Page 43 of Trick

I expect him to go to the car, but he walks us over to his bike, where two helmets are secured to the lock on the back.

I stare at them for a moment before lifting my gaze to his. He unhooks the smaller one and offers it to me. I don’t reach for it, holding my hands behind my back like it may burn me. “We’re taking your bike?”

“I don’t like cages, Heidi,” he says, as if it explains everything.

“I’m not riding behind you,” I say, shoving the helmet into his chest.

“Why not?”

“You know why. That’s… that’s not my seat.”

His tongue darts out, wetting his bottom lip in a move that should be illegal. It stirs something carnal within me, and I want to pull his lip between my teeth and?—

“Put the fucking helmet on.” His clipped words break through my fantasy.

I shake my head. This isn’t right. “No. I can’t.”

He leans into me, his aftershave filling my nose. “Don’t make me tie you to the back of it.”

I’m pretty sure he would do that, but it’s the fact he’s smiling that has me snatching the helmet from him. It’s so rare to see him happy about anything other than Sophia, but I’m starting to notice he’s smiling more lately.

I pull it onto my head, securing it in place while he does the same and gets on his bike.

Even though it’s been an age since I was last on a bike, I climb behind him without any hesitation and position myself comfortably, my boots resting on the pillions before I place my hands on his shoulders.

I’d forgotten how intimate riding behind someone is, but there’s barely a gap between my chest and his back. My mouth dries as my inner thighs press against his outer thighs. Oh, boy.

“You good?” he asks over his shoulder.

“Yeah,” I lie.

The bike rumbles to life beneath us and that familiar surge of power has me grinning. When he hits the throttle, the bike lunges forward and everything in my brain fades away to nothing.

All I focus on is the wind and the traffic moving around us. I hold on tight to Trick’s shoulders until the speed we’re moving at forces my hands around his waist. I cling to him as he weaves through the cars and hits the open road, picking up speed.

I’m so focused on enjoying the ride that I don’t realise where we are until he takes the turnoff for the cemetery. All that joy and happiness fades in an instant, and every inch of my body is wired as he pulls through the iron gates. My heart thuds as he slows the bike to turn onto the long driveway that leads to the graves.

By the time he stops in the small parking area at the top of the cemetery, my composure is completely shattered. I don’t want to be here. I wait while he kicks down the stand after cutting the engine, and when I don’t climb off, his hand pats my thigh, searing my skin through my jeans.

I quickly get off and undo my helmet, finger combing my hair as I wait for him to dismount and clip his helmet to the bike.

“Why are we here?” I demand, glancing around the gravesites.

He takes my helmet from me, securing it to the back of the bike before he holds out a hand.

What the fuck is going on?

Despite my misgivings, I slide my palm into his, and he guides us down the hill, away from where Theo’s grave is. Mara’s is off to the left, but he doesn’t go that way either.

Instead, he leads me to the bottom of the site. I see the balloons before we get close, and when he stops in front of a headstone, I’m drowning in my confusion.

There are candles, flowers, and pink and blue confetti across the tiny site. The stone has an engraving of a sun on it.

“I don’t… I don’t understand.”

“You lost your baby, Heidi, and you never got to mourn her. I wanted you to have somewhere you could come and talk to her or light a candle—whatever you wanna do.”

My throat constricts so tightly, I can’t breathe for a moment. Tears clog my eyes as everything around me becomes watery.

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