Page 71 of Embers in Our Souls
“Shall we?” I gesture to my motorcycle that’s parked at the curb.
“Um, I can drive,” she says, her voice a little wobbly.
“Nope, you asked me to pick you up. I’ve got a spot in mind,” I tell her, handing her a helmet.
She’s dressed in jeans and I brought an extra jacket to protect her arms. Luckily, she’s wearing closed-toed shoes.
“I’ve never been on a bike before,” she says, eyeing mine.
“There’s a first time for everything,” I tell her with a smirk.
“I guess there is.” Grabbing the helmet, she tugs it over her head. I slide the jacket over her shoulders while she moves her arms through the sleeves.
I’m trying to compose myself, but seeing her in this getup is doing things to me. I take a moment to take in the sight of her.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Her voice is muffled behind the helmet.
“You look good, that’s all,” I say, moving myself over my bike. She follows behind me, tentative with her movements.
“You okay back there?” I ask her.
“As I’ll ever be,” she says, her hands a bit unsettled as she moves them along my sides.
I grab her hands and glide them so she’s holding me tightly. “We’re going to be moving fast. I’ll need you to hold on a bit stronger than that.” I move so she can feel the firm grip I have on her hands.
I turn on the engine, and begin our ride. The moment the bike is in motion, I hear a little squeak from behind me. I feel her grip tighten around me and I revel in the feeling of her hands on my abdomen.
As we move through the streets, I savor her body close to mine. Her front on my back, the warmth of her against me is something I’ve ached for in more ways than one. It dawns on me that I pushed this woman away from me and I will do anything to win her back tonight. I need to make sure she knows that.
It feels like forever, yet not enough time, as we move through the busyness of the city streets until we reach our destination.
I found this lookout point that faces the city skyline last year on a ride I took, and I’ve been coming here ever since. The moment Indy texted me tonight and asked to be picked up, I thought it was the best place to come. The sun is near setting, but there’s great lighting here, even after the sun has gone down.
We make our way to a good spot where we can see the beauty of the city and I can park my motorcycle, and I turn off the engine. As soon as there’s silence, I stomp the kickstand down. Indy pulls her hands off me and I miss her contact immediately.
She begins coming off the bike, and once we’re both standing, we take our helmets off. Placing them to the side of the motorcycle, I sit back down, facing the back of the bike. Then I pat the back, where she was sitting.
“What?” She looks at me quizzically.
“Sit down, Indy,” I tell her.
“No,” she says defiantly.
“Indiana, sit down, please.” I won’t back down.
“That’s too close.” She crosses her arms over her chest.
“Sit your butt down on this bike and let’s have a conversation.” I pat the bike again.
She looks at the seat like it has poison on it, then looks back up at me. She’s contemplating her options then finally rolls her eyes and succumbs to whatever internal battle she was waging.
She still keeps herself as far away from me as possible, but hopefully after tonight, we can put our differences in the past. No matter the mental turmoil, Indy and I need to talk.
“Hands to yourself, Tyler.” Her left eyebrow cocks up in a questioning gaze as she leans her body against the tail end of my motorcycle.
“Hey, I’m a complete gentleman.” I smile, but she can read me well. My mind is racing with thoughts of her on this bike and my body doing dirty things. All I want to do is move my hands up her legs. Instead, I decide to focus on the task at hand. “Why don’t you tell me why you asked me to take you out.”
“I read your letters, Malloy brought them by. Why didn’t you tell me you had two more that you never sent me?” She doesn’t seem mad, just curious.
