“What now?”“You’ve never ridden a motorcycle before?”“Nope.”“What kind of bad-boy girlfriend are you?” I ask in mock dismay.“Evidently a terrible one.”I swing onto the bike and grab my only helmet. “Nah, you just haven’t met the right bad-boy.”

“You’ve never ridden a motorcycle before?”“Nope.”“What kind of bad-boy girlfriend are you?” I ask in mock dismay. “Evidently a terrible one.”I swing onto the bike and grab my only helmet. “Nah, you just haven’t met the right bad-boy.”

“They had to swing by Jared’s locker so he could grab his jacket. “A leather jacket,” Kami said as he shrugged into it. “Aren’t you trying a little too hard to play into certain bad boy clichés?”“Nah,” said Jared. “You’re thinking of black leather. Black leather’s for bad boys. It’s all in the color. You wouldn’t think I was a bad boy if I was wearing a pink leather jacket.”“That’s true,” Kami said. “What I would think of you, I do not know. So what does brown leather mean, then?”“I’m going for manly,” Jared said. “Maybe a little rugged.”“It’s bits of dead cow; don’t ask it to perform miracles.”

“It's becoming apparent that I like bad boys. That's one of my problems. They've all been bad boys. You're one too. You're a bad boy. But, I think you're a good bad boy.”

“A leather jacket,” Kami said as he shrugged into it. “Aren’t you trying a little too hard to play into certain bad boy clichés?”“Nah”, said Jared. “You’re thinking of black leather. Black leather’s for bad boys. It’s all in the color. You wouldn’t think I was a bad boy if I was wearing a pink leather jacket.”“That’s true,” Kami said. “What I would think of you, I do not know. So what does brown leather mean, then?”“I’m going for manly,” Jared said. “Maybe a little rugged.”“It’s bits of dead cow; don’t ask it to perform miracles.”

“And this bad-boy boyfriend?”“Bad boy?”“Yeah. The type you apparently avoid now.”Oh, right.” I laugh. It’s one single bark of bitterness. “Ummm, he fell into a wood chipper?”“Poor guy. And the one before that?”“Eaten by a shark?”“And before that?”“Kidnapped by a travelling circus?”He chuckles. “Wow. Your life’s like a cautionary tale.”“Future suitors be warned.”“I’m willing to take my chances,” he says with a wink.”