Page 109 of Serpentine

I sit back on the bed, watching them as Aella asks him if he will be alright, and then kisses him deeply. It’s a kiss telling Braxton what she wants to say but holding back. He gets the message and sends one right back.

I’m surprised when she closes my broken door and doesn’t go with him. Coming over to the side of the bed, she slips sideways into my lap and wraps around me.

“I’m sorry all this is happening.”

I bury my face in her hair and breathe her in. Her scent is like riding down the winding roads through the pines after a rainstorm. It’s calming. Grounding.

“Get your shoes on,” I tell her, patting her leg for her to stand.

“What?” She looks around in confusion. “Where are we going?”

“Come on, princess. Time’s wasting.”

“Miles!” she trails after me down the hallway. “We need to talk and figure this all out. Nothing is resolved.”

“Fuck that. I’m done talking. I’m done wasting time on someone who didn’t want me.”

My words close Aella’s mouth as she nears the door and slips into the boots I got her from the boutique. Moments from that day have kept me company since. The kiss in the truck. The moment in the dressing room. Her stilted breaths when I got near her. Her pulse when I gripped her throat in my hand.

A shiver of lust races through me.

Gravel crunches under my boots as I open bay three, where my bike is parked and covered. I rip the cover off, grab my helmet, and toss it to Aella.

She places it on the pool table, crossing her arms over her chest. “Your helmets don’t fit me. It’s unsafe.”

I shrug, get on my ride, and kick the stand loose. The engine purrs to life, and I throttle it three times, the sound echoing through the clubhouse.

She shakes her head. “Come back inside. Let’s talk!”

“Nope. I’m done talking. Come on, backpack, get on the bike. Let’s ride!”

She fights a smirk. It’s clear she’s annoyed with me, but she moves closer and hops on behind me. Her arms wrap around my middle.

She leans up, her lips touching my ear. “Take me for a ride, then, Pres.”

A shit-eating grin lifts my lips. “Hang on, princess!” I call over my shoulder as she settles in behind me, her arms tightening as she rests her chin on my shoulder.

I pull out of the bay, gravel flying. The misty morning is turning to afternoon, the crisp air of the day setting in. The leaves are changing, the air is growing colder, and the days are shorter. It’s magical riding this time of year, but having her behind me is indescribable.

It’s like the entire universe has finally aligned everything in my life for me to get to this very moment. Where I can show the woman that I’m sure I’m falling for what living truly is. What being free feels like.

Fuck everything going on.

Fuck life.

This is where we’re both free from all of it.

Where the rubber meets the pavement.

I turn a corner wide, tilting the bike enough to curve with the white line to our right, and Aella giggles. It prompts me to speed up coming out of the curve, making her giggle into a full-on laugh.

A smile spreads across my face, and my chest blooms with a fullness I’m not used to.

Even if Mom’s alive and I missed it, it got me here.

Everything I’ve been through leads me right fucking here.

Here is living.