Driven

Chapter 16 Gianna

Gianna

FOUR YEARS AGO

Things change when you’re scared.

You do things you wouldn’t usually do. I don’t know where I thought I would run to when I took off, but I get three blocks away before I realise I ran away from where Monique was waiting in the car. Does she know? She must. She was parked across the road from Tyler.

Darting down the street, I turn around the corner. At the end, I take another left, into a quiet neighbourhood, hoping I’ve lost them. I inhale sharp breaths beneath my respirator mask, but may as well be consuming smoke. The air is hot, and my lungs are starved.

The strangest sensation, though, is that I feel free. Wild. With no limits.

I understand now why the Kingsmen do it.

I tear the mask off my face to breathe. Clean air burns my lungs and I hunch over my knees, which threaten to give out at any moment.

My pulse slows and it dawns on me.

Ryker. I left him there. Shit.

I have to go back and help him. The security guards will take him into the police station for sure, and what if this ruins everything for him? Would this go on a criminal record? Would it threaten his place in the national team? It’s only a statue, right?

I check my pockets. ‘Where’s my phone?’ I mutter.

Cursing, I search my brain for when I’d had it last. Monz’s car.

I pace a few times, two steps forward and one back, before resigning with a groan. I have to help Ryker.

I run back toward the college, forming a plan as my feet pound the pavement. When I get there, I’ll run full force and tackle the guards like he had. Yes. Because your five-foot frame could totally take down a six-foot-something man.

The cool air assaults my lungs and sweat glides down my back. I come to a skidding halt when I see Erik and his goons at the corner of the next block, in front of some houses.

Erik’s first to lock eyes on me, his right arm clutched to his body. He points his uninjured hand in my direction and his three friends rush toward me. For a moment, my legs freeze. I look around for my escape route, then hear the sweetest sound: the thundering revs of a motorbike.

Ryker’s bike comes skidding around a corner, lurching to an abrupt stop in front of me.

He doesn’t waste time. Pulling me in close, he removes his helmet and places it over my head, securing the chin strap and grabbing hold of my elbow to support me.

I swing my leg over the seat and my breathing turns staccato.

Holy shit. I’ve never been on a motorbike before.

Ryker grabs each of my feet and puts them on the footpegs. I look over my shoulder and see Erik getting closer.

‘Hurry!’ I scream.

‘Keep your feet here,’ he says, giving my ankle a firm squeeze. I nod as his hands reach for mine next. He places them firmly around his waist. My front is entirely flush with his back and he turns to look forward.

‘Hold on tight, and don’t fucking let go!’

I nod and nuzzle into him, feeling the cool leather of his jacket on my cheek.

He revs the bike and the vibration shakes my entire body.

The back wheel fishtails and we race down the street.

Just as I think we’re away, he does a complete turn, racing back to Erik.

My heart surges into my throat as we get closer, my stomach in knots.

I hear Ryker laugh and notice he’s flipping Erik off, who’s scowling as we circle around him, leaving a cloud of burnout smoke.

Erik points at us. ‘You’ll fucking regret this!’

Then Ryker hammers down on the throttle and takes off. My body jerks and I yelp, squeezing my eyes shut. He runs his hand over mine.

‘Tighter,’ he bites out. ‘Like in the art room.’

I do as he says and hug him tight. My heart pounds and my stomach turns, but I’m confused by this flood of emotions.

I can’t work out if I like this or not. If I do like it, it’s because of Ryker.

Even armoured in leather and with danger around us, he still draws me in.

I feel his warmth and rigid muscles, and I nestle in closer.

Yes, I definitely only like it because of Ryker. I feel safe with him.

We race over the top of the hill behind the open fields of the college.

We zip over a dip in the road that makes my stomach vault skyward.

I gasp and hold him tighter, burying into his back, breathing the leather and bergamot.

He veers right, then left. Our bodies tip from side to side.

It feels as if I’m going to fall, and I scream.

Instinctively, my hands leave his sternum, but Ryker grasps my fingers and wraps them back around his body, letting his thumb thrum against my skin a few times.

‘You’re safer holding here,’ he yells back, holding my hands against his chest.

When he’s satisfied I won’t let go again, his arm reaches around and caresses my left thigh. Even with the terror, a rush of heat and energy swirls around where he touches me.

