“Come on, now. Work with me here,” he growled, giving it another shot.
Nothing but a weak sputter.
Swearing under his breath, Ethan tried yet again. This time, the bike roared to life. “Fuck yeah!” Relief washed over his face.
As the engine settled into a steady, throaty rumble, Ethan glanced at Priya, streaks of dirt smeared across his face.
“Thanks,” he said, his voice rough but sincere. Twisting the throttle, he jerked forward with a sharp wince. “Until next time, Priya Solanki.”
Priya had heard her name spoken countless times, but the way Ethan Knight said it made her senses sizzle, like a jalebi hitting hotoil. A sweet, dizzying rush spiraled through her as she watched him take off.
It wasn’t until Ethan faded into the distance that Priya realized what she was feeling. Her first crush had just barreled into her life, and she was utterly and completely captivated.
Six
Now, sixteen years later,as Priya sat with Ethan on the roof of the same freight car, she felt the familiar old flutter return, soft but undeniable, like an old song she hadn’t heard in years. Ethan always had a way of pulling people in, his presence magnetic and impossible to ignore. Even now, she could feel that raw energy beneath the surface, tugging at her. Like the ebb of the tide, he had a power that made her feel both at ease and on edge.
Ethan stared at the lights of his father’s estate flickering through the trees. The joint burned forgotten between his fingers, until the heat from the ember reached his skin. He blinked and stubbed it out, the motion almost mechanical. Priya could feel the underlying sadness in him, the silent ache for a relationship with his father that felt beyond repair.
“Your dad must have lost it when he saw that bike all those years ago,” she said.
“He never did.” Ethan’s lips quirked into a bittersweet smile. “He took one look at me and assumed I’d been in a fight. Grounded me for a month. Which—as it turns out—was just enoughtime to fix the bike without him noticing.” He turned to look at Priya. “The last time I saw him was at my going-away party.
“He was so happy I’d agreed to go to college,” he continued. “He wanted me to take over the family business after I graduated. But I had zero interest in following in his footsteps. I begged, pleaded, screwed up my grades, but when your father is rich and powerful, doors open, so I was accepted into the same college that he went to. We had some epic fights over it, but he wouldn’t budge. So, I let him think he’d won.”
A hint of determination crept into Ethan’s words. “But the day I was supposed to leave for college, I left for New York instead. It may have been a selfish move, but I felt trapped. And he never forgave me. Hasn’t spoken to me since.” The hurt lingered in Ethan’s voice.
Priya reached out and put her hand on his arm. “I get why he was disappointed,” she said, “but it was a long time ago. Maybe it’s time you reconnected.”
“It’s not like I haven’t tried, Priya. When I moved to Los Angeles and started doing stunt work, he told Brooke I was a no-good risk-taker. Then I caught my big break and thought he’d change his mind. I invited him to every premiere, but he never came. I think he’ll always see me as a disappointment.”
Priya could see the weight on his shoulders, so she changed the subject. “Hey, how come I never got an invite to any of those premieres?” she teased.
“You weren’t even allowed out of the house for a date.” Ethan chuckled.
“It’s true.” Priya laughed. “My parents were super paranoid. Anything outside of school was a big no-no. I think it’s because they were adjusting to a new culture here, away from India, andterrified my sisters and I would go off the rails. Get mixed up with the wrong crowd, lose our way, forget where we came from. Little did they know, the parties I snuck off to were nothing more than a bunch of awkward kids trying to play it cool.”
“Is that what you thought of my going-away party? A bunch of kids trying to impress each other?”
Priya remembered the biting pain of trying—and failing—to get Ethan’s attention that night. Determined to make him see her as more than his sister’s friend, she had ditched her glasses and spent the entire week adjusting to contact lenses. She’d also saved up for a new sweater that accentuated her curves.
“You barely spoke to me that night,” Priya said, her voice tinged with the hurt of old memories.
“I barely spoke to anyone that night,” Ethan replied. “I was trying to keep my plans for New York under wraps. If I’d said anything to you, it would have gotten back to Brooke, and she’d have either tried to stop me or, worse, dragged our father into it.”
“Did you tell Chloe Thompson you were leaving for New York?” Priya asked pointedly.
“Chloe who?” Ethan looked confused.
“The girl you brought back here after the party. I saw the two of you making out.”
A wry smile tugged at the corners of Ethan’s mouth. “Is that why you’ve been so cold since my arrival? Because you caught me making out with Chloe Thompson that night?”
“I couldn’t care less who you make out with.”
“And yet you remember her name all these years later.” Ethan fixed an amused stare at her.
“I just thought it was rude that you brought her to our spot,” Priya said, her voice tight with exasperation she couldn’t quite hide.
