Page 59 of Bloom: Part 1

The asshole next to me throttled his bike, the motor rumbling in a loud taunt as if daring me to accept his challenge. The lights were still red, but his fingers were twitching restlessly on the handles.

“What’s that?” I asked Logan.

“Ignore him.”

“Hard to do that when he’s being an annoying prick.”

The traffic light turned green. “Pussy!” the rider yelled at me as he surged forward.

I gritted my teeth. It was juvenile to take offense to his words, but the part of me that loved a good challenge and wanted to teach him a lesson urged me forward.

“Bloom!” Logan’s voice was lost to the wind as I sped up, rushing down the road after the retreating figure of my unwanted rival.

The wind roared past my ears, and the city lights blurred into long streaks of colors as I zoomed past them. My pulse pounded in sync with the engine while adrenaline flowed through my veins. With every passing second, I got closer and closer to the fool who had challenged me. He beckoned at me with one hand.

I gunned the bike, determined not to let him win. The bike surged beneath me, the engine growling thunderously. Something about the weightless feeling of speed, of the danger it carried, made me feel more alive than anything else.

I twisted the throttle harder. The bike let out a monstrous roar as I shot forward with a burst of speed so powerful it felt as though I was being catapulted through space and time.

The smooth asphalt turned into a blur beneath my wheels as I matched his speed and then some. The world around me warped, colors meshing into a whirl of lights. With the adrenaline crashing through my veins, everything seemed surreal, like some high-speed dream from which I didn’t want to wake up.

With one final burst of speed I pulled from the guts of my Harley, I rushed ahead of him. I flashed the asshole my middle finger, grabbed both handlebars again, and raised the front wheel off the ground in a triumphant wheelie.

The rider turned left at the intersection. The victory was sweet, and the taste of triumph lingered. I’d lost Logan somewhere behind me. Fuck, he was going to be upset.

I was close to his house, so I rode on, the adrenaline still pumping through my veins. As his house came into view, my stomach knotted. This was the night. If Logan wanted me, I would give him everything. I wanted to experience everything with him.

I parked at the side of the driveway, climbed the gate, and straddled it, waiting for him. A bead of sweat trickled down my face from more than the high-speed, reckless chase. What would happen when Logan arrived?

I heard his car engine long before I saw him. He inched up the driveway, and the gates slowly opened. I lost my balance but steadied myself just in time. Logan’s car rolled to a stop. I jumped off the gate and landed with a soft thud on the driveway.

At least my thigh doesn’t hurt anymore.

The car door opened, and Logan stepped out. He slammed the door shut so hard I winced. “What the hell were you thinking? How could you be so reckless? And riding without a helmet!”

“I won!” I crowed in delight. “His bike was better, but I let him eat my dust. Isn’t that—”

Logan stalked to me, grabbed me around the waist, and threw me over his shoulder. I gasped and clung to him.

“Logan!” I kicked my legs in an undignified manner for an enforcer of a biker club. If my brothers saw me, they would laugh at me to death. “Put me down.”

“You never listen, so why should I?” He carried me to the front door and let us inside. Without missing a beat, he climbed the stairs with me still slung over his shoulders like a sack of potatoes. Each step resonated through the silent house, accentuating the stillness of the late hour. He pushed open a door with his shoulder and walked in.

I froze.

The last time I’d been in this room had been a disaster. We’d ended up in his closet, and I still had no idea what I had done or said during my night terror. His bed was free of clothes, so I assumed he’d hung them back in the closet. I was the only misfit.

Logan set me on the bed. He loomed over me, jaw clenched and nostrils flaring. He was seriously mad.

“I am beyond furious with you and your behavior tonight!”

Images flashed through my mind, and I winced.

“Look what you did, you mangy mutt!”

A face presses so close to mine I can smell the rancid breath.

“It’s already November, Elin. You said you’d find a buyer for the runt. I’m giving you till the end of the month to get rid of him.”

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