Page 31 of Ugly Duckling
“Not too big on you.” He shook my head in the helmet.
I snickered as he practically tossed me around.
He tapped his fingers lightly on the top of the helmet, then led me outside. “Just shove your hands into my pockets in my jacket. Hold on tight.”
He mounted the bike—still in his sweatpants and a matching sweatshirt to my own that said “Angel Security” and held out his hand for me.
I mounted, and he put my feet onto the pegs where they were supposed to be before saying, “Don’t move them off there. The muffler is hot as fuck.”
I actually remembered that.
Because the one and only time that I’d ridden on the back of anyone’s bike had been his.
In high school, he’d given me a ride home when he’d seen me walking down the side of the road.
He’d given me the same exact speech and we’d ridden home with the rain pelting the both of us.
It felt like needles.
“I remember,” I said. “You almost verbatim gave the same speech as that time you gave me a ride home in the rain.”
He chuckled. “You were the last girl I’ve ever had on the back of my bike. I sense a trend.”
Butterflies took flight in my belly.
But before I could reply, he started his motorcycle up.
A man came out of his driveway and threw up his hands, and Gunner flipped him off on the way past, making me laugh.
I stuffed my hands into the front pocket of his sweatshirt and threaded my fingers together.
He shifted in front of me, and I scooted just a little bit closer as he picked up speed once we exited the neighborhood.
We rode around for a few minutes before he pulled up in front of a bakery.
My mouth watered when I smelled the aroma pouring out of the open bakery doors.
An open bakery that had tons of people spilling out of it as they waited for their turn in line.
“This place is hopping,” I observed.
“A good friend of mine’s wife owns it. Her name is Maven,” he said as he took my hand and led me through the throng of people. “She also takes orders over here. But no one knows what they want at any given time, so they wait in line so they can see everything. I know what she has on special today because I texted Maven’s husband, Auden. They have a cookie flight. Do you want to try it?”
“What’s the special?” I wondered.
Maybe I wanted to stand in line, too…
“A cookie that’s also going to be in the cookie flight. They give you twelve cookies, Plus, they have a cake taster that I was going to get, too.”
It was then that I remembered that Gunner had his own sweet tooth.
“Was wondering if you’d show,” a cop in uniform said as he walked up to us. “How’s it going, Gunner? Or do I call you Jinx today? You’re not wearing the cut.”
I looked over at Gunner. “Jinx?”
“Club calls me Jinx,” he said as he kept poking the screen. “Auden likes to give me shit.”
I looked over at Auden. “Hi, I’m Sutton.”
