Page 17 of Mending Me
I raced down the hall, unlocked my door, and scurried past Ophelia who was giving me a confused look from the couch. Once in my room, I threw open the drawer of my dresser, found a pair of old sweats, and shimmied them up and over my dress. Then, I moved to my closet and dug around for a pair of sneakers and swapped out my heels for them instead. Without wasting another minute, I grabbed my heels in my hand and ran back out of the apartment.
I would be wearing my new dress that made me feel sexy and confident and I would also be riding on the back of Hank’s motorcycle. I might look like a freak while doing it, but I didn’t care.
Nothing was going to stop me from going on a date with him. And maybe, just maybe, I would be riding something else after our date too.
11
HANK
“Tada!” I heard her say from behind me.
When she went running inside, I thought about following her in but she had asked for ten minutes and I wanted to respect that. How fucking stupid could I have been to bring my bike? I should have taken Kolbi up on his offer to borrow his car, but I hadn’t expected her to wear such a short dress on our date.
My tongue almost fell out of my head when she opened the door. The way her dress plunged low in the front and how the colors of its fabric made the sapphire in her eyes pop made me want to drop to my knees and kiss the ground she walked on. Instead, I nearly shoved the flowers I bought for her in her face like an idiot. I didn’t even say hello first, I just shoved them into her arms as soon as she took a step closer to me.
Fucking idiot.
Turning around to look at her, I saw her standing on the sidewalk facing me, her arms outstretched and giving me a smile that was contagious. She looked like Vanna White who just revealed the mystery prize onWheel of Fortune. I couldn’thelp but laugh at her outfit. The girl was now wearing a pair of oversized gray sweatpants pulled up and over her dress, a pair of sneakers, and was holding her heels by the straps in her fingers.
“What do you think of my outfit?” She shimmited her shoulders at me and gave me a spin for good measure.
“I think you look stunning. Like the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen.” I smiled at her and watched as her head fell to one side and her cheeks turned a very prominent shade of pink.
“I’m happy to get us an Uber though so you don’t have to wear the sweats, blondie, it’s really not a big deal.”
“Oh, hush,” her Southern drawl came out thick. “I wanna ride on the back of this sexy bike of yours but I’m not going to give the entire city of Charleston a free show while I do.”
She stepped up to my bike and I handed her the second helmet I had purchased earlier this week with her in mind. When I bought my bike a couple weeks ago, I only bought one helmet, not expecting anyone to ride with me. I bought a second helmet almost immediately after she said yes to our date.
“So,” she started, slipping the helmet on over her head, “Where are we going?” The helmet was huge on her and I tried to stifle my laugh when she had to tip her head back to look at me through the visor.
“Here, let me help you with that.” I moved to the same side of the bike she was standing on and adjusted the helmet for her, tugging the strap snug under her chin. Her eyes watched me intently as I got her straightened around. My heart started to beat harder in my chest and I chewed on the inside of my lip to try to regain some sense of self-control.
“Thank you, Hank,” she nearly whispered through the helmet.
“You’re welcome, blondie. And we’re going across the island, I found somewhere on the water for us to go to.” I loved howI could hear her gasp from under her helmet, telling me that a place on the water was a good idea.
Before putting my own helmet on, I opened the saddlebag on the back of the bike and pulled out the riding jacket I kept there. Since she was only wearing enough fabric to cover her legs, I wanted her to wear it in case of an accident. Wiping out on a motorcycle without proper coverage is a great way to rip your skin to shreds.
“Here, I want you to wear this.” I walked behind her and helped her slip it on. Once her arms were in, I turned her around to face me and zipped it all the way up. I made sure to snag the clasp at the top that prevented the zipper from slipping.
“Hank, you should wear it. I’ll be fine.”
“I won’t be fine if I wear it and you don’t. I want you to be safe and I need to know you’re protected.” My voice came out firmer than I intended, but something about her kicked my protectiveness into overdrive. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if something happened to her.
“Fine, I’ll wear it. But I need you to know that I have sweat running down my back already so if it’s soaked through by the time we get to dinner, I’m really sorry.”
“It’s not a big deal. Let’s get going so you can cool off as we ride.” I laughed and held out my hands to her so she could give me her heels and purse to tuck away in the saddlebag. Then, I swung my leg over the seat of my bike and helped her take her spot behind me. When she slipped her arms around my waist as I turned on the bike, I had to take a deep breath to keep my dick from growing any larger beneath my jeans.
“You ready?” I turned to ask her through my helmet.
“I’m ready.” She gave me a thumbs up and I laughed again before pulling away from the curb.
We whipped through downtown together, flying around cars and carriages. Her arms tightened around my waist as we flewover the bridge that took us across to the island where we would be having dinner. Her chest and body pressed against my back made my insides buzz and I had to fight to keep my focus on the road and not on how much the bulge in my pants was growing. The last thing I needed was to have a raging hard-on when I stepped off my bike once we got to dinner.
When we pulled off the bridge at a light, I turned my head and flipped up my visor to look at her.
“You okay? I’m not going too fast am I?” I knew I was, but I wanted to make sure she was okay. There was just something about having a beautiful girl on the back of your bike that made you wanna break every law there was.
