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“This is what they call a motorcycle. And this right here is the helmet you need to ride with me,” he says, giving it a gentle knock. “We’d better hurry, because I need to be at work by nine thirty.”

I walk around the bike, taking in its size. There’s no way I’m getting on that thing. I’d rather walk the twenty miles home than climb on this dangerous-looking machine.

“Yeah, I’m afraid my luggage won’t fit on your beast of a vehicle, so I’ll just get another ride. Speaking of which, where is Maggie? She was supposed to pick me up in her safe, closed-off, reliable car that can’t go any faster than forty-five miles per hour,” I ramble.

Colton’s mouth twitches at the corners, as if he’s having a hard time not laughing at the silly things his sister’s best friend is saying. “Maggie had a last-minute work crisis to deal with. I don’t know the details as she never talks about what her office job entails. Also, I didn’t ask.” He eyes my bag. “And your luggage will fit, trust me. This isn’t my first rodeo.”

“Oh yeah? You pick up girls from the airport every week or something?”

“Or something,” he says with a shrug before he secures my sports bag with a couple of swift moves. “Hop on, Elle, I haven’t got all day. I don’t want to pressure you, but…”

“Right, work.”

I can’t let the guy be late for work. He’s been kind enough already by giving me a ride home. I should just suck it up. I mean, how bad can it be? People ride motorcycles every day. I swallow. People die horrible deaths on motorcycles every day.

With the grace of an elephant in labor, I swing my leg over the passenger seat and push the helmet onto my head.

“Make sure to hold on tight or you’ll fall off,” Colton says. “And don’t let your legs touch the exhaust pipes. I don’t want you to get burned.”

He takes the bike off its side stand and revs the engine. I put my hands in my lap, but he turns around and shakes his head. He grabs my arms, forcing me to wrap them around him.

Wow. Okay. Now I really can’t think straight anymore, and it’s got nothing to do with the drinks I had on the plane or the fact that I haven’t slept since leaving Paris. I’m all too aware of my hands touching his abs, and his manly scent setting my insides on fire. I know it’s wrong, with him being my best friend’s brother and all, but it feels so good to touch an actual human being. My goodness, it’s been ages since I’ve held someone close to me.

Colton revs the throttle and the bike’s vibrations rush through me as we idle. Once he puts the motorcycle into first gear, my legs start to shake.

“This is my first time,” I yell so he can hear me over the roaring of the engine. “Be gentle.”

He turns around and throws me a cheeky smile before flipping his visor down. For a moment, I’m afraid he’s going to go extra fast, just to mess with me, but to my relief, he starts out at a slow pace. This is quite nice. I can do this without wetting my pants from fear.

As soon as we exit the airport parking garage, I swallow my words. This isn’t nice at all. Why is he picking up speed? We must be driving five hundred miles per hour, if not more.

I close my eyes. At least I don’t have to see everything whiz past us that way.

After a while, I start to relax and muster a peek here and there. As the familiar surroundings of my hometown of Summerville Creek come into view, I can’t help but sigh.

Coming home is always fun, but this time it is anything but. All that’s left of my big dreams is shoved into the sports bag that’s now strapped onto Colton’s motorcycle. I don’t even know how I’ll face everyone after leaving for France with whistles and bells, confident I’d make it big out there. I cringe thinking about all the pictures I posted of me and Paul. There’s going to be so many questions.

At least I get to ride into town like a badass. It might stop people from asking those hard questions. As far as I’m concerned, no one needs to know the truth… That I’m a big failure who couldn’t make it on her own and wouldn’t even have been able to go back home if it weren’t for her best friend’s generosity.

Chapter Two

Colton

I’m going to kill my sister.

She has such a way of sweet-talking me into situations I don’t want to be in. When she asked me to pick up her best friend from the airport, I imagined I’d be dealing with the giggling, innocent girl I vaguely remembered from way back, not the stunning redhead whose arms are now wrapped tightly around me. I hope she’s not staying for too long, because I can tell she’s going to be trouble, and trouble is the last thing I need right now.

Merely getting her to come with me was a challenge on its own. I think she thought I was going to do something bad to her, and then she got scared when she saw my beast of a vehicle. That’s what she called my motorcycle. A beast. It’s both funny and endearing.

Anyway, I don’t care how fun she looks to hang around with. I can’t be late for work, something I kept repeating to my sister this morning. But since she knows I can’t say no to her when she throws me her desperate puppy-eyes look, I caved.

The closer we get to Summerville Creek, the fresher the air gets. That’s one thing I’ll miss once I move away from the coastal town I grew up in. The ocean breeze has a way of calming the mind like nothing else. Still, I long for a quiet place up in the mountains. Some small town where I can start a life of my own, not weighed down by my family’s past.

We enter Summerville Creek, and I steer the motorcycle through the familiar streets. As I take the last corner before arriving at Elle’s new home, I inhale long and hard and a smile spreads over my face. I’ll never get tired of this amazing view. The house glows in the early morning sunlight. Behind it, a path winds down toward the beach where a couple of joggers are running next to the shoreline. A colony of seagulls circle above the waves, probably looking for a salty snack to start off their day.

I park my bike and extend my hand to Elle to help her get off. She takes off her helmet, shaking out her red locks. I hold her gaze, and she gives me a heart-stopping look, her smile reaching all the way to her eyes. Phew. I’m going to have to stay out of her way, and I will. Messing around with my sister’s best friend is not my M.O. Maggie would kill me, just like she swore she would after I spent an amazing night with one of her other friends many years ago. Not that anything happened. Maggie made sure our date was cut short by calling me with an emergency. I rushed home straight away to protect my little sister from what turned out to be an acute shortage of clean towels. She hadn’t even showered yet, and the dryer was beeping to indicate a fresh load was ready!

I untie Elle’s sports bag and follow her gaze to the neighbors’ front yard.