I could, filling my lungs until they screamed, then pulling the sweater away so I could breathe out without compromising her aroma. I had brought the sweater to my face again before I heard Asami clear her throat. I smiled, sheepish.

“Sorry”

“You don't have to settle for my sweater, you know”

“You smell good, though”

She smiled back. “So do you. Now let's find somewhere to rest so we can both enjoy each other more fully, okay?”

I nodded and walked to the back, chucking the clothes in the hatch and sliding into the seat, the engine growling to life and the opening strains of Tupac's opus swaggering out of the speakers.

Twenty minutes later, we rolled into Williams as the sky finished shifting from indigo to ink, and I dug the location of the Motel 6 from an old memory. We parked and I went inside to book a room, but returned immediately after.

“Remember what I said the last time I stayed here?”

“That it was disgusting and you wish you had slept in me? Before panicking that you had brought earwigs into me and you'd have to get me deep cleaned?”

“Precisely”

She smiled. “So I should go make up the back seat?”

I kissed her forehead. “Yup. I'll go find us some dinner”

The air had begun to cool, and the sweat on my brow had faded to a thin crust of salt when I returned to Asami, bearing pizza and a couple of sodas. I set up my phone to play Top Gear clips as we sat in the back, shoulder to shoulder, trading bites of pizza and sipping Pepsi and Dr. Pepper as Clarkson shouted and May snarked. When we finished, Asami pushed the pizza box to the floor, following it with her empty bottle before shifting to lean back against the door, plopping her feet in my lap and crossing her ankles. I shut my phone off and tapped on her leg, creating a West Coast beat from the sound of flesh on flesh. We sat there, silent but for my tapping and the sounds of a town at night, resting.

~

We had shifted during the night and I lay with my head on her lap, cotton soft against my face, her body heat radiating out and warming me against the now-chilly air. She stirred first, and woke me with gentle kisses on my face and neck, moving from forehead to collarbone as I blinked blearily and curled into her harder. Eventually, we were both awake enough for breakfast, and we stumbled across the parking lot to the McDonald's hand in hand. The workers, clearly not happy to be there at five in the morning, ignored us as we whispered to each other and tapped the kiosk tablet to order. We exited soon after, me carrying the crumpled paper bag containing our food, and her carrying a coffee in each hand. We hit the road soon after; no music, just the sound of the engine revving and the tires gripping asphalt as she fed me bites of McGriddle and hash brown, her satisfied hums matching the purrs coming from under the hood.

Soon, the food was eaten, the coffee drunk, and we were scything through the mountains. The bends were tricky, and the g-forces when taking the hairpins had me gripping the steering wheel in a manner that made Asami gasp and squeeze my thigh, nails digging into my jeans.

Three hours passed in small bites: sharp curves where I braced myself against the wheel as I braked, then hauled the wheel around and slammed on the gas as I hit the apex; long, gentle bends where I kept our speed steady and let the wheel drift under my fingers as Asami sighed and shivered. When we arrived south of Fort Bragg, parking at Todd's Point to take our first look at the California coast, I had to help her out of her seat and she leaned on me, legs trembling as we found a spot to sit and watch the ocean.

The sea breeze calmed her, as did my hand gently rubbing her back, until a shaky exhale and kiss on my cheek signified that she was ready to hit the road again. We piled in, and I flicked the stereo on, Dr. Dre beginning his verse as we pulled into the Pacific Coast Highway.

Hours blurred once more as we cruised, stopping only to grab snacks or take a break to watch the sea, arms around each other, my head on her shoulder, her hand occasionally carding through the hair that spilled out from under my hat, tucking flyaways behind my ear. I kept a gentle touch on the wheel and feathered the gas only when our speed dipped, letting the rhythm of the waves in my periphery lull me into a trance where there was nothing but my hands on the wheel and her hand on my leg, each of my motions matched moments later by a squeeze or scratch.

It was darkening by the time we reached Santa Monica. I parked, and we walked down the pier until I found it: a proud sign marking the end of Route 66. I put my free hand on it and stood, feeling the metal of the post with it and the soft warmth of Asami's hand with the other, recalling all that I had read and heard; the Mother Road, the long trail Okies had taken to escape the Dust Bowl.

