Page 54 of Damaged Boys Don't Fall For Bubbly Girls

“The Musketeers sure know how to show a guy how much they missed him,” Brock says with another laugh as we head toward his bike. “Evie and Noah were over at my house with Melly on Saturday night and they also squeezed me like a ketchup bottle.”

“Ooh, they came by? That sounds so fun! How’s the baby?”

“Super cute. She has the Barrington blue eyes.”

“I know. She’s so pretty.”

“Yep. They told me they won’t go on tour until Melly’s older, but they’ll still record music.”

“Nice. I heard some kids discussing the possibility of having them perform for the fall dance, but I don’t know if they’ll be up for it. You know, with the baby and everything.”

He pauses for a second. “Fall dance?”

“They didn’t put up the signs yet, but it’ll probably be sometime in October.”

“Oh, right. I forgot Edenbury High has dances.”

“Didn’t you have them at your old school?”

“Sure, but I didn’t really go to them.”

“Oh. Well, I never had a date or anything. Neither did the guys. We all went together as friends.”

“Good,” he says. Then his eyes widen. “I mean, not good that you didn’t have a date, but good that you and the guys had fun there as friends.”

I playfully hit his shoulder. “I knew you meant that.”

Brock and I stop before his motorcycle. “Sorry I don’t have a spare helmet,” he says. “My dad said to always carry a spare with me in case I’d want to give a girl a ride, but I never thought I would actually do that.”

I gape at him and then the bike. “Wait a sec. We’re riding on your motorcycle?”

“I don’t have a car,” he says. “Sorry, I thought it was obvious when I offered you a ride. I can call for—”

“Are you kidding? This is awesome! Don’t you know it’s every girl’s dream to ride behind a guy on his motorcycle?”

“Well, that’s how it is in romance books, but I have no idea if it’s like that in real life…”

“So uncultured,” I joke again as I move closer to the bike. “I might not be an expert on bikes, but she looks like a beauty.”

“She definitely is. I worked hard for her.”

I step back, narrowing my eyes. “Hold on a minute. You said at my house on Friday that you don’t let anyone touch your bike.”

He winks at me. “I’ll make an exception for Lexi West.”

“Ooh, yay!” I say, my cheeks burning. “I feel so special.”

“You are,” he murmurs.

I laugh awkwardly and move closer to the bike. “Thanks. So can we ride? The anticipation is killing me.”

He chuckles as he puts on his helmet, then raises the visor. “You’re just like my mom. She was so excited to ride on my dad’s bike when they were our age.”

“Your mom knows how to have fun.”

He gets on the bike and then I climb on behind him, wrapping my arms around his waist. Oh, wow. Since when does he have so many muscles? He’s so much more ripped than I thought.

“Check out these muscles, dude,” I say.