Total pages in book: 167
Estimated words: 164838 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 824(@200wpm)___ 659(@250wpm)___ 549(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 164838 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 824(@200wpm)___ 659(@250wpm)___ 549(@300wpm)
Did I say something wrong? Had I pushed her too far?
I racked my brain, but after the exhaustion from long work hours, the terror I’d felt at her messages, and horror at finding her being hurt…I had nothing left.
Speaking through the gravel in my throat, I asked, “So will you? Come for a ride with me? I can take you home and grab your car tomorrow.”
Her gaze searched mine. Too long. So long.
Finally, she gave a tight little smile and reached up to adjust the helmet. “Okay.”
One little word spoken with bite.
My heart sank.
I’d fucked up.
I didn’t know how, but I’d given her another hint, and I had no idea how to stop all of my lies unravelling.
* 41 *
Sailor
Storms and Secrets
I’D DANCED IN THE RAIN BEFORE WHEN I was young.
I’d spun in a summer storm with my face tipped to the sky and caught fat raindrops on my tongue. Nana had said the rain could wash away all my worries, and she was right.
But this?
Nothing could compare to this.
There weren’t words.
This was…flying through a waterfall. Swimming through a falling river. Racing through a water world with raindrops cascading, mechanical thunder rumbling, and the strongest, warmest protector charting a course through all my nightmares.
Zander leaned into the corner, taking me with him as I hugged him from behind. The snarl of the engine overshadowed the grumble of thunder above as we plummeted down rain-slick roads and past black-shrouded trees.
I tipped my head back and shivered as water splashed on my face. Both of us were soaked, but I wasn’t cold. Zander kept me warm with his scalding body heat, all while thrilling, addictive adrenaline made my heart flutter.
As we roared through the wet night, the storm didn’t just wash away my worries, I felt reborn.
This was what I needed.
This was what I’d been craving.
Not recklessness, not danger.
Connection.
Connection between me and the elements, earth and rain and stars.
And I shared this magical experience with someone who’d always been there…waiting.
An avalanche of affection had me squeezing Zander’s waist.
The fact that he’d called me Lori repeated in my mind.
That one word had stopped me dead. The image of X had spliced with Zander, and for a second, I was positive he’d been lying to me all along.
But then I recalled all the times in our youth when Zander had called me Lori. I’d been the one to give that nickname to X to use, but that name had always belonged to Zander.
So…who was real?
The stalker who thought it was my real name or the boy next door who’d come up with it?
I wanted to ask him point-blank.
But the longer we flew together, the less it really mattered.
The less I worried because…it didn’t matter.
Not really.
Both men were incredible.
Both men were kind.
And I’d been incredibly lucky to know each of them.
I hugged him again, feeling carefree and amazingly light.
He stiffened.
His back muscles flexed as he tried to look over his shoulder, but then he straightened and kept his eyes on the road.
His wrist shifted, adding another snarl of speed.
I closed my eyes as the world turned into a liquid blur. I felt like I could spread my wings and soar. I wasn’t rebuilding them. I now had a million feathers and the newfound strength to fly.
Zander’s gloved fingers suddenly touched mine.
Driving one-handed, he pressed my hand against his stomach, sharing so much with a single touch that words could never express. Spreading my fingers, I gasped as he threaded his gloved ones with mine. Together, we curled our combined grip into a fist. His belly tightened where I touched him as if that simple hand hold affected him as much as it affected me.
I shivered as he squeezed me.
I struggled to let him go as he resumed driving with both hands.
And as he shot us up a hill toward the rain-drenched clouds, pure happiness found me.
Not tainted by should dos and should nots.
Not ruined by racing thoughts or doubts.
In that moment, I was entirely present, awake, alive, and with him.
* * * * *
The growl of the motorbike seemed extra vicious as we weaved our way through twisty, sleepy suburbia and turned onto Ember Drive. The slow speed after our fast fly seemed as if we’d become a snail after soaring like a hawk.
The rain still fell but not as heavy, the droplets kissing my skin instead of smacking me. With careful skill, Zander turned onto his driveway, bringing us home to the two houses that sat side by side with their matchmaking, meddling ghosts.
His garage door was still up, his trust in our neighbours evident with how safe our street was.
He killed the engine, leaving my ears ringing in the rain.
Neither of us moved.
I knew I had to stop hugging him but the thought of breaking that warm connection hurt more than it should.
I’d been blind for so long.