Fuck, I was bad at this.
Had pushing her away somehow made it worse?
I turned on my intercom for the helmet, the one connecting all of us to each other. The only ones without it were our spare helmets that now sat on the girl behind me and the girl behind Mason.
Evie and Regan’s laughing filled my helmet, but I missed the joke.
“Whatevermybackpack wants,” Zack said, the emphasis on the word setting my teeth on edge. “Tonight will be the night I attempt a wheelie, then.”
My body went rigid, the words taking a second to sink in.
Evie’s arms went up, yelling, before wrapping them back around Zack.
“What the fuck?” I asked, swerving around Hero to get next to Zack. “No, the fuck you aren’t, Zack.”
“Why not? Evie said to try.”
“And Evie told me to dye my fucking hair blue. We don’t always listen to Evie.”
“You’d look cute with blue hair.” The flirty tone of her voice sending a wave of pleasure through me.
“You are not practicing wheelies with Evie on the back. Try it one fucking time and you will never ride a fucking bike again,” I said, speeding up to get in front of him before slowing down. I wasn’t even going to risk him gaining enough speed and getting overconfident.
“Who the hell are you to tell me what to do?”
“The one who will kill you if Evie gets hurt. And if you have a problem with me telling you, feel free to get Rook’s opinion.”
Rook laughed. “Hurt my sister and you will be strung up in the yard for weeks. I can’t believe you are even fighting Aiden on this. You should consider it enough practice having her on with you at all.”
“I do know how to ride.”
“Yeah, but you don’t know how to do tricks. Try it on your own time without putting anyone else in danger.” I shook my head, finally moving out of his way when he mumbled about us messing up their night.
Theirnight.
As if they were out together or would be spending any time alone together.
My stomach churned again, this time threatening to bring upthe drinks I’d had. Evie wouldn’t really go hide away with Zack, would she?
He did always seem to have a crush on her, and it’s not like he was ugly. I couldn’t imagine it was completely off the table.
Ahead of me, Evie leaned closer to Zack, her hair whipping back in the wind, and every muscle in my arms tensed. She didn’t even have to touch me for the memory to hit—her chin brushing my shoulder, her knees locked against me like she belonged there. Now she was giving that to him, and it made my hand ache on the throttle.
The world was cruel. When I finally tried to straighten up and push Evie away, it reminded me why I couldn’t trust such a perfect thing in the hands of anyone else.
The glare Evie gave me when she pulled off her helmet made me want to fall to my knees and beg for forgiveness.
She stayed calm, but I knew the look. The one that promised consequences.
I groaned, already half hard from the thought of Evie in punishment mode. The girl could breathe and I’d come undone, ready to drag her out of sight until I had her alone—no interruptions, no risk of anyone finding out.
So yeah, my plan to push her away was working great.
I knew if I ever did risk it all for her, I’d have to carve myself so deep into her bones there’d never be a chance of her letting me go.
We made it back to the house. The others sprawled out in the living room, lights low, Hero putting on some movie.
Evie walked in, saw the girl tucked under my arm, and stopped cold. That flicker in her eyes hit me like a shot of adrenaline.
