Page 76 of Damaged Boys Don't Fall For Bubbly Girls

“Never,” Brock says at the same exact time I say, “No way.”

“Well, the queen has spoken.” Dean raises his shoulders. “We must obey her command. Just let us know when you want to ride with us lowly peasants again.”

“Haha.”

We wish each other goodbye, and they head to one end of the student parking lot while Brock and I make our way to the other end. There are only a handful of bikes here, but I can easily spot Brock’s.

“Do you have a lot of homework today?” Brock asks when we stand before it. “Maybe we can hang out and watch that new teen superhero movie that came out.”

I raise my brows. “Did Brock Hastings just offer to watch a superhero movie?”

He laughs. “I don’thatesuperhero movies. I’m willing to give another one a shot, since the last one sucked so bad.”

That’s so tempting, but unfortunately…

“I have a super hard psychology test on Friday,” I say with a scowl. “I need to study, study, study.”

“Oh. Well, school should always come first.”

I scoff as I put on my helmet and do the clasp. “Only because I want to get good grades so I could get into a good marine biology program.”

Once we’re both secured on the bike and I’m squeezing his waist, we zoom off. He takes a longer route than usual to my house just so I can enjoy the ride. His Uncle Zack did that for his aunt, and it makes me feel very special that he’s doing the same for me.

But the more you enjoy something, the faster it comes to an end. We reach my house way too soon.

“Thanks,” I say as I dismount and take off my helmet. “I would invite you in for a quick snack or something, but I really need to study.”

He waves his hand. “That’s okay. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Bye. Have a good night, Brock.”

“Thanks. You, too.” He’s about to rev the engine, but then he glances at me. “Hey, do you want to see something cool?”

“Sure.”

“Okay, step back. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

I gape at him. “What? Are you going to do something dangerous?”

“No, not at all. But just in case, I don’t want you anywhere near here.”

I have no idea what he has planned, but I climb up the stairs leading to my house. Once Brock is sure I’m safely away from the bike, he revs the engine and circles around the perimeter, gaining speed with each passing second.

“Woohoo!” I cheer. “Nice, Brock!”

My words filling him with encouragement, he goes even faster.

“Wait, Brock, slow down—”

“Want to see something even cooler?” he calls.

“No, I think you should slow down—”

He raises his left hand off the handlebar, slowly and hesitantly at first. Then he stretches his arm as far as he can.

“One hand, Lexi!” he says.

“That’s really cool. But I think you should hold on with both hands,” I call back.