It wasn’t the first time Jesse McCree had ridden a motorcycle. Hell, it wasn’t the fiftieth. But it felt like the first time. He’d been saving up for a while - hoping the magic here would just dump a bike from his own future into his lap one more time. But he’d finally decided to just bite the bullet and use his own money. There’d been a little sticker shock but he’d made it out of the dealership eventually.
They called it the Thunderbike line of Harleys and it lived up to its namesake, what with the way it rumbled between Jesse’s thighs. He probably shoulda warned Syd he was aiming for this today, but what with it being Valentine’s and all, he’d kinda liked the idea of a surprise. He’d sent a text an hour before, asking her to meet him out front at seven, and he was real glad he managed to get there a few minutes early.
It meant he could be leaning against his new motorcycle, hat pulled low and smoking a cigar, when she came out. He tipped his hat up with a finger and flashed a troublemaker smile. “Well, howdy, darlin’. Heard you needed a chariot.”
Seven had given Syd enough time to shower and change her clothes after being at the Barns, and she’d been all too eager to get out of jeans and flannel and into something a little more fun. The weather still being chilled had her leave off the fishnets and replace them with warmer leggings, and she didn’t regret the skirt until she ended up on the front step, looking over at her hot boyfriend and the hot piece of machinery he had in his reach.
“Well, I’m glad I went with the leather jacket, at least.” Syd whistled low, looking right past him and to the bike she’d seen pictures of. She moseyed on up to him and bit her lip to fight the grin that wanted to break free. “Howdy yourself, cowboy. You got any plans for Valentine’s Day? Sure would like to get this between my legs.”
Jesse grinned and stubbed out his cigar on the bottom of one boot. “Now, now, ain’t no need to be gettin’ ahead of ourselves. Let me romance ya a bit first,” he laughed. Stepping away from the bike, he crowded into her space and wrapped her up in his arms for a kiss. He knew too well how cold she always was, so he lingered close and rubbed her hands with his.
“You look sexy as hell. Might need to take some pictures of ya gettin’ this hot piece of machinery between your legs, honestly. Blow them up poster size.” He might’ve been joking, he might’ve not. He hooked an arm around her shoulder to turn and face the bike. “Ya like it for real?”
Syd snorted a laugh into his shoulder, and lingered to appreciate his warmth. It was like dating a space heater, and Syd never took it for granted, she just welcomed it. “If we wait until it’s warmer, you can get a little extra leg in your poster.” And if they put it up in their apartment, Syd could pin little notes to it everytime she walked by.
She looped her arm under his to circle around him in return, her gaze matched on the bike. “I like it. It’s sexy like you.” Syd reached out to touch it, to run a hand over one of the smooth lines she had already been admiring. “I assumed our plans were for dinner somewhere, but now I kind of just want to go riding on the bike? Take it out on the coast?”
“I’m gonna hold ya to that,” Jesse said, already imagining a sunny day photoshoot with unnecessary water involved. “Maybe suds ya up and get ya to wash it too,” he joked. Waggling his eyebrows, he pressed a kiss to the side of her head and let go of her to throw a leg over the bike. He was still getting used to this part, because it was his, and somehow that made it different. He hadn’t owned much over the years that was his and not even stolen first.
“I’d planned on dinner and a trip to the club...but I was walkin’ near the dealership and saw this beauty tucked away in a corner of the showroom. Felt like such a motorcycle shouldn’t be spendin’ Valentine’s alone.” He smiled and patted the bike. “A ride out to a nice view ain’t too weak of a plan, is it? Don’t want you thinkin’ I picked a machine over you...”
Syd tsked but ended it with a laugh, she wanted to pretend to be annoyed about being sudsed up, but there was no actual annoyance here. Not when he was looking delicious throwing a leg over the bike, and Syd was making sure all of her items were tucked into pockets on her leather jacket and secure before following him to the same thing.
And she took her time with it, a hand on his arm that eventually moved to his waist, leg up over the seat with a little effort - downside of being on the shorter end of things - until she finally got to rest her chin on his shoulder. “If you’d picked the machine over me, you wouldn’t have brought it to me first. C’mon, Cowboy, if you want suds you’ve gotta earn it with a ride. It’s not like I’m all about that high romance life anyway, right?”
“Alright, good. Still gonna give you the low romance life, I’m just sayin’.” Jesse reached around behind her blindly to unhook a helmet off the back of the bike. “Take this, will ya? I know it ain’t as nice as you as resting your head on my shoulder but I’m still getting used to this bike and it ain’t worth the risk.”
He didn’t know exactly when he’d become at least mature enough to wear a helmet, but with all the weird Vallo threw at them, and all the weird Atlantis had thrown at them, he supposed he’d learned that a goddamn wild animal could come out of nowhere and try to claw your face up, even if you were racing along on a sexy motorcycle. He grabbed his own helmet and held his hat out to her.
“Think you could tuck this between us? Just keep it nice and cradled next to your...heart,” he smiled.
“I accept,” she agreed with a grin, and accepted the helmet and the promise of a low romance life. Which was how she liked it anyway. They’d already made a number of jokes about becoming adults lately, and the helmet just added to that, in her estimation.
