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I nodded, suddenly either too frightened or excited to speak.

“This’ll help, darlin’.”

“Help what?”

“Clear that head of yours.”

I arched a brow at him.

“Look, I know that you’re like, the weird psychic one, but even I can tell you’ve got some shit going on up in that pretty little head of yours.”

He looked back at me over his shoulder with worried brows, and the genuine concern on his face had my throat feeling tight.

“I promise this’ll help if you let it.”

I nodded, unsure if I’d be able to speak around the lump that had formed in my throat. But he offered a smile, a kind one. It was different from his cocky smirk, but it was just as nice to look at.

Ashe patted my knee once, tightening my hold on him before he turned the key and started the bike.

It immediately rumbled under me, and the low noise seemed to echo and fill every empty and quiet space in all the surrounding streets. He revved it a little before he kicked the stand up, checked over his shoulder, gave me one last reassuring smile, and pulled out onto the road.

13

ZARINA

I knewthat I was tense against his back.

We were still going pretty slow, but everything felt so close. Every passing car, every pedestrian, every building was right there.

There was no roof, no doors, no airbag. It was just the wheels beneath us and the rest of the world above us. It was a little easier to relax once we left the city behind. The highway was quiet, and the traffic was thin.

Ashe picked up his speed but I, to my own surprise, wasn’t afraid.

I closed my eyes and let the wind whip through me. My heart was pounding, but in a good way. Maybe this was the feeling I’d been chasing on all my nights out, all my reckless decisions, all my misadventures—thiswas the feeling.

Ashe took an exit, a sharp turn that required him to lean the bike right over, and I understood what he meant then about leaning with him. If I’d sat up, if I had shied away from the road, it probably would have thrown us off balance.

So even though the bitumen was only inches away from my knee as we leaned through the corner, I stayed flush against Ashe’s back.

When he moved, the bike moved, I moved.

It was like we were all operating as a singularthingspeeding through the streets. I could have continued for hours and not been bored. But too quickly, Ashe had pulled into a parking lot and cut the engine.

“How was that?” he asked, taking off his helmet and putting the kickstand down.

“Honestly?”

He nodded, holding out a hand to help me off the bike.

“I kind of want one.”

His eyebrows shot up, but he laughed.

“I don’t think you’re ready for one ofthese,” he patted the seat affectionately. “We might start you out on something a bit smaller, slower.”

It was my turn to raise my eyebrows in shock at his slip, and I pressed my lips together to contain the teasing smirk that threatened.

“We?”