I thought he’d head toward town. He turns away from it and abandons his slow and steady pace.
Outside the mansion, he floors it.
I wrap my arms tighter around him, clinging more than holding on.
The world whips by so fast, the speed and the wind melding to create a wind tunnel effect as the whine and scream of the bike’s engine drives out every bit of sound.
Wefly.
I make a sound of complaint when Nash slows the bike down and pulls off the road, tiny stones crunching under its wheels.
We’re up a little higher than the town, on an incline. Below us, Massey is a small cluster of buildings too far away to identify.
Makhi cuts the engine, gets off the bike, and peels off the helmet before he taps the side of mine.
I pull the helmet off, and he takes it from me and sets it down beside the bike. “How was your first ride?”
“Fast.” I’m probably grinning like an idiot.
He grins at me. “Come on.” He snags my hand and tugs.
“Where?”
He doesn’t answer, and I climb off his bike, stumbling from a sudden weightlessness that hits me the second I plant both feet on the ground. Nash is there, steadying me before I can fall. “Careful. The world is always a little strange when you feel like you’ve been flying.”
“What makes you think it felt like that to me?”
He shrugs. “It did for me.”
Holding my hand, he leads me to the edge of the road until we truly are looking down over Massey.
There’s not much to look at. Just a main road with side roads leading toward residential parts of town. The bus station is the heart of Massey, but we’re too far for me to make out the other shops and stores along Main Street.
Nash points to the left, outside of town. “See that?”
Squinting, I follow his finger to where he’s pointing. White RVs or trailer homes—I can’t tell which—are barely visible if I squint hard.
“That’s where I was born. Trailer-park born and raised. It’s why people have always looked at me as if I’m worth nothing. My brother ended up in jail just like my dad, and his girlfriend finally had enough of waiting for him to get out. She’s leaving town and starting over somewhere else. I don’t know if my brother will see his kid again once she’s gone. I’m not sure he even cares. He’ll get out, then do something that lands him right back inside again. Just like our dad.”
I look at him. “Why do I need to know that?”
He shrugs. “Just wanted you to see where I came from, is all.” He pulls on my hand, leading me back to his bike. “Come on. The ride’s not over yet.”
I twist back around to see the trailer park, narrowing my eyes to make it out. It’s on the edge of town, and it looks… rough. I’m not sure how Makhi went from living in a trailer park to living in a mansion with Nash and Vonn.
Makhi holds my helmet as I climb back onto the bike. He stands there, still holding it, even when I reach for it.
“Makhi?”
His usual taunting smile is missing, and he looks strangely hesitant.
“What is it?” I prompt.
“I shouldn’t have done it.” He takes a breath and releases it in a sigh of frustration. “Firing you. Slamming the door in your face. I knew you were running from something, but I thought you were trouble I had to get rid of.”
So that’s why he brought me here. To apologize.
His eyes dip to his black boots, and he waits for my response.
