I squint suspiciously. “Where are we going?”
He smirks lazily. “You ask too many questions, Firefly.”
Then he drags me downstairs toward his bike without another explanation.
I climb on as the engine roars, and he takes off through the streets of Daggerspoint.
I press my helmet against his back and close my eyes, because this right here? This is where I’ve always belonged.
Hayden
“You and Me- Lifehouse”
The ride out of Daggerspoint feels different tonight, lighter somehow. Like for one stolen weekend the city forgot how to sink its claws into us.
Ophelia’s arms stay wrapped tightly around my waist while the sunset burns gold across the horizon behind us. Every now and then I hear her giggling when I take corners too fast on purpose.
My girl loves speed almost as much as she loves Chaos. Makes sense considering she loves me.
I finally pull off onto an abandoned stretch of road just outside city limits. Nothing around except trees, cracked pavement, and open sky.
“What are we doing?” Firefly laughs while climbing off the bike. I kill the engine before nodding toward the shoulder of the road. Her breathing catches instantly.
A matte black Yamaha sits waiting beneath the fading sunset.Her bike.
I spent weeks rebuilding the damn thing after finding it half destroyed in some asshole’s garage outside Daggerspoint.
She stares at it in disbelief. “Hayden…”
“You once said your dream bike was a blacked out R1.” I shrug casually even though my heart’s pounding. “Figured my girl deserves nice things.”
Her blue eyes shine immediately. ”Are you serious?”
“Yep!” I smile, and she laughs before throwing herself at me hard enough I almost lose my balance. I catch her while she kisses me stupid all over my face.
“I hate you,” she whispers.
“Liar.”
When she finally pulls away, she runs her fingers lovingly over the bike before glancing back toward me with that dangerous little smile I know too well.
“You trying to race me, Marks?” she asks.
I smirk slowly while pulling my gloves tighter. “Thought I’d let you embarrass yourself a little.”
She gasps dramatically. “Oh, you poor delusional man.”
“I’m serious.” I swing onto my bike, watching her closely. “Might actually hurt your feelings tonight.”
“Please.” She scoffs, climbing onto hers. “You’ve gone soft. Domestic life ruined you.”
I bark out a laugh. “Domestic life?”
“Yeah.” She shrugs innocently beneath the sunset. “You made me a sandwich for lunch. That’s basically marriage.”
Christ.
My chest does that dangerous tight thing again so naturally I cover it with sarcasm. “You inhaled two sandwiches, a bag of chips, and almost a gallon of sweet tea. I was feeding a wild animal.”
