Page 34 of Anton

“Love you.”

She waves back. “Love you too. Talk to you tomorrow.”

Then I make my way back through the crowd to Anton, who’s still waiting for me, by some miracle. A part of me wondered if he’d leave.

The second he sees me, he nods toward the lot to the right. “Bike’s over there.”

I follow him, falling into step beside him. The silence between us should seem awkward, but it doesn’t. If anything, it makes me more aware of each easy stride, each glance he steals when he thinks I’m not looking…and that mouth I want to kiss curving slightly at the corner.

When we stop next to his bike, he reaches for the helmet on the handle and holds it out.

I stare at it, then at him. “Wait. What about you?”

“I only have one, and you’re taking it.”

“I can’t take your helmet. It’s yours.”

“You’re taking it.”

“Anton…”

One brow lifts. “You said you’d haunt me, remember? Last thing I want is to never get rid of you.”

I let out a laugh. “Wow. Are you always this charming?”

He says nothing, staring at me with that intensity I’ve come to enjoy. Seconds stretch, tension winding between us as his mouth draws closer and he lowers the black helmet over my head.

When his fingers brush my jaw while he adjusts it, I feel it everywhere, all the way down to my marrow. His knuckles graze my skin again, sending another shudder through me, and everything else falls away until all I can focus on is him.

The craving in his eyes tells me he wants the same thing I do: to touch me and lose himself in this long enough to quiet whatever is tormenting him. I could give him that escape, and I know he could give me mine.

But he doesn’t kiss me. His hands drop, only to settle around my hips a breath later.

“Hey—” A surprised laugh slides out as he lifts me like I weigh nothing and sets me on the seat.

He turns and swings onto the bike in one smooth motion, like nothing just happened between us. When he glances over his shoulder, my heart’s flipping.

“You ready?”

“I’m gonna have to be.”

“Hold on, printsessa.”

My arms wind around him, holding on as he pulls us onto the road, the engine roaring beneath us and making my nerves drop straight to my stomach.

He doesn’t go fast, keeping his promise, and that means something to me. Little by little, the tension in my shoulders eases, my grip loosening as I get used to the movement until it doesn’t scare me anymore.

It feels…freeing.

“This is amazing! Go a little faster.”

A deep chuckle vibrates through him, and I hold him a little closer, my cheek settling against his back as he gives me exactly what I asked for.

And I swear, I feel his heart beat just a little faster too.

CHAPTER TWELVE

ANTON