Page 25 of After Effect

“Just thinking about how nice out it is today.” Better to lie in this case. “We can head back whenever you’d like. I’ll give you a ride to the bus station. Or we can take the scooter all the way back to the city.”

“I don’t mind the scooter.” Somehow in my distraction, I didn’t notice that he had developed a shit eating grin on his face. “I’ll drive this time.”

“You don’t drive a scooter. You ride it. If you can’t even get that part right, you’re not ready yet.” I pursed my lips. There is not a chance in hell I’m getting on the back of that bike with him on the front. “Cars hurt a lot more than hay bales when you hit into them, you know.”

“Do they? I might have to give that a try next.” Finch shrugged. “I’m serious though. Let me ride us back. You navigate. If it doesn’t work out, we’ll trade places.”

“No deal! Do you know how dangerous it is to ride a scooter through Los Angeles? We’re going to be riding around cars and road rage and cliffs and soccer moms!”

“Oh, so you’re scared.” Finch’s voice was so matter-of-fact when he made that statement that I could have punched him, and no one would have thought it was unjust.

“No, I’m not scared. It’s just-“

“Then there’s no problem.” He gave the back of my leather banana seat a solid pat.

“No! Still no!” He’s crazy. He’s completely crazy. He’ll get us killed. I’m too young and hot and talented to be killed on my eight horsepower scooter.

“Then how about this?” Finch leaned forward over the bars, while he kept his eyes on me. “If you do this for me, I’ll be in your debt.”

I lifted my eyebrow. “And?”

“I’ll owe you.”

“And?”

“You can make any request you want, and I’ll oblige.”

I eyed him suspiciously. You do not want to put yourself in this position, Finchy. “Why is this so important to you? You hadn’t even ridden a two wheeled vehicle until a few minutes ago.”

Finch let out an exasperated sigh. He shook his head, then came back up to meet my gaze with a smile. “You can trust me, too.”

###

I’m such an idiot.

The little scooter puttered beneath me as I squeezed Finch from behind. My arms were wrapped around his waist, but I stayed mindful to never drop them below that. I didn’t need to be reminded about what was between his legs. Nor did I need to acknowledge the implications of saying he’s currently between my legs. I had never been so thankful that I was too terrified of dying to be aroused by the warmth and proximity.

The start of the trip had been a lot of ‘slow down!’ and ‘watch out for that car!’ and ‘Stop sign! Stop sign! Stop Sign!’ My voice was about worn out now, so I switched to gasping and intermittent sobs.

But Finch seemed to know the area better than I ever would have expected, as he effortlessly navigated through the grid of strawberry farms to the open stretch onto the Pacific Coast Highway.

The sea air was immediately thick and cold and salty. I pulled myself closer to Finch just to steal a little bit of his warmth.

“This is kind of the long way around, isn’t it?” I yelled into his ear as he navigated the first sweeping turn of the seaside mountain road. Despite all my complaining, he was actually riding just fine. Once his initial learning pains were out of the way, he had a natural talent for hugging the turns. His body just knew what to do.

I wish life was ever this effortless for me. Even singing, the one single thing I’m supposed to be good at. In my own room, I’m good enough to catch the attention of ALIVE Records. But the second I’m in front of people who might judge me? I’m lucky if I can manage to pull off a midrange tenor.

Finch continued along the two lane black top, back and forth, until we came upon an unusually large overlook. He pulled onto the dirt and parked beside the guard rail.

“Come on. I’ll show you something.” He waved his hand before promptly jumping over the rail. I looked over to see him shimmying across a rocky ledge.

“That… doesn’t look safe…” Who was this guy? What happened to the business minded intern who made me feel like an idiot every time I choked? Finch seemed like a completely different person outside of work, one-on-one, when there’s nothing at stake.

Ugh. I already want to jump his bones. The last thing I need is to start liking his personality, too.

Fortunately, the one thing I did have going for me was balance. Years of dance practice made sure of that. I jumped the rail, and shimmied along. Eventually, the cliff side cut in to a small cubby that overlooked the waves, and every crash against the rocks below created a cooling mist around us. It was near death defying just to get there, but the view was well worth it.

“What’s this?” I ducked into the cubby, while Finch took a seat against the rocky wall, leaving his sights on the ocean.

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