“I've waited a long time for this”

“I know, honey”

“I'm glad that it'll be with you”

I felt Asami squeeze my hand and turned. She was smiling, the wind sending her dress rippling across her legs. “Let's drive”

~

The next two days were the happiest of my life. We drove through the desert, windows down, wind ruffling and mixing our hair till strands of black and brown were knotted over the center console, mirroring our intertwined fingers. Every stop, from the Barringer Crater to Cadillac Ranch, was a new adventure, a new memory to treasure, and a new chance for her to melt my heart all over again. I barely paid attention to the attractions, instead watching as she inspected them, dress flowing and earrings swinging.

I was almost disappointed as we entered Oklahoma, the exoticism of rock and sand replaced by the familiarity of the prairie, but, outside OKC, Asami said something that took me by complete surprise.

“Why don't we stay there, honey?” she said, pointing at a billboard for the Riverwind.

“You sure? It's a casino…”

She grinned. “You talked too much about gambling to pretend that that's an excuse”

I considered. On the one hand, drinks, games, and a proper bed, but on the other…

“I've liked sleeping in you. With you. Just the two of us in the nest we've made”

She squeezed my fingers. “I know. But I think it's time we try something a little different”

I nodded and flicked my blinker on, getting ready to head south.

~

We snagged a room with little difficulty and I dropped my bag on the bed before swapping my hoodie and T-shirt for a red and black tartan flannel tucked into my jeans, the rampaging boar on my belt buckle snarling under it. Asami was in the bathroom, and said she'd be in there a while, so I headed down to the casino floor to take a look. Like every casino I'd been to, it stank of smoke and contained a gaggle of corpses slumped at slot machines, fingers pecking at the buttons, dull eyes reflecting the lights that attempted to entrance a brain so addled from decades of hyperstimulation that pure cocaine wouldn't wake it from its lethargy. I found that depressing, and, after exchanging some cash for a couple hundred in chips, went hunting for the sportsbook. It was empty.

I wandered around a little while longer, noting where the roulette was and squinting at a suspiciously busy poker table, then walked back to the elevators to wait for Asami. Five minutes later, the door dinged and I tossed my hair lazily as I looked over before my jaw dropped.

Asami stepped out wearing the same burgundy dress she had that first evening. The silk clung to her in all the right ways, and the high slit revealed the scars marking her legs, now bare. She walked towards me and I watched, mesmerized, as her hips swayed and the muscles in her thighs rippled in time with the clicks of her heels against the tile. Her hair, brushed into a black waterfall, reflected the lights above her, and her gold earrings twinkled. She smirked at my expression and offered me her arm. “Shall we place some wagers, darling?”

I hesitated, suddenly as self-conscious as any man expected to accompany so beautiful and elegant a woman while dressed like a lumberjack would be. She noticed, and took my arm herself, pulling me close, her breath warm against my ear.

“You have nothing to worry about, honey. I'm all yours, tonight and forever,” she whispered. “Now, let's go”

I walked in a daze as she dragged me to the roulette wheel. A handful of others stood around it, alternating between watching the wheel, their phones, and their drinks.

“Roulette? I would've thought blackjack”

She grabbed my hand and pressed it against her thigh as she flexed. “You expect me to count cards with these?”

The flush from the contact and the guilt from ruining her mathematical ability mixed oddly in my stomach. “Sorry”

She rubbed my hand slowly against her thigh and I flushed harder as I felt the texture change from smooth, taut skin to scar tissue and back again, then let it go and linked her elbow with mine before anyone noticed. “Don't worry about it. Did you get some chips?”

I pulled the stack out of my pocket, and she took twenty dollars worth, flipping the top chip between forefinger and thumb, thinking and waiting. I watched the ball whirl around and around, logical thoughts of expected value and optimal stopping buried under a thick layer of Asami. She pressed the top chip into my hand and pulled me forward, pulling a quarter of the stack out before turning to me. “Let's put it on black,” she said with a wink.

I fidgeted with the chip as she placed the stack down, flipping it between my fingers and palming it like I had learned in Germany, watching as the croupier spun the wheel and placed the ball. Time slowed, and the ball crawled on the wood. I felt Asami's heartbeat in her arm, while my own pounded through my skull. Hours passed as the ball crept around the wheel until, finally, it found a slot to nestle into. A black one.

