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“You’re probably right,” I said, heading for the door.

“You going home?” Rome asked with a frown.

I let out a deep breath and thought for a moment, because I had no idea.

But I still said, “Yeah,” with a smile and a nod that seemed to be convincing enough to satisfy her suspicions, and the pair shouted their goodbyes as the door shut behind me with a quiet thud.

People were starting to trickle into Lilith’s at that point, and I snaked through the few men that lingered around the main floor with my head down, avoiding all eye contact and hoping that no one would attempt to start a conversation with me.

When I made it back out onto the street, I shut my eyes and took a deep breath of the refreshing, icy air.

I wandered towards where my car was parked, paying more attention to the glimmering lights of the city rather than where I was going, and mindlessly pulled out a stray cigarette from the bottom of my purse out of habit.

I leaned against the hood of my car as I rifled through my bag for a light, and groaned when I remembered that I didn’t have one.

The familiarflicksound of a lighter caught my attention from behind me, and I spun around to see Ashe standing there with a smirk on his face. He held the flame out in offering, and I sighed before leaning forward and igniting the end of my smoke.

My eyes flickered to where his bike was parked, a little further down the street than my car, and more importantly, much further away from Lilith’s.

I took a drag and exhaled the smoke into the night sky before offering it to him, and our hands brushed as he took it between his own fingers.

Leaning against my car, I wrapped my arms around myself while I watched him. He had a hand on the roof, resting against the vehicle like he owned it as his eyes raked over me as if he owned me, too.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, mainly to fill the silence.

Ashe passed the cigarette back and stepped closer, eyes seemingly inspecting my face, like he was trying to read me like I could read him.

He looked a little more windswept than he had when I left the studio, like he had been riding at high speeds for quite a while. But his eyes shone bright, like he was content, like he was completely calm.

“We should go for a ride,” he said plainly with a jut of his chin, ignoring my question all together.

I blinked up at him.

“A-a ride?” I chuckled. “Like, on your bike?”

Ashe nodded once, a cheeky, antagonising smirk growing on his lips.

“Where to?”

Again, he stepped closer, closing the space between us. He took the cigarette from between my fingers and let it drop to the ground, squishing it out with his foot. Then he wrapped his hand around mine, dragging me along towards where his bike was parked without another word.

Admittedly, I felt a little giddy at the opportunity. I had never been on the back of a motorcycle, and I knew that if I had ever attempted, both my mother and brothers would have stern words for me.

A helmet swung from the handlebars, and Ashe removed it and quickly shoved it on his head. But what I wasn’t expecting was the second helmet that was strapped to the back, as if he already knew that he would see me tonight.

He used his teeth to cut the tag from the strap, and I frowned.

Had he just gone and bought this just for me?

Something warmed in me at the thought, but at the same time, the assumption that I would just agree irritated me.

But he didn’t give me time to think it over too long, he just stuck it on my head, adjusting it and quickly checking the fit before securing the clasp and tightening the straps under my chin.

With a quick nod to indicate that he was satisfied with it, he turned and straddled the bike and then patted the space behind him. The seat did curve upwards, like it was made for a passenger, but I gripped his shoulders so I would be steady as I kicked my leg over and scooched forward, wrapping my arms around his torso.

He pointed down at two pegs where I could rest my feet, and then he pointed forward, towards the road.

“All you need to do is lean with me, alright?”