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Maybe that was something to think about. Or maybe it wasn’t anything at all and Logan was just an asshole. Maybe both things could be true.
In the alley behind the house, Asa started the bike and Zara had to keep herself from skipping over to his side.
She had promised him she’d be cool about it, but the kaleidoscope of butterflies in her belly had other ideas.
The seat behind him was small but she swung her leg over the bike like she knew what she was doing and settled in behind him. Her thighs aligned with his hips and she gingerly placed her hands on his back.
He reached back and grabbed her hands, pulling them around to his stomach where he held them for a beat. Her chest was right up against his back, her groin completely flush to his lower half.
Her pulse picked up and she almost chickened out, but then Asa patted her hands around his middle and said, “I got you,” over the rumble of the motor.
And with the same words he’d used on her six months ago, she tightened her hold and believed him. He lifted his legs and the bike took off down the alley.
She clutched tightly to his body and tried to control her breathing.
The next several minutes as he navigated their way out of the busy Chicago traffic, she had to remind herself that she’d wanted this. No one was forcing her. If she wanted to stop and get off, she knew Asa would let her.
The rumble of the Harley was unfamiliar and she tried not to freak out over ever new sensation. She had to trust that Asa knew what he was doing.
That’s when it hit her, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d handed over her life to someone else. Sure, she relied on Cas and Devan in a life-or-death way. But every decision Zara made was madeby her. Even the record execs and the media and everyone who had tried tomakeher do something ultimately failed in the end. She hadn’t been a passenger in so long, she almost didn’t know what to do with it.
These were the thoughts that occupied her mind as they wound through traffic and headed southeast.
And then the road opened up before them and Asa let out the throttle.
The wind whipped through their clothes and whistled through the visor on the helmet.
Zara’s heart continued to thunder and she knew she was gripping Asa tighter than was probably necessary with everything she had. But how else could she respond when it felt like she was about to start flying at any moment?
ASA
He would not tell her that the first part of their journey had felt like a twenty-five-mile Heimlich. But that’s something he’d laugh about to himself for probably the rest of his life.
She eventually relaxed her grip enough that he knew she wasn’t as freaked out as when she’d started.
And then he just enjoyed it.
Her so close he could almost feel her heartbeat through his back, the sun, the wind, the open space.
More than once he’d been given a hard time for owning a motorcycle as his only vehicle when he lived in a city that didn’t allow for comfortable riding. But it was always worth it when he got out of the city.
Never had U.S. Route 6 been as beautiful as it was that day.
They drove along the winding road until he spotted the sign for the state park. He pointed at it and felt her nod behind him.
It would be a nice, relatively private area for her to stretch her legs and rest.
Cas and Devan pulled up about five minutes after them. They got out of the black SUV but kept their distance.
Again, Asa thought about the night he’d taken Zara away from the afterparty. It seemed like those events were never fading in his mind. He had a feeling that if Cas had been there, Logan wouldn’t have acted the way he had.
But who knows? Maybe Logan didn’t give a shit who heard him.
Zara unzipped her jacket and took it off. She took out the elastic in her hair and redid her braid as she looked around at their surroundings.
Only a couple of cars were parked nearby and he could hear voices from the picnic area.
He darted frequent glances at Zara, trying to read her expression to see if she was uncomfortable or worried about anything. But she was just quiet. Relaxed. Peaceful.
