Page 65 of Extreme Romancing in Idaho

Narrowing my eyes, I kept them locked on the front tire. The trail became rockier the further we went along. Each small bump jostled me, clacking my teeth together, the shocks of the bike not taking enough of the impact out of the hits.

Cold sweat washed over me, my heart racing faster the higher I climbed. I managed every bump and every challenge, looking ahead to the next. Each obstacle I successfully overcame built my confidence. The tensing in my muscles relaxed, which translated into my fingers, lessening my death grip. Every now and then, I even had the courage to—

Something hit my eyebrow, followed by a buzz echoing inside my helmet.

Zzzz … zzz … ZZZZ …

Sounding like—a—wasp!My anxiety rebounded, hitting me in full force. My muscles shook, constricting back into their original tight ball. I lost focus on the road, my eyes following the blurry black and yellow spawn of Satan, its movements frantic as it fought against the wind current the gap between my goggles and helmet created. It hit the plastic, my nose, lashes, and upper cheek.

Get it out.Get it out!

I screamed and jerked on my handlebars.

Chapter 25

Remi

Mereminutesago,I’dmade the mistake of thinking,Angie’s a natural.I’d followed her for a couple miles, letting her choose the path of least resistance to the viewpoint awaiting us. Myles and I had made a predawn ride to make sure this route was appropriate for an amateur.

She’d taken off faster than a sneeze through a screen door. Her previous experience with tractors and other ATVs proved an asset in taking on two wheels. The pure joy I’d seen in her eyes after her first loop gave me a high better than any drug. It challenged me to a new mission in life: search out anything and everything to make Angie look like she’d harnessed the rays of the sun.

I’d done my legwork to make ensure the most successful outcome—and all my work had been paying off … until Angie lost her mind. Her tires bobbed and weaved with the motion of her head, which she kept shaking back and forth.

Twisting the throttle, I accelerated to her position just in time for her bike to tip onto its side at full speed.

I hit the brakes.

Shit. Shit. Shit!

Angie propelled forward, rolling well beyond where her motorcycle got hung up in a grove of trees. Not bothering to kill my engine or put the kickstand down, I dropped my handlebars. I barely registered the plastics scraping against the ground, running to where Angie lay.

As soon as her momentum slowed, she hopped up and slapped at her helmet. “Get it out!” She flicked her goggles off and kept messing with her helmet. “Wasp!”

Understanding hit me. But how had a wasp managed to get inside her helmet?

I grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to remain still. As fast as I could, I undid the clasp around her neck, and she threw the helmet from her head. Once freed, she tossed her hair back and forth, undoing her braid and slapping at its ends.

“Is it gone?” she asked, still smacking at her head.

“I think so.” I checked the inside of the helmet and went to retrieve her goggles.

My bike chugged on its side. I jogged back to it and hit the kill switch, then stood it up. A wasp? She’d wrecked her bike because of a tiny insect. What if she’d severely injured herself? This could have happened in a much more pivotal spot along the trail, and she would have ended up rolling down a steep ravine.

I turned on her. “What the hell were you thinking?” Images of her beautiful body tumbling down a cliff tore at me, sharpening my anger at myself. I took off my gloves and threw them to the ground.

“Uh. Fighting for mylife. That beast could have stung me.”

“A tiny insect bite? So you wreck your bike at full speed? Remember clutch, brake? Clutch. Brake!” I stepped closer to her and removed her elbow pads, checking for possible injuries. “You can’t take risks like that.”

“It was in mygoggles! It got sucked in by my face current.” She jerked her arm from me and pointed at her eyes. “Its nasty body touched my iris. It could have given me wasp herpes! I’m going to go blind.”

“Do you even hear yourself?” I rolled up her sleeve, watching for bruising. “Wasp herpes,” I scoffed under my breath.

“It’s a real thing,” she mumbled.

Even though she and I both knew it’d come from her overactive imagination. I unclicked her chest protector and slipped my fingertips under its bottom edge.

She took a couple of steps away from me until she’d backed into a tree. “Whatareyou doing?”

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