POV ESMERAY
The neon sign of the Desert Rose Motel flickered in a sickly shade of pink, casting long, distorted shadows across the cracked pavement of the parking lot. We had been riding for hours since the roadhouse, the rain finally tapering off into a heavy, oppressive mist that clung to my skin like a second layer of grief. My body was one giant ache, my muscles screaming from the tension of holding onto Ruan for so long.
Ruan killed the engine, and the sudden silence was jarring, replaced only by the metallic pinging of the cooling bike. He didn't move for a long moment, his hands still gripping the handlebars, his shoulders hunched. I could feel the heat radiating off him, a stark contrast to the biting night air.
"Inside," he said, his voice a low, gravelly rasp. "The roo
