Page 24 of Ignition Rites

We stop a while later, bike ticking as it cools, both of us breathing harder than the actual exertion should account for. I climb off first and pull off the helmet, grateful for something practical to do with my hands.

“You’re a natural,” Rafe says, taking his own helmet off, hair a mess in a way that shouldn’t be as charming as it is.

“I nearly drove us into a hedge.”

“Nearly. That’s the natural part. Most people don’t even get close enough to nearly.”

I laugh before I can stop myself, and something eases in his face when I do — like my laugh is a small win he’s been quietly chasing since the lesson started.

“Ash would kill you for this.”

Something crosses Rafe’s face and is gone before I can name it.

“Would he?”

“He told me about the condition.”

“Did he.” That gets a real reaction, the words coming out slower than he meant them to.

“Hands off until I knew what this place was. Until I could choose for myself.” I cross my arms. “Sound familiar?”

Rafe looks down at the helmet strap in his hands, and when he looks back up, there's a smile trying very hard not to become a grin.

"Yeah."

"Anything else?" he asks, too casually. "Did he say anything else?"

Ash's hand stopping an inch from my jaw comes back before I can stop it, along with the rag he set down and the space I stepped into.

"No," I say. "Just that."

It's the first thing I've kept from Rafe, and it comes out easier than it should. He studies me long enough to know it isn't the whole answer and lets it go anyway, which is a courtesy neither of us is used to extending.

"So are you breaking his rule right now?"

“It wasn’t a rule.”

I blink at him. “That is exactly what Ash said.”

“Because for once, Ash was technically correct.” Rafe points at me with the loose end of the strap. “It was a condition. You know now.”

“That sounds suspiciously convenient for you.”

“It’s extremely convenient for me.”

I laugh again. “At least you admit it.”

“I’m an honest man.”

“That is aggressively debatable.”

“Still honest.” He hooks the helmet onto the handlebar. “And Ash doesn’t get a vote on what you do with the information once you have it,” he adds, lighter than the words deserve. “That was the whole point, whether he likes that part or not.”

There it is, not a fight exactly, but the shape of one. I decide not to touch that yet.

“Same time tomorrow?” I ask.

Rafe’s grin comes back immediately. “Careful. I might actually start looking forward to this.”