“So you mean my boobs. Right? Just so we’re clear, you want the hat cradled against my boobs.” Syd laughed, and she lovingly took his hat and held it up against her heart, winking at him as she leaned back just a little. It was teasing, but if there was any good opportunity for it, it was now, when she knew distracting him should happen before they took off.
It only lasted a second before she held it to her lap and slipped the helmet on over her blonde hair. “I hope you know the sacrifices I’m making, between this helmet and cradling your hat so I can’t press up right against you. We need to get you a hat box for the back.”
Jesse snickered and reached back to rub her thigh. “I mean your boobs, but I was trying to save the inevitable crude for later.” She made a good point about not being able to press up against him though. It really was the best option. For safety reasons and not just selfish ones. He frowned and looked back.
“First thing I’m gonna buy, I promise. And just so we’re clear, it’s a hat and I can replace it, ya know? So if you need to hang on real tight, you better squash the bejesus out of it, Syd.” With that, he pulled on his own helmet and revved the bike to life. It wasn’t too far to Galdin Quay, but he was planning on taking a slow scenic route. He waited for Syd to hook on a little tighter and then pulled the bike away from the curb.
Syd thankfully didn’t have to squeeze hard enough to crush the hat, but she did take the opportunity to wrap her arms around his middle section firmly, leaving just enough room for it to rest against her. She hadn’t been on many motorcycles in her life, so getting to enjoy the scenery as he took off was new and gave her a good enough reason to not bury her head against Jesse’s back.
It was too loud, with the wind and the bike, to even try talking into Jesse’s ear, so she just watched and enjoyed, occasionally letting her hands grab his sides a little tighter, if they took a sharp turn. But she trusted him, explicitly.
When they pulled up to their destination, she laughed but wasn’t displeased. “Fucking fancy, oohh, should I have worn some kind of ballgown and tried to straddle this thing?”
There was an extra thrill to riding with someone on the back of the bike, especially when that person was Sydney. Jesse had to be careful not to overcorrect, to keep things nice and easy but not too slow. That was just as dangerous as too fast when you had a heavy machine rumbling along beneath you. When Galdin came into sight, he was both disappointed and relieved.
“As fun as that sounds, I think I prefer us not being in a heap of metal and fabric back there on the road,” he laughed as he removed his helmet and carefully peeled himself off the bike. The kickstand settled into place with a nudge of his boot and he hooked the helmet onto the back of the bike. “We don’t gotta go in if you don’t want. There’s a little dock down there by the water and some beach chairs. I can keep ya warm.”
It took Syd a little more effort to get off, using Jesse’s shoulder as leverage with her shorter legs and occasionally clumsy nature. Mostly it just gave her an excuse to lean into him. “Such self-preservation, I’m proud,” She pulled off her helmet and put it with his, before setting his hat to rights on his head. Well, mostly to rights. If it was a little lopsided, it wasn’t her fault.
Going down to the beach was tempting, the promise of keeping her warm was even more tempting. Syd glanced towards the doors, it was fairly busy being it was Valentine’s Day, and she cocked an eyebrow at him. “That depends, do you have a reservation? If you have a reservation, I say we pretend to be the fanciest fuckers here, but if not we can canoodle on the beach?”
Jesse adjusted his hat without taking his warm gaze off her face. The sun was long gone, but the Quay was romantically lit and it cast a flattering glow across the side of her face. He grazed his knuckles under the curve of her jaw and kissed the sassy curve of her mouth.
“I do not have a reservation. This wasn’t the plan at all. But if Blackwatch taught me anythin’, it was how to get into places you ain’t supposed to be.” He glanced off towards the restaurant at the end of the pier. “Bet we can fool somebody into lettin’ us in. Or see if one of them posh rooms is available. I hear they’re worth the price and I’ve been meanin’ to see if you wanted to check them out.” His arms curled around her as the adrenaline from the ride started to abandon him, letting the night cold trickle in. “We could order room service and eat it in one of their fancy beds.”
Syd’s eyebrows raised excitedly at the idea of room service. She wasn’t great at the fooling part - left that to the more charming and sly types like Jesse, but room service certainly got her attention.
She leaned into him as a chill wind hit her back. “Alright, the wind is enough to see if we can get a room. But you had me at room service, because we can sit around on the bed in robes eating seafood or oysters or something ridiculously overpriced--” She still hadn’t used any bonus from the Barns after the snowglobe fiasco, which made that statement a little easier to bear.
Syd slipped her hand into his back pocket. “Let’s see what that charm can talk us into, Cowboy.”
“Figured the room service might get your attention,” Jesse smiled. He was a little excited to get a chance to pull out some Blackwatch training. If all else failed, he could manage a bribe. Probably. The bike had only put a sizable dent in his bank account, not bankrupted him altogether.
“Now just play along, darlin’.” He tucked his hand into her pocket to mirror her hand in his and he adjusted his hat to sit at just the right angle. “We might have to pull on some heart strings, but we will be gettin’ that room. Within the hour, I’ll be throwin’ sushi at ya from across the bed. That’s a Valentine’s Day promise.”