After he’d slowed the bike and paid the passage, we set off again. “Are you good?”
“Yes, this is amazing.” I cried, loving every minute.
My initial nervousness had diminished, replaced by a growing sense of liberation. The world felt vast and open, stretching out before us, making me feel like anything was possible. I closed my eyes for a moment and enjoyed the raw power of the wind and the relentless hum of the engine beneath us.
As Reed accelerated again, my stomach rolled, but not from fright, from giddiness. “I take it this is your first time on the back of a bike?” he shouted, his voice breaking in and out through the headset.
“Yeah,” I shouted back.
“See, I always said I’d have all your firsts, Storm Summers.” The memory of Reed telling me that the night he took my virginity came rushing back.
“I remember.” For years, I had played that expected part in high school. Cheer Captain equated an easy girl, when the truth was the opposite. Although he didn’t know it, Reed was the only man I had ever been with.
We both then went quiet again and enjoyed the ride. It was fast and unhinged, and I loved it. The way we threaded in and out of traffic: I felt like I was soaring up and into the air. At one stretch of road, Reed leaned forward towards the front of the bike, and I followed him, clinging on as adrenaline powered through me.
‘This is what life is all about,’ I thought, feeling the happiest I had in years.
Reed drove us to Taylor Point in Jamestown. There was a quiet, small beach there. It was a place we had visited so many times together. A sweet, hidden-away gem, where the air was fresh and the views breathtaking. We’d talked, made out, and even fought there. I remember one fight when I’d heard that Reed had made out with a freshman behind my back. Turned out it was one of those silly games at a party, but I’d forced him to make it up to me. Just like I always did. In those days, Reed hadbeen much easier to manipulate. I swallowed down that lump of guilt I always felt when I remembered how I’d treated him.
As we climbed off the bike and removed our helmets, I glanced out at the ocean. It was a stunning day, and I realized it had been ages since I’d been so close to the coastline.
“Well, that wasn’t easy,” Reed said, dashing a hand through his mussed-up locks.
I smiled, handing him my helmet. “Really? But you ride like you’ve been doing it for years?”
He raised his eyebrows as he hung both our helmets on the handlebars of the bike. “I didn’t mean that. I meant riding a bike in leather pants with a boner. Uncomfortable as fuck.”
I chuckled as he adjusted his junk and shook one leather-clad leg. I noted he even wore motorcycle boots.
“You didn’t just say that,” I replied with an eyeroll, attempting to straighten my helmet hair.
He just grinned and lifted the seat of the bike, cutting me a look. “Leave it, you look fine. The windswept look suits you.” I stopped messing with my locks and dropped my hands. “Anyway, the hard cock is your fault for pressing those gorgeous tits against my back.”
I rolled my eyes as he turned away, pulling out a backpack from the hidden storage box on the bike. He slammed the seat down. “Come on.” I fell into step beside him as we started to walk down the embankment towards the sea.
With a nudge of his elbow, he said. “So, you enjoyed the ride?”
“Most definitely.”
“I knew you would,” he added with a smug expression.
“I’m glad you told me to wear pants,” I admitted, grasping his arm to steady myself as my heel hit a knot of grass.
Reed shot me a smirk as he assisted me down the hill and onto the flat, my boots sinking into the sand. “I did toy with the idea of not telling you.”
“Yeah, so you could have a good laugh at seeing me trying to climb on a bike with my skirt around my waist?” I said with an accusing eye as we made our way towards the rocks where we usually set up camp.
Turning to face me, Reed dropped the bag and squatted down to go through it. “Oh, I wouldn’t have been laughing, Storm.” The look he gave me was wolfish.
With another roll of my eyes and a ‘pervert’ comment under my breath, I dropped to my knees and started to help Reed take out the picnic he had prepared.
He cut me a look, a lock of hair falling against his brow, giving me the urge to brush it back with my fingertips. “You know, there’s a good reason you should date a biker, right?”
“And what’s that?”
Reed gave me a cheeky look, which took me back to the days when we were teens. “You get to ride two things.”
His comment forced a laugh from my lips.