The size of our stack doubled as Asami squeezed me, nearly lifting me off the ground, before pulling the stack off the table and handing the chips to me. “Your turn”

Adrenaline surging, I grabbed her hand and pulled her to the poker tables, searching my memory for the remnants of advice I had heard Nate Silver dispense. The busy poker table from earlier had lightened, and I found a spot to slide into, across from a large man with a short silver goatee and a head that appeared to have fully merged with his neck. Asami stood behind me, resting her hands on my shoulders. I plunked the chips down and slouched back, crossing my arms as the dealer began flicking the cards across the table.

My first three hands were poor, and I folded early each time, taking a hit when I was assigned the small blind. After I got the big blind, though, I lifted my cards up and got a shock: pocket aces. My eyebrow raised on its own, but I managed to control the rest of my body. The man across from me caught the flicker, but it seemed like all the other eyes at the table were focused on the cards or at the region just above my head. I felt Asami dig her thumbs into my shoulders, making circles in my traps. Two of the other players folded in the first round, and another three on the flop. At the turn, I was sitting with a two pair, aces and nines, and had raised twice. The man next to me called, the next folded, and the big man raised. His voice, a booming whine, tickled my memory, but I couldn't quite place it in my Asami-induced intoxication.

The river came, another ace. Full house. I pushed all but one of my chips in, rolling the last down my knuckles. The man next to me cursed and folded, and then came the turn of the big man. He stared me down, and this time I couldn't keep the smirk off my face. He scowled.

“You're an unprofessional little shit, aren't you”

Again, a memory raised its hand, but I didn't call on it.

“Full house, aces and nines. Your move.” I sang the last two words just to irk him further.

“Listen here, you little punk. If you think I'm gonna buy your bluff, you've got another thing coming. I've been playing longer than you've been alive!”

The “punk” finally brought the memory to the forefront. This was Jim Traber! My least favorite host on the Sports Animal!

“You do you, Jimmy. But don't get salty when you find out I've been telling the truth the whole time”

He shoved his pile forward, calling, and the dealer motioned for us to show our cards. I flipped mine over lazily, and he swore before angrily throwing his down. Three of a kind from the nines, plus a king. Not enough.

Traber stood up, unfolding his vast bulk and leaning forward to shout at me, before freezing in place. Asami's thumbs had stopped moving, and they dug in harder now, her nails marking my skin through the flannel. Traber sat, and she loosened her grip as I collected our winnings, but grabbed my waist and pulled me close as soon as I got up. We walked away, but I took the chance to turn back to Traber and toss him a wink, holding up one of his chips between my fore- and middle fingers.

We cashed out our winnings and headed back up to our room. As soon as we stepped inside, Asami slammed the door and shoved me against it, kissing me deeply, only releasing me when she had to breathe, then immediately locking her lips around mine again. She had her way with my mouth till my lips were sore and swollen, the bottom lip bleeding slightly from where an overzealous bite had pierced the skin. She pulled back, face red, chest heaving, and hair askew, all elegance abandoned in the hall, but the hunger on her face was replaced by concern when she saw the blood welling on my lip.

“Are you okay? Was I too rough?” she asked, before gently tapping the blood away with her finger, licking the red patch without a second thought.

“You were perfect, honey”

She smiled and stepped back, kicking her heels off, then smoothed her hair and padded to the bed. Burgundy silk pooled and slid on white cotton as she reclined, one leg bent at the knee, fully bare as the dress parted at the slit. I removed my shoes as well and joined her, resting my neck on her bicep as I counted our money.

“Not bad for one evening”

Asami pressed a kiss to my forehead. “All you, darling”

“Now, now, that spin of yours got us started. I'd have probably folded before the turn without it”

“So, what do we do with it?”

I considered the options. Some for gas, some taxed, but a large chunk remained….

Then an idea presented itself.

“How about a Thunder game?”

~

We slept in, the adrenaline of the night leaving both of us with the sort of fatigue that seeps into your bones. It was only the buzzing of my phone announcing our successful reservation of two seats in Loud City that got us up and moving. I pulled on my hoodie and jeans as before, while Asami changed into her turtleneck and jeans. I kept my head on a swivel, looking for Traber, but he didn't show, and my shoulders unknotted themselves as we walked into the parking lot, brisk wind causing our hair to stream out behind us.

We got in the car and let it warm in silence. The clock read 10:30 by the time the temperature warning light clicked off, and my stomach began to make itself known again.

