The forest was humid and warm, and sweat trickled down my back. I caught up to him on the climbing trail, and I was suddenly nervous that I was intruding on his alone time. I changed gears to make an identifiable clanking noise to see if he’d look back so that I could gauge his reaction. He turned and saw me and smiled.

We rode together for a while, our mood light and playful.

“You seem pretty introverted,” I said to him. His responded with amused agreement.

“I worry that I’m bothering you, that this is your alone time.”

“No,” he says, “it’s not like that at all.”