‘If you’re unsure, push the bike forwards a little. If it moves freely, it’s in neutral.’ He rolls forwards a foot. ‘Okay, we’re good.’
His hands go over mine, his chest pressing against my back. I’m nestled between his thighs. It’s a lot all at once.
‘You want to kick-start it?’ he asks.
It takes me a moment to register the question. I look down as he positions my foot again.
‘Straight down,’ he says. ‘Nice and hard.’
The bike starts on the first go, and the vibration travels up my body. It’s noisy and thrilling.
‘Clutch,’ he says into my ear. ‘That’s it. Now you’re going to push the gear shifter down into first.’
I continue to follow his instructions.
‘Good. This next bit’s important,’ he says. ‘You’re going to very slowly let out the clutch while you give it a little bit of fuel.’
The bike immediately stalls, and Hunter’s chest rumbles with laughter.
My cheeks heat. ‘Sorry.’
‘It’s normal when you’re learning. Let’s go again.’
It doesn’t stall this time. We move forwards, Hunter’s feet hovering above the ground, ready to steady us.
‘When do I go into second?’ I shout over the noise.
He shakes his head. ‘You don’t. Just focus on not killing us at this speed.’
Slow is fine. Hunter behind me is fine. His voice in my ear is fine. His breath in my hair, prompting tiny goosebumps to break out everywhere, is more than fine. I have the strangest urge to tilt my head so I can feel his breath on my neck.
These are thoughts I’ve never had and things I’ve never felt before. It’s making concentration nearly impossible, and I’m scared of crashing the bike but so desperate for this moment to stretch on.
‘You all right?’ he asks.
I swallow and nod. This is wrong, and me not doing anything about it is even more wrong.
His fingers reach for the brake, and the bike stops. ‘You sure you’re all right?’
I’m definitely not all right, and apparently that’s obvious to him. ‘I need to get off.’
He immediately dismounts, keeping a hold of the bike while I climb off. I walk in circles, trying to expel all these feelings from my body.
‘What’s going on?’ he asks.
Lust, I think. ‘Just a little short of breath.’
He looks concerned. ‘Were we going too fast?’
Much, much too fast. Not the bike. My mind and body. ‘No. It was… No.’
He turns the bike off, kicks the stand down, then walks around so he’s in front of me. ‘Wilson.’
I stare at the ground. ‘Yeah?’
‘Look at me.’
I’m not sure I can, but I do it anyway.