“You’re not going down alone,” he announced, sliding behind me as he wrapped his arms around my waist. A soft kiss landed on the top of my head.
“Ready?”
“With you? Always,” he whispered, and there was something sweet but firm about the way he said it—an echo of the exact words I’d said to him when he picked me up from school. A promise of a future that we were too young to consider, and yet both of us felt so keenly it was hard to deny.
We pushed off together and slowly slid down, turning around each loop with whoops of joy. As we neared the bottom and slowed to a stop, Shadow hugged my body closer and whispered low in my ear, causing tingles to erupt along my skin.
“There’s no other place I’d rather be right now than with you.”
“You sure about that?” I teased. “Not even on your Harley?”
He pretended to consider it as I hopped up, giving him a look.
“You better answer fast before I get the wrong idea.”
Raw hunger danced in his eyes as he growled, lunging forward as I screeched, running through the playground and dodging around equipment. The song ended on my list, and my phone merged into a new one.
Gasping, I jumped up and down as Shadow shook his head, snickering at my reaction. “I love this song!”
“It’s weird,” he disagreed, but I didn’t care.
Belting the lyrics at the top of my lungs, I began to sing and dance, never feeling freer than I did at that moment. “Well, somebody told me you had a boyfriend, who looked like a girlfriend that I had in February of last year. It’s not confidential. I’ve got potential. Pace yourself for me. I said maybe, baby, please.”
Shadow started chuckling, joining in. “Well, somebody told me you had a boyfriend who looked like a girlfriend that I had in February of last year.”
Both of us were jumping around, doing silly dances and body jiggles that were horribly jerky and uncoordinated, but I loved every moment. Motionless in White was one of my favorite bands. The song ended, and I spun toward my biker boyfriend, blowing him a kiss.
The expression on his face radiated pure adoration but in his eyes shone a level of emotion that was impossible to pinpoint or break down to only one feeling. Much more than affection. Considerably more than desire or sexual attraction. I saw the unmistakable confirmation of love in his eyes, and my heart pounded in response.
Because I was already in love with him too.
Was it quick? Did he swoop in and turn my world upside down? Yes, to both. But I would rather feel his touch, experience his kisses, and take a wild ride on his Harley than anything else in this world.
Some might call me young and naïve.
All I knew was that I had fallen for Shadow, and I couldn’t imagine a future without him.
“WOW,” I WHISPERED,knowing Stefanie didn’t hear me above the music. “You’re so beautiful.”
I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the vision in front of me. Stefanie danced, and her eyes sparkled as she spun in a circle, darting out into the abandoned street.
Freedom. Hope. Love.
Those were only some of the emotions I felt when I watched the girl who accepted me for who I was, faults and all and stood by my side. My breath caught in my throat as I realized what I’d been missing my entire life. Unloved and unwanted since birth, not a single soul showed me kindness until I met the Royal Bastards, and they led me to the young woman who held out her arms, offering me the world.
Blinking, I forced myself not to lose my shit and blubber like a baby.
Fierce love blossomed inside for this precious girl I would cherish every day as long as I lived.
On a deserted road in the middle of the Nevada desert, I lost my heart and soul.
And I knew nothing, not a damn thing anyone said or did would ever tear us apart.