in case anyone is watching. For all anyone else will know, she’s still here.”
No one agrees with Johnny. We sit in silence and mull it over.
“We can just try it,” Johnny says. He’s a bit forceful because he’s used to people just agreeing with him. “If it doesn’t work, we’ll figure something else out, but I don’t trust my father around her. Magnum, maybe you know some guards we can trust.” He shakes his head. “Scratch that. No one outside of us knows where she is, okay? No one.”
I frown at Johnny. I’m used to being here with him, so I don’t know how I feel about this. Plus, it’s taking me away from K. That was never the end game.
Though, even I can understand that’s probably a good thing right now.
“Now that that’s settled,” I say, knowing this will piss off more than a few people in the room. “We need to talk about how Brawler has to kick my ass in this fight.”
31
Oscar’s bike revs underneath me. I tighten my grip around his hard stomach as he pulls away from a stop sign on our way to his house. The last half of the meeting with the guys was tense. No one likes my idea about losing to Brawler, even though they eventually conceded that it was our best avenue. Even Johnny.
Yep. Even Johnny.
My hair sneaks out from under the helmet and whips around my shoulders. The city blurs by as he drives. The thrum of the bike underneath me lulls me into a sense of relaxation. He doesn’t immediately take me back to his apartment as planned. Magnum and Johnny will be pissed, but Oscar does what he wants. He drives me out of town, taking the backroads where he can open up the throttle. We fly down the pavement, nerves skittering through me at the dangerous excitement of it all. Driving like this is like the predicaments I keep finding myself in since coming to the Heights. It’s scary here. No doubt about that, but it’s also thrilling, and that’s not even counting the fact that I’ve found the guys who complement me here. A whole new round of fear and energy tingle my limbs at that thought. It’s been so long since I allowed myself to feel love and be loved. So. Damn. Long.
Oscar takes a turn a little too sharply, and even though my stomach bottoms out, I laugh. He chuckles underneath my hands, his abs tightening as he increases the speed a tad. The guy is crazy. He gave me the only helmet he had, so he isn’t even wearing one. I’m holding his ballcap in my hand because the helmet I’m wearing kept hitting his brim when we first started out. His raven hair flutters free at the sides. His tan forearms ripple with movement as he steers the motorcycle around another bend in the road.
I press my helmet against his back and watch the side of the road flip by like perfect pictures in time moving in quick succession. There’s something so peaceful about this. Almost like we’re flying. A sense of freedom wraps me up in a warm blanket.
We stay out on the roads a little longer until he eventually turns the bike back toward the Heights as the sun starts to set. By the time we head down his block, I’m shivering from the cold. He pulls up next to his door around the corner from the store and helps me off the bike. He turns the key and throws his leg over, dismounting with more grace than I’ve yet to accomplish. I help hold the bike steady as he opens the small storage area. After walking the bike in, he kicks the kickstand down before reaching back for my helmet. I undo the clip and yank it off. He gives me a smirk as I run my hands through my hair to tame it.
Once he has everything inside, he locks the garage up, takes his hat back from me, and then leads me up the narrow staircase to his upstairs apartment.
My phone vibrates in my back pocket, and I’m sure it’s a text from one of them, wondering what’s taking us so long. I pull it out and send a group message letting them know we arrived at Oscar’s apartment safely.
Oscar quickly runs through the place, picking up stray garbage as I chuckle at him. “It’s fine,” I tell him. Though, Johnny did threaten to send a housekeeper