CHAPTER 6: Ride
1123 Words
Abigail's POV
I could still feel the warmth of his hand on my back even after I pulled away.
My footsteps were quick, almost frantic, as I tried to put space between us.
What was I thinking coming here? A club? Me?
And then there he was again. Persistent.
"Hey… come on. I'm not that bad, am I?" His voice was teasing, but there was a gentleness underneath. Like he wasn’t used to chasing after people, yet he was doing it anyway.
I turned slightly, just enough to glance at him, still walking. "I don’t even know you."
"That’s the fun part. I already told you I'm Kai," he said again, flashing a smile that probably got him everything he ever wanted in life. “So tell me your name and we won't be stranger any longer, right?”
I should’ve lied. I really should’ve. But I didn’t.
"Abigail," I said quietly.
"Abigail," he repeated, like he was testing how it tasted on his tongue. “Pretty name. Doesn’t suit the club at all though. Were you really going in there?”
My lips twitched. “I was… curious.”
“Curious, huh?” he said with a grin. “Let me guess. You were going to sit in the corner with a glass of water and try to look like you weren’t judging everyone?”
I laughed, embarrassingly accurate. “Maybe.”
He shoved his hands into his pockets and walked beside me like we were old friends just strolling through the city. “I’ve got a better idea.”
I raised a brow. “Do I look like someone who goes off with strangers?”
“You already almost walked into a club,” he pointed out playfully. “And technically, I’m a polite stranger. Big difference.”
I couldn't help but smile.
Something about him made me lower my guard, and I hated it. I wasn’t here to make friends. Or laugh. I was supposed to find a willing man to help me fulfill this last desperate wish before my body shut that door forever.
But now that I was standing beside him… I couldn’t even say the words. Not to him.
Still, my heart was thudding. Maybe it was the night air. Or the fact that I hadn’t done anything reckless in years. Maybe ever.
“Okay,” I said, surprising even myself. “Where will you take me?”
His smile widened and it made my stomach flutter in a way I didn’t like admitting.
“You’ll see,” he said.
Before I could ask another question, he suddenly took my wrist and started walking, tugging me back toward the sidewalk where we came from.
“Wait—what?” I blinked, half-walking, half-tripping after him. “Where are we going?”
“You’ll see,” he repeated with a grin that made him look younger somehow, like he hadn’t grown up yet but got away with it because of that face.
Then we stopped.
Right in front of a sleek black motorbike.
I took one step back instinctively. “Uh. No.”
He turned to me, still smiling. “Uh, yes. Do you have any idea how good it feels to ride one of these?”
I opened my mouth to protest, but he was already getting comfortable on the bike like it was second nature. Before I could take another step, he reached out and caught my hand again not willing to let me escape.
“I don’t even like bicycles,” I muttered.
But he didn't answer and handed me a helmet and without asking, gently tugged it onto my head and adjusted the straps like I was some lost girl he just rescued from boring.
I blinked under the gear. It was… weirdly clean. Not even a smudge. And so was the bike. It didn’t look like it had ever touched a road.
“Can’t you see I’m wearing a dress?” I said, lifting the shield just enough to glare at him.
Kai tilted his head. “Exactly why you get the front seat. Less wind.”
“That’s not how science works.”
“That’s how I work,” he said sounding a little smug. “Come on. Don’t tell me you’ve never ridden one before.”
“I haven’t.”
“Even better.” His eyes sparkled. “First time for everything, right?”
I stared at him.
Then at the bike.
Then down at my knees, which I now realized had not seen sun in five years.
What am I doing?
Seriously—what am I doing??
But my hands were already tightening on the helmet strap.
And before I knew it… I was swinging one leg over the side.
Dress and all.
“Hold tight,” he said, grabbing his own helmet and fitting it on with a smoothness that made it clear this wasn’t his first time charming a woman onto a bike.
I hesitated as my hands hovered awkwardly behind him. Should I grab his shoulders? His waist? Would that be too much? Too forward? Too—
But I ended up clutching the very edge of his leather jacket like a skittish little squirrel clinging to a branch.
The bike gave a sudden jolt, and I let out a squeak as I slammed right into his back with a soft thud.
My face just bounced off a stranger's spine.
Fantastic.
“Hold tight,” he said again, but this time with a laugh in his voice. “You trying to fly off and sue me?”
“I might,” I mumbled, cheeks burning.
He reached back without warning as his hand found mine and tugging my arms forward until they wrapped securely around him. Around his stupid, solid, obviously gym-earned torso.
“Much better,” he said, far too pleased with himself. “For both of us.”
I was frozen. Absolutely frozen.
My hands were resting flat on his stomach. My chest was against his back. I could feel his warmth through his shirt, and worst of all, my heart was pounding.
Also—my dress was riding up. A breeze threatening modesty. My thighs were clamped tighter than my jaw during a dentist appointment.
He must’ve felt how stiff I was because he chuckled again.
“Relax,” he said over his shoulder. “I don’t bite.”
Then after a pause, with an audible grin, “Unless you ask nicely.”
My soul left my body.
But before I could form an actual response or throw myself into oncoming traffic, the engine growled beneath us and roared to life.
I squeaked again—louder this time.
“Cute,” I heard him say.
- Writer
