He smothered his smile. She didn’t like it when he found her cute, but he couldn’t seem to help it. She was downright adorable wanting to read a book on how to ride motorcycles.
Her voice came through the helmet speaker loud and clear. Riding a bike with any other woman was a great way to keep her from talking his ear off. Bree was someone he wanted to hear more from and about.
“Lean into the curves. You don’t weigh enough to shift the bike.”
“Well, aren’t you the sweetest thing.” She laid on the Texas drawl, and his heart did more crazy pounding. He’d had a physical at the end of the season and knew the organ could take all that Bree could dish out. He hoped she kept it coming. This feeling of freedom and lightness was exhilarating.
He started up the bike and Bree yipped in his ear, grabbing on to his waist and unbalancing him internally. He needed to keep a clear head to drive, and if she kept that up, that may not happen. He was beginning to rethink how good of an idea this was. Pulling it together, he didn’t hold back his smile as he glanced over her shoulder. “You ready?”
She nodded. “Can you do me a favor and go out the way you came in?”
“Why?” He scooted to the end of her driveway.
“Because my mom lives three houses that way.”
“She wouldn’t approve of you on my bike?”
Bree tipped her head as she thought. “Probably? I don’t know for sure, but I’d rather not have a hundred questions waiting for me when I get home.”
His heart pounded again, but for a whole different reason. He was suddenly transported back to high school, when he’d have to sneak Tammy through the neighbor’s yard and give her a boost to climb into her bedroom window so her parents wouldn’t know they’d been out together. Her parents had been crazy controlling, and they didn’t like the football player who rode a motorcycle—no matter that he couldn’t afford anything else and had reclaimed the thing from a junk dealer. “Is your mom …” How could he phrase this? “Tough?”
“What?” She giggled. “No, she just likes to stay involved.”
Owen nodded, then turned back around. Her answer wasn’t sitting right with him. Bree was an adult; what parent needed to keep tabs on their grown daughter? Granted, Bree had her own place, but to be so close to her mom … he couldn’t miss the neon warning sign.
Shoving aside his unease—after all, this was just a ride through the country with a friend; he wasn’t proposing to Bree—he took the same route out of the neighborhood that he’d taken in. He and Bree were friends and were going to spend time together as friends. Like him and Kyle. Although Kyle never rode on the back of Owen’s bike, and he most definitely didn’t trail his fingers over Owen’s lower back, sending shivers along his skin.
Once they hit the main area of town, Bree asked, “Have you had the grand tour?”
“There’s a tour?”
“Yes, and it’s quite grand.”
“By all means.”
“If you head down Simpson, you’ll find the Farmers Feed store.”
He turned where she indicated and found a brick store with a small sign out front and silver silos running down the length of the lot.
“Fascinating, isn’t it?” she said.
“Where to next?”
“Loop back around to Main Street.”
He did, noting that she leaned into the turns as he’d instructed. He liked the way their bodies moved in fluid motion together. And he really liked that she fit so easily against him. Her hands were tight, indicating that she wasn’t quite comfortable with the adventure, but she wasn’t backing down.
On the left-hand side of the road was a block of stores. They shared walls, with each store being a different height. Some were made with lighter brick, and others were red. The red had faded to adobe, the grays to slate. Small homes lined the right side of the road, with a few trees in their yards to shade the porches.
“And there you have it. The grand tour.”
“Wow.”
“I know, right?”
“I’m blown away right now.”
She sighed in contentment. “I never get tired of it.”
