My hands quivered as I tried to put away my phone, my fingers slipping from the zip. “Fuck, fuck!” I whispered, fear creeping up my spine, making it harder for me to close it.
My throat tightened as I walked faster down the long street, cars passing by with people I’d never seen before glancing at me as they went on their way. My breaths became short, shallow, and harder as my chest constricted. My eyes grew wide as my heart sped, my survival instinct surging through my veins while the rest of me was on high alert for anybody coming out of the many shadows.
“Oh, God,” I squeaked, my eyes brimming when I couldn’t find another soul on the entire block. Stores and cafe’s were closed for the night, and there were some that had even closed permanently, shutters covered in graffiti over the windows; some boarded up. It was like a ghost town.
I checked my watch to see it was past eleven-thirty, and I was miles away from home. The sounds of my shaky breaths were deafening in the dark, empty night, but I couldn’t quiet them. Hard thumps pounded against my ribs from the inside, the galloping beats thundering in my ears. No matter how hard I tried to calm myself, to slow my heart and my breaths, they were amplified by the need to find somewhere I’d feel safe, somewhere I wasn’t about to burst into tears out of sheer panic.
The sound of an engine grew closer, coming up from the front, and I saw a single person riding toward me, the dark figure ascending at speed, covering too much ground in just a few seconds that if I even turned and ran, it’d be futile.
“Please go past, please go past,” I chanted, wishing that whoever they were, they’d just keep going wherever it is they were off too in the dead of night at—I rechecked my watch—midnight.
They flew past me, my body seizing up as the icy blast from their speed hit me, sending my hair flying about and covering my face. I sputtered, frantically pushing it back.
My chest burned with the cold air as I sucked in deep breaths, my legs going faster, my hands tight as I picked up my pace more and more, but even though the rider had gone by, I heard them turning around.
“Kinsley?” A voice yelled. I turned around when I heard my name. “Kinsley!” They shouted again.
I paused when I recognized the voice and the bike. “Quinn?”
He rode up beside me and cut his engine, his visor already up. His eyes were burning into me. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
“I-I went to the movies,” I stuttered, my voice frail like a frightened kid. “I got lost.”
“By your fucking self?” he yelled. He tugged off his helmet, his dark hair sticking up, but the wind blew it around, helping it to fall back into place. “What the hell were you thinking?”
“It’s not your concern.” My voice said otherwise, my tone barely audible.
He angled his head toward me, his face contorting into a rage I hadn’t seen on him before. “Like fuck it isn’t,” he growled. He set his bike on its stand and got off, rounding on me on the pavement. “You’re crying.”
I wiped my cheeks, stupidly trying to get rid of the evidence that he’d obviously seen. “I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not.” He stood right up to me, his heat like a fire that I needed so much right then. “What happened? And don’t give me some bullshit that you came all the way out here on your own, because I know you have a car, remember?”
How could I forget?
“I came here with Miley and the girls,” I said. “Phoebe brought me.”
At the mention of her name, Quinn stiffened. “And?”
“She just left without me,” I said, explaining how that had come about. “I can’t get hold of anybody, and it’s not safe to be distracted on my phone to call a cab.”
Quinn scrubbed down his face, seeming unsure of what to do, but when I looked up, I saw his expression. Ticking jaw, nostrils flaring, and his hands shaking with suppressed emotion that I had no idea what he was feeling.
“I’m taking you home,” he said finally through gritted teeth. “Get on my bike.”
I looked at the bike then back to him. “I can’t.”
He froze, then turned slowly. “What?”
“I can’t get on a bike,” I repeated, shaking my head. “I promised my mom—”
“I bet you promised your mom you’d be safe, too, didn’t you?”
Fuck, he had me there. “I did.”
He handed me his helmet. “Put this on, and get the fuck on my bike, Kinsley. If you don’t, I’m gonna stand here with you all night until you do, even if it takes until sunrise.”
I blinked up at him. “You hate me, Quinn. Why would you help me?”
He snorted a laugh. “I never said I hated you, Kinsley. And even if I did, I still wouldn’t leave you out here on your own.” He pointed to the bike. “Get. On. I’m not asking.”
My shoulders sagged with resignation. I lifted the heavy helmet and slipped it over my head. I tried to fasten it, but Quinn’s large hands patted mine away while he worked them to fit me. I focused on his eyes, concentration in his gaze as he adjusted the straps to fit me, his fingers working deftly until the clasp clicked into place.
“There,” he said, double-checking the fit. “Where do you live?” I rattled my address off quickly, and he nodded. He slid the visor down, sending his face into darkness. “I know the place. Put your arms around me and hold on tight,” he said over his shoulder once I got on the seat, already warm from his body. “I’ll go slow, okay?”
I nodded, then slipped my arms around him, his waist taut, firm, and flexing underneath me.
My thighs cradled his, our legs touching as he rode down the long road, the position feeling intimate. He slowed right down, then leaned into a corner, easing us around. I held tighter, gripping him to keep myself on the seat. There was no give in his torso when I clutched onto him, his body solid and so damn tight.
He straightened quickly, and I sucked in a breath, inhaling the same scent he gave off when he was next to me, fresh, clean, and…
Mouthwatering.
Fuck, I never wanted to think anything like that about Quinn, but I couldn’t deny that he did have a certain appeal about him. Not just his face, but the way he carried himself. Confident, assertive, and didn’t take crap from anybody.
If he was just a nicer person, I’d be crushing on him so bad like all the other girls I’d seen glancing his way, their eyes hopeful when he walked by.
“Hey, did you hear me?” he shouted over his shoulder.
I snapped my head up and opened my eyes. I couldn’t remember closing them. “What?” I shouted, my voice muffled through the helmet.
“I said we’re here. You can let go now.”
“Oh.” I looked around, and we were stopped right outside my house. My mom’s car was in the drive, and my gut sank. She was going to kill me. I swung my leg off the bike and hopped down, then took Quinn’s helmet off my head. “Here you go.”
He didn’t take his eyes off me as he reached for it and placed it in front of him. He flicked his gaze to the house, then back to me. “You might want to fix your hair,” he said softly.
I smoothed it down, raking my hands through the knotted strands from the wind. “Shit, it’s bad, isn’t it? She’s going to flip.”