Page 20 of Fallen Flame

I grabbed my spare helmet, pulled it on, and swung one leg over my bike. When I straightened it, Lark climbed on behind me. Her hands settled lightly against my sides.

“Hold on,” I told her.

“I am.”

“Not like that.”

She leaned forward and wrapped her arms securely around my waist. Her body pressed against my back.

Every muscle in my shoulders tightened.

“Better?” she asked near my ear.

I stared straight ahead. “Yeah.”

Her laughter was nearly lost beneath the sound of the engine when I started the bike.

Jude pulled out first, Ever behind him. I followed, turning onto the road with Lark holding tightly around me and the damaged Dairy Bar waiting across town.

I told myself the tension in my chest came from not knowing what we were going to find when we got there.

It had nothing to do with Lark’s arms around me.

Nothing at all.

Chapter Four

Lark

The Dairy Bar looked wrong.

That was the only way I could describe it.

From the outside, it looked normal. The front windows were still intact, the faded sign hung above the entrance exactly where it had always been, and the little wooden bench sat beneath the window like it was waiting for someone to sit down with a milkshake.

Tiny things were off, though.

Things most people probably wouldn’t notice.

I noticed all of them.

Oliver stopped his bike beside Jude’s, but I didn’t move right away. My arms were still wrapped around Oliver’s waist, and I could feel the heat from his back through his leather cut.

The ride had only taken ten minutes, but it had also been the best ten minutes of my morning.

I leaned closer, bringing my mouth near his ear. “You know, that was a lot more fun than driving myself to work.”

He stared straight ahead. “It was just ten minutes.”

“A very exciting ten minutes.”

“You need to get out more.”

“I’m trying. You keep telling me no.”

His head turned slightly. Even with the helmet hiding part of his face, I caught the look he gave me.

It wasn’t irritated. Not completely. There was something else there, something he covered up almost as fast as it appeared. That only made me want to bother him more. “Get off the bike, Lark.”