Page 55 of The Price of Love

“Are you okay?” I ask.

She drops her gaze to the pavement. “Embarrassed. Where my kids are concerned, I lose my mind.” She motions over her shoulder with her thumb. “There’s a helmet in the ditch that proves it.”

I smile. “That was an impressive toss.”

“Impressive? Don’t you mean psycho?” Her expression is serious.

I shake my head. “No. Your ex messed with your head. That kind of damage doesn’t just go away. You’re jumping at your own shadow.”

She gives me a half-smile. “You know, that’s one reason I got my club name. If you can believe it, I’m calm now compared to how I was when I first showed up at the Graces’ clubhouse.”

Her honesty makes me like her even more. She could have made excuses or passed it off as someone else’s fault, but she doesn’t.

“It takes time considering what you’ve been through—are going through. Give yourself a break.”

Shadow sighs. “We should get going. You can finish psychoanalyzing me when we get to my apartment.” She lets go of my hand, which I’d almost forgotten she was holding since it felt so natural. “I better get my helmet.”

I grab her arm. “No.” I nod down toward her feet. “It’s still muddy in the ditches. You’ll get your white sneakers all dirty.”

She frowns. “It’ll serve me right.”

“I’ve got this.”

Reluctantly, I release her arm and jog down the ditch to her helmet. With each step, the soft ground squishes underfoot. Shadow’s shoes would have been trashed. I snatch her helmet off the ground and wipe off the mud as I scamper up the ditch. After I buff it on my pants leg, I hand it to her.

“My hero,” she says with a smile. “Such a gentle…gentlewoman.”

“I try to be.” I hold out my elbow. “Your chariot awaits.”

She slips her arm through mine. “Thank you, once again. I appreciate your kindness.”

When she gets on the bike behind me, a surge of adrenaline races through me. I’m surprised to hear her laugh. I stiffen, worried she can sense my thoughts. “What’s the matter?”

She continues to chuckle. “Can you imagine Wiz’s reaction if she saw us?”

I hadn’t thought about Wiz or anything else since my entire focus was on Shadow, but at the thought, I laugh.

She reaches around me, and I notice the phone in her hand. “You’re gonna have to take it. My arms are too short.”

“You want to take a selfie? Are you going to send it to Wiz?”

“Hell no. I’m not stupid.” She nudges me. “Stop yammering and take the picture.”

I take her phone and stretch my arm out as far as I can. My breath catches when I see her face behind my helmet. “Wait.” I pull off my helmet. “These things are in the way.”

She takes off hers and shakes out her hair. When she rests her chin on my shoulder with her face inches from mine, my heart skips a beat.

“Ready?” I ask. “Smile.”

Her smile lights up the screen. We take several before I return her phone to her.

I bite my lip, wanting to ask the question that I fear she’ll think is weird. I take a chance. “Can you text me one of those?”

She reaches her phone over my shoulder. “Text it to yourself.”

I choose several and send them, aware that I now have her number. While that wasn’t my original intention, it’s a bonus.

Once back in our helmets, I turn over my engine and rev the throttle. Her thighs tighten around me. If I were standing, I’m pretty sure my knees would’ve gone weak.