A man yelled something from down the block, and when I glanced back, I could see him coming our way.
“Get on the fucking bike before I have to either force you on it, leave you with the guy walking towards us, or kill him and make you cry. Which, I would then leave you here anyway, but you would be with a dead body and I can’t imagine you’re good with that.”
I grabbed the helmet, pushing my hair back and pulling it on. I could see his smile crack again as he swung his leg over and sat back.
“Good choice, Rebel. You seem to have a brain. What the fuck have you been doing with Elliot?”
“You actually know him?” I asked, pulling open the visor of the helmet. It felt a little loose, but I was happy he at least offered it.
“Oh, yeah. He’s well known in our group, and not for the good reasons. Not even the fun, bad reasons,” he said with a smirk. “If tonight wasn’t enough of an indication, I suggest dropping him. He’s also deep in debt, so good for you for keeping an eye on your purse. But I’m not the one who wants it.”
He sat back on the bike, and I stood there staring.
“Is this supposed to be my seat?” I asked. The tiny little spot of padding wasn’t even going to hold half my ass.
“Yeah, it is. If I have to tell you to get on the fucking bike one more time, we are going to knock down those options I gave you to only one.”
“Which one?” I asked, already shaking my head. “No, don’t even answer that. You’re kind of an asshole, aren’t you?”
He cocked his head, his eyes narrowing. “We met when I held a gun to you. You think I’m a sweet, innocent boy?”
“No. Unfortunately, I don’t.”
Which meant he firmly didn’t fit the type of person I usually hung out with, or so I thought. Apparently, Elliot was far from a sweet, innocent boy, too.
I glanced back at the guy coming down the street. Would it be better to go with an insane man on the motorcycle, who kind of looked like he could kill me, but was offering a ride out of this place? Or risk it with the weird one coming down the deserted street?
I had wanted to do more interesting things in my life. Wouldn’t getting on the back of a stranger’s motorcycle be one of those things?
“How do I get on?” He pointed to the pegs, watching over his shoulder as I put one foot on it and tried to get up. I fell back immediately, landing on my feet, at least.
“You hold on to my shoulders to balance when you get on, not fall backwards like a fucking baby deer,” he yelled.
“Well, I didn’t know if I could touch you!” I yelled back. I glanced down the road. The guy down the block came closer now.
“Fucking hell. Get on,now.You’re about to touch me a hell of a lot more, so yeah, I assumed there would be some hands on me.”
I planted my hands on his shoulders, lifting myself up onto the peg and swinging my leg over. “Oh. It’s like getting on a horse,” I said, trying to sit back on the small seat.
His head dropped forward, and I could feel him shaking now.
“Are you laughing at me?” I asked.
“I’ve just never had a girl say that as she got on top of me before.”
“I’m not on top of you,” I said, straightening up on my small seat. He turned the bike on, the loud rumble vibrating through me. He hit something, making the bike jump forward a few inches, and forced a scream from me as I fell forward, grabbing onto him.
“Yes,” he said over the bike. “You are on top of me. An arm around my waist or on the tank. You can hold on to me unless westop or shift, then use the tank to hold yourself up. Don’t squeeze the fucking life out of me or I might leave you to walk. If you have a problem, tap me and I’ll stop. Don’t make me stop because you’re scared. Keep it to yourself. If you grab anything lower than my belt, that’s your own damn problem because I haven’t had a girl on the back of my bike in months and I guarantee you will be feeling something.”
“Wow, there are a lot of rules, and I was kind of right about the being an asshole thing.”
He turned until he could see me. “You absolutely were. Safety first,Rebel,” he said, slamming my visor down. “Now hold on.”
Four
Rook
Ididn’t actually know where I was taking her, but I assumed she would tell me soon enough. I headed back towards town, making a right towards the rich side rather than a left to go towards our place.
