Page 70 of Falling for my Brother's Best Friend

I put my feet where he instructed on the way here, climb on, and circle my arms around his stomach.

“Ready?” When he feels me nod on his back, he turns on the engine and we line up with everyone else.

I’d never admit it but having Liam in my arms makes me feel a lot like my old self. And I don’t hate it.

* * *

Liam was right—helmethair sucks. Luckily, out of the three stops, our last is at a gas station, so I run in and buy some ponytail holders. I found out at the last stop, from some more of Liam’s secret friends, that a band is playing after the ride tonight and that’s when the party really starts.

The people on the ride are super friendly and outgoing. None of them look at me as if I’m some stuck-up bitch who’s trying to date a bad boy, which is what I worried in coming here. Liam hasn’t been too handsy except on the two run-ins we had with Slim and Nina’s kept her distance, so all in all, I’m having a great time.

Let’s be honest, having my arms around Liam’s waist for the majority of the day doesn’t suck.

“Ready?” Liam leans on his bike, his dark sunglasses shielding his eyes.

“Yeah.” I touch my hair. “You’re right about the hair thing.”

He stands up straight and puts his hand behind his ear. “What was that?”

“Ponytails.” I hold up the package I bought.

“No, I mean about me being right?” His smirk grows.

With that smirk, the dark sunglasses, and the bike behind him, I think my ovaries just made a ruling that only Liam’s sperm can meet my eggs, otherwise pregnancy is off the table. I can’t even argue with them. “You were right, but I’ve never—”

His finger comes to my lips. “Let’s just leave it at that.”

All the bikes line up again, so I drop the ponytail holders in the saddlebag of his bike and pull out the sanitizer. Liam, knowing the drill after the first two stops, puts out his hands.

“You’ll thank me later,” I say.

He rolls his eyes and massages the sanitizer into his palms. “Yeah, you said that already.”

“Maybe it will be you saying I was right next week when all your friends have a cold.”

“It’s summer.”

“There’s such a thing as summer colds. Germs don’t just live in the winter. And believe me, summer colds are the worst.” I rub sanitizer into my hands while Liam tries not to laugh at me.

“Let’s go, Kelly.”

We both turn to find Slim, Nina on the back of his bike. Liam’s body stiffens.

“You really need to tell me why we hate him,” I say low enough so only he can hear me.

Liam waves Slim off, who pulls ahead a bit, then narrows his eyes on me. “You don’t even know him. Why would you hate him?”

I let him put my helmet on again because somehow he thinks I can’t secure it myself. But like he’s dealing with my sanitizer, I’ll deal with his manly macho act. “If you hate him, I hate him. That’s how it works. You’re my friend, he’s not, and I trust you have valid reasons.”

He stares at me for longer than necessary as though I’m a Rubik’s Cube.

“Kelly! Let’s go!” Slim yells, and Liam purposely ignores him.

“Sorry about him.” Liam straddles his bike.

I hop on, feeling much more confident now. “Don’t apologize. Just ignore him.”

He starts the bike. I’m pretty sure my panties are going to soak through from watching his forearms flex each time he revs the engine. I pass him his jacket that was lying on the back of the bike, and he thanks me as he leans to the side to slip it on.

My head is on his back, my arms around his waist when he pulls back onto the highway. We’ve gotten used to one another today. I’m not so anxious, and I’ve learned how to shift my weight to go along with him on turns as if we’re one person. He was right again about being on a motorcycle, though I wouldn’t tell him—it’s peaceful and relaxing and I haven’t thought once about all the troubles at Bailey Timber.

As I’m thinking about telling him he should take his motorcycle out more often and that I might join him, we take the curve around the bend. There’s a large puddle of standing water on the other side of the road where the road seems to dip. It must’ve rained out here overnight. Without warning a huge wave of water hits us and the bike jerks. I can’t hear what Liam says, but his body straightens, and the bike slows and fishtails, straightens, fishtails, straightens, fishtails, and straightens. Once we’re through the worst of it, Liam runs his large hand up and down my leg as if he’s telling me it’s okay. He’s got me and I’m safe.

If I’d known the wave was coming, I would’ve probably had a panic attack, but it happened so fast that I didn’t have time to prepare myself. Adrenaline rushes through my system. Though I’m soaked and shaken, I’ve never felt more alive.

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