“Fancy a spot of lunch? I know just the place”

Asami smiled, and I flicked the car into reverse, pulling out of our parking space. It was time to hit OKC. The road was familiar to us both; I had traveled it in her many times, flying up and down the I-35 for anime conventions and debate tournaments, and Asami put on An Ending (Ascent) in memory of those long-gone days. Eno’s opus accompanied us as I turned onto the I-44, then onto Northwest Expressway, drawing ever closer to what was, to me, probably the most important restaurant in the city.

We pulled into a cracked and skinny parking lot, a green awning showing us our journey was not in vain, and Asami reached over and squeezed my hand on the wheel. “You don't know how long I've waited”

“However long it was, it was too long. C'mon, let's get some lunch”

We got out and my bangs blew into my mouth while Asami's floated in the wind like liquid ebony. I shoved my hair under my hat and took her hand, leading her into Little Mike's Hamburgers.

She was practically vibrating with anticipation as I ordered us both onion burgers with cheese, and gazed in wonder at the political memes covering the walls while I got us both root beers from the soda fountain and squirted vanilla syrup into them. When I handed her the drink she immediately sipped it, just a little, like she was trying to savor it for as long as she could. I grabbed us a small cup of mayo for the fries, and we sat at the table, our hands still clasped together, smiling and letting the ambience do its work. When the burgers arrived, she abandoned her elegance, letting the juices from the beef stream out the sides of her mouth and down her chin, pieces of fried onion dropping onto the paper vessel. I smiled into mine, and, after finishing, scooped up the loose onions and drizzled them over the fries before pushing the mayo towards her. Not a word was needed, and the bliss I saw her experience in that first mouthful was something I'd remember to my dying day.

After the frenzy receded, Asami patted her mouth down with a paper towel and delicately sipped her drink like nothing had happened. I chuckled, wiping down my own face before taking her hand and gently wiping the grease off each finger. We left shortly thereafter, and as we approached the car she squeezed my hand, hard.

“Asami?”

“I…” she looked to the ground, hair curtaining her face. “I always wondered what it was like in there. I could smell it on you when you came out, and you always praised it so highly”

“Was it all that you imagined?”

She looked up and I saw tears shining in her eyes. “More”

~

We took it slow after that, killing time before the game. I drove us downtown and found a spot to park, after which we wandered on foot through Bricktown for hours as I showed Asami where I'd been on scavenger hunts, or something new that had popped up since I'd last walked past. She listened with rapt attention, drinking in my words while holding my hand like it was her only grasp on the world. Eventually, though, I ran out of memories and the sun began to sink, so we hopped back in the car and made our way to Paycom Center.

It was a light crowd that night; Thunder versus Hornets, a guaranteed curbstomp if there ever was one. That was fine by us; we got into the arena with plenty of time to spare, and Asami pulled me over to look at a map on the wall. She studied it for a while before tapping a spot.

“Let's get dinner there”

I squinted. “Big O’s? The spot Phil Inzinga likes?”

She beamed at me. “Yes! I've heard so much about it from him; did you ever get a chance to try it?”

I shook my head, and we walked off in search of the legendary baked potato that dominated the morning airwaves every time Inzinga went to a game.

We found it eventually, and Asami carried it carefully in one hand, keeping her other locked with mine. I, meanwhile, had found a way to carry drinks, napkins, and utensils in my pants pockets, and used my free hand to carry some dessert for us to share: funnel cake. We found our seats and plopped down, carefully arranging our items so as not to be spilled by a careless elbow from us or an inconsiderate passer-by, and had gotten nice and comfortable by tipoff, which was snatched by Chet and flung to Shai for an easy layup. Asami and I cheered, joining our voices to the sonic wall of Loud City, laughing with excitement.

Unfortunately, the rest of the game happened.

We walked out with the crowd, still hand in hand, but my head hung and my grip was a little looser. We eventually exited the arena and I looked up to the sky and sighed, breath steaming like I had just taken a long drag from a cigarette.

“I'm sorry”

“What for?”

“For making your first game a loss. You should've been able to see a win”

Asami stopped and pulled my closer, putting both her hands on my cheeks and staring into my eyes.

“Kit, you have nothing to apologize for. You weren't on the court, and you cheered till your voice gave out. You did all you could've done”

I let my head fall forward. “I know, but-”

“No buts. We had fun, and that's what matters, okay?”

