I stare at her blankly. “What thing?”
“The bike thing,” she clarifies. “When they take you on the back of their bike and ride out to some scenic overlook or empty desert road at sunset?”
My silence speaks volumes.
“Oh, she’s had thebike thing,” Ro crows. “Look at her face!”
“It wasn’t like that,” I try to defend, but I’m smiling despite myself. “He just… we went for a ride. That’s all. And it wasn’t at sunset… it was at night, anyway.”
“Mm-hmm,” Millie hums knowingly. “And did your heart do that stupid flutter thing when you wrapped your arms around him?”
“Did you feel safe?” Victoria adds. “Like nothing could touch you as long as you were with him?”
I open my mouth. Close it. Open it again.
“Thought so,” Gia says with satisfaction. “Girl, you are in so deep you can’t even see daylight anymore.”
“I barely know him,” I protest. “We’ve known each other for what, a few weeks?”
“Time’s got nothing to do with it,” Jessa says, her voice going soft. “When it’s right, it’s right. You just know.”
“But what if I’m wrong?” The vulnerability in my voice surprises even me. “What if this is just, I don’t know, proximity? Or gratitude because he helped me?”
Victoria reaches over and squeezes my hand. “Honey, I asked myself the same questions every single day. Loving a biker isn’t easy. It’s messy and complicated and sometimes scary as hell.”
“There’s the club politics,” Ro adds. “The danger that comes with ‘the life.’”
“The walls they build up,” Millie continues. “Because most of these guys have been hurt before.”
“The way they show love is different,” Jessa says. “It’s not flowers and poetry. It’s fixing your car without being asked.Standing guard outside your house all night to make sure you’re safe.”
My heart lurches. “How did you—”
“Sugar, nothing stays secret in this clubhouse,” Gia says gently. “We all know Nitro parked outside your house all night. That man was protecting you before this was even ‘fake dating.’”
“He’s a gentle giant, you know,” Jessa adds suddenly.
I widen my eyes at the change in direction. “What?”
“Nitro. He puts on this tough-guy act, but the guy plays the flute. He spends most of his time with Queenie, his grandma, and her friends at her retirement village, because he wants to make her happy. Hethriveson making others happy. It’s his way of dealing with emotions.” Jessa smiles. “My point is, these guys might look all tough and rough around the edges, but they feel things deeply. They just show it differently.”
“And when they fall…” Ro says, her voice uncharacteristically serious. “They fall hard. All in. No half measures.”
“So, the question isn’t whether this is real,” Victoria says, her eyes kind. “The question is whether you’re ready to admit it’s real. Because trust me, Marley… Nitro already knows.”
I swallow hard, feeling the weight of their words settle over me.
“I’m scared,” I admit quietly, the confession feeling as though I’m letting go of something I’ve been gripping too tightly.
“That’s how you know it’s real,” Victoria says, squeezing my hand again.
“When it terrifies you,” Millie adds. “When the thought of losing them makes your chest ache.”
“When you start rearranging your whole life without even realizing it,” Gia continues.
“When ‘fake’ starts feeling more ‘real’ than anything else,” Jessa finishes.
“This stopped being fake the moment he stayed outside our house in his car all night,” I say, the realization hitting me like a freight train. “The moment he offered me his apartment. The moment he kissed me in that parking lot and made me feel beautiful for the first time in years.”
