Chapter Eleven #3
She shrugs one shoulder. “You’re easy to trust. You make things feel simple.” Her mouth softens. “Not shallow. Simple. And for somebody like Thorne, I think that’s worse.”
That sits heavy.
Because yeah.
Maybe she’s right.
Maybe that’s exactly it.
I let out a long breath. “Bit tired of being the emotionally stable option, if I’m honest.”
Echo laughs, bright and warm. “Poor baby.”
I slide my hands a little higher on her hips, keeping her close. “Cruel.”
“Honest.”
Sunlight catches on her mouth. There’s a little sand stuck to one of her thighs. Her dark hair’s a bit windblown now, her eyes still fixed on mine with that same open look she gets when she decides not to hide behind a joke.
That gets me every time.
For someone who’s brought this much chaos into my life, she’s very good at making the world feel still for a minute.
My hand comes up under her chin, thumb brushing lightly along it as I tip her face toward mine. She doesn’t dodge it, she just looks at me, soft, steady and a little too easy to want.
So I kiss her. Slow this time.
Nothing desperate or messy it in. Just a warm, lingering kiss that says more than I feel like trying to explain out loud.
I’m here. I’m not angry and despite the chaos, I still want this.
She kisses me back the same way, easy and sweet, her fingers slipping into the hair at the back of my neck as she leans into it.
When I pull away, I stay close, forehead almost brushing hers.
“That better?” she asks softly.
“Yeah,” I say, voice lower than I mean it to be. “Little bit.”
“Good.”
I grin and lean back just enough to check the time on my phone.
“Shit.”
Her brows lift. “What?”
“Sayshen sent a message in the group chat earlier that Andre wants us all at the garage for eleven. So we should probably get going,”
She laughs and slides off my lap, brushing sand from her legs. I stand too, stretch once, then hold a hand out for her just because I can.
She eyes it, amused. “Wow. Who knew all it would take is one kiss to diminish Debbie Downer and bring back the gentleman's behaviour.”
“Ha Ha so funny,” I smirk.
She takes my hand anyway, and I tug her up easily.
We head back across the sand toward the lot where the bikes are parked, our shoulders brushing every couple of steps.
Echo slips her hands behind her back as she walks beside me. “So, a little birdy told me tomorrow is your birthday.”
“Of course it did, let me guess, birdie's little name is Sayshen?”
“Oh I would never expose my sources. Does that mean I have to be nice to you all day?”
“Yeah, it does actually. I’m pretty sure it’s the law.”
She snorts. “In Florida?”
“Well, it started in Canada originally, but I’m expanding the reach.”
She glances up at me. “Wow. International birthday tyranny.”
“Exactly.”
She smiles to herself, then nudges my arm with hers. “You know, for someone who spent half this conversation being moody and a bit heartbroken, you recovered suspiciously fast.”
I give her a look. “Heartbroken’s a bit dramatic.”
“Is it?”
“Yes.”
She hums, pretending to think it over. “Right. My mistake. Deeply wounded, unfairly handsome, and still somehow annoyingly hot about it.”
I bark out a laugh. “Why is that worse?”
“Really?” She grins at me. “I thought I was being very generous.”
“You were doing all right till you made it sound like I’m out here pining on a beach.”
She lifts a brow. “You are out here pining on a beach.”
“Kinda rude to say it out loud though,”
Her smile only widens. “Fine. You’re not pining. You’re just having an emotional crisis while looking all gorgeous and beachy.”
I shake my head, still laughing. “That doesn’t even mean anything.”
“It means you should be grateful I’m flirting with you this nicely.”
“Oh, I know you’re flirting, love.” I glance at her mouth, then back at her eyes. “Could’ve just called me gorgeous and left it there, though.”
“Where’s the fun in that?”
By the time we reach the bikes, the heaviness in my chest has eased enough that I can breathe around it again.
Not gone.
Just quieter and more manageable.
Echo grabs her helmet and turns back to me with that look she gets right before she says something she knows is going to annoy me.
“What?”
She grins. “You are absolutely the kind of guy who’d look good in one of those little paper birthday crowns.”
I stare at her. “You’ve ruined the moment.”
“No, I improved it.”
I shake my head, smiling despite myself, and swing a leg over my bike. “Hurry up and put your helmet on.”
“So bossy.”
I shake my head amused. God this girl is going to be the death of me.
She pulls the helmet on, then points at me. “Definatley pinning on the beach, but, still looking gorgeous though.”
I laugh under my breath and start the engine. “Hop on before I leave you here.”
“Lies,” she says, climbing on behind me. “You’d miss me in five minutes.”
I glance back at her. “Three.”
That gets a smile out of her I can feel even through the helmet.
Then she swings onto her own bike and fires it up, pulling out onto the road while I fall in right behind her.
Nothing about any of this shit with the team and us is normal.
But we’ll figure it out.
For now, it’s just the two of us heading back to the garage together.