I looked up. “You had fun?”

She smiled warmly. “Of course. It'll take more than a close loss to make being with you a bad time”

I brightened, and the spring returned to my step as we walked back to the car. Before I ducked in, Asami fixed her eyes on me over the roof.

“Fayetteville”

“Yes, ma'am”

~

The trips to Fayetteville were still warm in my memory, and I was on autopilot as we blasted up the Turner, the distorted guitars of Friday Night Fire Fight shrieking over the tire noise at eighty miles per hour. We passed through Tulsa and the music turned moodier, Major Crimes playing as we cruised past MidAmerica Industrial Park. We stopped at the Love’s in West Siloam Springs, and I filled the tank for our final run while Asami grabbed a couple of energy drinks and a bottle of water. Muscle memory took us south until, finally, we crossed into Fayetteville around midnight. I found us a parking space in front of Old Main, and we stepped onto the pitch-dark campus.

For me, it was an easy trip down memory lane: I showed her the library where I had spent most of my time; it was locked, but I pointed out the window I always looked out of when watching the rain fall. We walked through the deserted business complex, peering through the large glass doors. I told story after story: studying, working, arguing with professors and stressing over tests. By the time we had finished and were walking back towards Old Main, it was past one, and an idea struck me.

“Let's go to Dickson”

“Now?”

“It's perfect. Not a Thursday, so students won't be clogging everything up, and the bars should be open but quiet now”

We hurried off, down past my old apartment building and across a parking lot, before slowing as we hit the main sidewalk. As I predicted, it was a quiet night, with even the music waiting out the open doors sounding tired and half-hearted, but we made it into Dickson Street Pub before last call. The bartender shot us a dirty look, but I slid him a twenty and he busied himself with pouring us Guinnesses. We took our drinks and stood at a table in the back, sipping and half-watching the TV.

“Did I ever tell you about the first time I came here?”

Asami frowned. “No”

“It was Valentine's Day of my senior year. I walked over at 10:30 and ordered a Guinness, just like today, and then leaned on the bar pretending to watch the MMA while looking around for all the single ladies. Eventually I got bored and left, but that was my first ever night on Dickson”

Asami sipped her beer coolly. “I suppose it's a good thing you won't need to do that again”

I chuckled and kissed the back of her hand. “Yes, I suppose it is”

Last call came and we drained our beers before wandering back out onto the sidewalk. All was quiet in Fayetteville, and we heard nothing but the creaking of branches in the wind and our own footsteps on concrete as we made our way back to campus. Asami raised an eyebrow as I kept walking, past the car and back towards The Hill.

“C'mon, one last thing”

We trudged back up senior walk towards Old Main before I took us right and stopped in front of a rectangular rock. “I nearly forgot about this”

“What is it?”

“It's called Spoofer’s Stone. Students left love notes here back before the university was co-ed, and now it stands for all the romance that happens here”

She was silent as I continued. “I know that we predate my time here, and that I didn't…know about you while I was here, but…”

She understood, and sat down on the limestone chunk, pulling me down with her and draping her arm over my shoulder as I let my head fall on hers. We stayed like that, falling into a light doze, as the moon shone onto the quiet campus.

~

We drove back to Madison after that, a day's travel through north through Missouri and Iowa. Little was spoken, and little needed to be spoken as we sat, comfortable in each other's company. Mowed cornfields turned to frozen dairy farms till, finally, we reached my apartment complex, and I pulled into the garage, shutting off the engine. The car seemed to give a weary sigh, and I sat holding her hand for a moment, reluctant to leave. She gave my hand an encouraging squeeze and I pushed open the door, her fingers sliding from my grip as I hauled myself upright, palms pressing into the small of my back as it popped and I groaned. I trudged to the hatch and opened it, pulling out my backpack and Asami’s clothes, slinging the former over my shoulder and folding the latter over my arm. I turned to see Asami easing herself out, clad in her black turtleneck and jeans, gold earrings swinging beneath her hair.

She walked up and took my hand again, and I looked deep into her eyes. “Are…are you gonna come up?”

I saw a sparkle in the brown pools, like she had been waiting for me to ask the whole time.

“Yes”

We walked hand in hand through the door and began to ascend the stairs.