I press a kiss to her forehead, holding her close and feeling so overwhelmed with emotion from what has all happened today. Idon’t know how to handle it. I just take a deep breath and hold her, letting the feel of her and Mocha in my lap bring me back down to earth.
“Thank you,” I whisper into her hair. Such a small phrase for all the big emotions that I’m going through right now.
“Anything for you, Beck,” she promises, and Mocha licks my face as if he were agreeing with her. The hand that’s not wrapped around Sloane tangles into Mocha’s soft fur, and I give him a few pets.
I let my eyes wander back over to the bike she got me. Sleek, all black, and beautiful.
“It looks amazing,” I whisper.
“I didn’t know what kind you wanted, so the guy at the dealership helped me pick it out. He said that if we need to exchange it, to just bring it in and he’d take care of it.”
“No. It’s perfect, thank you, baby,” I say, kissing her head again. She could have gotten me a moped, and I’d keep it forever.
“You’re welcome,” she says. I can feel all the anxiety leave her in waves. Feeling her physically relax in my arms, a smile graces her lips.
She and Mocha get off my lap, and she grabs my hand. “Come on, take it for a ride,” she begs, making me smile.
“Wait…” I find the other helmet she bought me and pick it up. I pull the helmet out of the box, and when I open it up, it’s a baby blue full-face helmet.
“I thought that maybe I could come with,” she says, looking up at me with a little bit of nervous anticipation in her eyes.
“We can go anywhere we want to, baby,” I say, handing her the helmet.
Mocha lets out a little bark, and I pet his head. “I’m sure you can come with us too, bud.”
She smiles at me and sets her helmet on the chair before walking over to where I set everything down and picking it all up, bringing it over to me before setting it on the chair.
“Alright, put these on first,” she says, pushing me down into the chair and handing me the black boots.
I accept the boots and put them on my feet, pulling my pants down over them.
“Ok, and now this,” she says, handing me the leather jacket again. I do as she says and put the jacket on.
“Mmmm, fuck yeah,” she purrs, climbing into my lap, straddling my hips.
“We won’t leave if you’re not careful with what you do next, baby.” My tone is deeper than normal. She just smirks at me.
She presses her lips to mine for a short kiss, pulling back after a few seconds.
“Youstilllook hot as fuck,” she repeats, grabbing my helmet and helping me pull it onto my head.
She flips the visor up and tilts my head up so that I’m looking at her. Her eyes stare into mine, and I can’t quite tell what she’s thinking.
“I’m gonna go grab a jacket and take Mocha inside. You get that thing started, and we can go.”
With that, she gets off my lap, and she and Mocha scurry out of the garage.
I sit for a few minutes before taking the helmet off and setting it down, as I still try to process everything that happened this morning. The only conclusion that I can come to is that that girl will most likely be the death of me, but at least I will die a happy man.
41
SLOANE
Icling to Beckett as he races us down the road, the wind whipping at my hoodie as we take corners at speeds that I’m sure are far too fast.
I don’t mind, though. I trust Beckett, and I know that he’d never do anything to intentionally hurt me. That reason alone is the reason I decided to stay.
I left this place to get away from my family, to start a new life, and to grow as a person. I’ve done that. I’ve taken three years to turn myself into someone that I am becoming proud of.
