Speeding up a little, he suddenly hit the brakes. It was enough for me to feel the momentum force me forward. In reflex from the unpleasant feeling of losing control, I tightened my grip on him, and complained, “You did that on purpose.”
“Uh-huh. I’m not joking. I can’t protect you back there so either you hold on tight or you come up front.”
I could feel the satisfaction spreading from him when I locked my arms around his waist.
We rode through the early morning darkness with me pressed up against him and when he raised my folded hands a little higher, it hit me that I might have been holding my hands too close to his crotch.
“Have you ever done this with anyone but Wilma?” I asked him. “I mean anyone but your family.”
“No. For me to be this close to an unmarried woman would be unheard of. Her protector would kill me for it.”
“Then it’s a good thing that I belong to no one but myself.”
He nodded and kept going.
There was nothing much to see because of the darkness, but five minutes into the ride, I began relaxing against his broad back.
Obviously, my parents had protected me as a child, but as the oldest sibling in the family, I’d often been the sensible one keeping the younger ones safe. Never in my adult life had I experienced someone so concerned with my safety as Tyton.
“Let me help you off the bike,” he offered when we got to their house. I chose to slide down by myself and would have tripped if Tyton hadn’t reached out to steady me.
Heat crept into my cheeks. “Thank you. It was a bigger step down than I thought.”
“It’s fine. Just let me help you next time.”
I looked away.
“Devina.”
“Yes?”
“You really don’t like being helped, do you?”
“It’s not that.”
“Is it because of what happened between us the last time?”
There was no need to bring up our unfortunate first meeting again, so I turned to the house. “I don’t see any lights…”
“We got here early, which gives you time to answer my question.”
This was so typical of Tyton. Always direct and to the point. With a sigh, I admitted, “I don’t have a problem with people helping me in general.”
“So, it’s me then?”
“Can you blame me for not trusting you?”
“I told you… I didn’t know you were a female when I grabbed you.”
Just then a light turned on inside the house and the entrance door swung open. Wilma came running out still in her nightwear. “You’re here!”
I almost got knocked back by Wilma’s fierce hug. “Can you believe I’m getting married today?”
“I know.”
“What did you think of Emmerson making it to the finals?”
Tyton cleared his throat. “Actually, Devina didn’t get your letter from last night. She doesn’t know anything about it.”