I close my eyes to feel the wind. When I open them again, instead of seeing a blur of trees and ocean, it’s like time slows right down. I see how dusk filters through the trees above us, a whirling canopy of colours. Beautiful and fluid.

‘See this next turn?’ he asks, slowing the bike.

Ahead, there’s a sharp left turn in the road that leads to the lookout at Point Black. I inhale the first slow breath I’ve taken since getting on his bike. It feels different. Free.

‘Move with me. Lean left,’ he says, and when he leans on the next turn, I follow. But it’s too scary, so I pull back, recentring myself.

‘You gotta trust, Gianna,’ Ryker says. ‘We’ve got one more. Try and trust.’

I sneak a look forward where the sharp left turns into an S-bend. He starts the turn and I release my breath as I lean with him, giving in.

We feel seamless. Effortless. Smooth.

As if we’re one.

‘Yeah!’ A cheer leaves his lips. ‘That’s it, Gianna!’

My shoulders relax, and now I feel the air. How it cuts around us and carries us. I no longer feel like I’m falling; I feel like we’re flying.

Note to self: paint this feeling later.

I squeeze him, letting my hands run down and across his body. Something awakens in my tummy and I clench my thighs together, feeling Ryker’s hard body between my legs.

He groans, a rumble that seeps into my bones. ‘You’re driving me fucking crazy, Gianna.’

Heat rushes to my neck and spreads up to my cheeks. I don’t think I’ve ever felt like this with him before. A crush, sure, but this feels … intense.

Ryker guides the bike to the top of the steep hill behind the grounds of ECU, known as Black Point, and hits the kill switch.

Adjusting to hearing nothing but the faint crash of the ocean takes a moment.

He offers his hand to help me off and doesn’t let go of me.

He loops his fingers through mine, leading us to stand at the edge of the cliff.

He reaches under my chin, his fingers brushing my neck and leaving sparkles of electricity in their wake, and he removes the helmet.

I’m on such a high that the cool air feels like a drug.

The crisp breeze carries the scent of saltwater and the noise of the waves breaking below. The lights of every beach house along the shoreline below glimmer and turn into tiny bokeh points.

‘Why’d you follow us?’ Ryker’s smooth voice is filled with curiosity. He picks up a few small rocks and throws them one by one over the ledge, their pitter-patter a reminder of how far down the drop is.

‘I just … I …’ I do the same, dropping a pebble. ‘I was sick of telling myself “Could you imagine if …?”’

A childlike grin slowly stretches across his face. My breath hitches at the sight. He can’t get any more gorgeous.

‘And what do you think?’

‘I think you have a death wish!’ I laugh, placing my hand over my poor heart. ‘But I see why you do it.’

‘Why?’ He throws one last rock before turning to me.

‘You get to feel free.’

He nods in approval. ‘See down there?’ He jerks his chin to the lights below.

‘All those people. All those stories. Most of them follow the same routine every day. They’ve forgotten what it feels like to live, how lucky we are to breathe, to experience how fun life can be.

They’re too worried about something they can’t change, or something that hasn’t even happened yet.

We’re not promised tomorrow, so we have to take chances and press our luck every day.

’ He pauses before looking right into what feels like my soul.

‘I know you’re like this, Gianna. We’re the same.

You question the things that are so easily accepted by others.

And you can go beyond only questioning. You don’t have to live the life that others want from you.

You can do what you want. You’ve got fire. Don’t ever lose that.’

I feel the heat rise to my cheeks. Ma hates how I always question things. ‘My fire’s probably just one of my many red flags.’

He lifts a shoulder and scrunches his nose. ‘Life’s about seeing how red the flag can get. It’s kind of like a car in that way. You have to take it to the red line to see what it can do.’

I frown. ‘What’s a red line?’

He hums thoughtfully. ‘You know at the speedway yesterday, how the truck struggled when you took it up a gear before it was ready?’

I nod and he continues. ‘A red line is the opposite. It’s like a warning when an engine is reaching its limit.

It’ll scream and howl, begging for you to either change gears or pull back completely.

’ He scoffs. ‘See, even a machine thinks it’s got a cap on what it can do.

But if you know it well, you can push it a little further, and instead of a limit you’ve got freedom.

We’ve all got a lot more to give than we think, and sometimes, we don’t realise until we’re pushed. ’

Ryker’s eyes lock on mine and his fingertips trace down my cheek and across my jaw. He leans in close, so close I feel his breath across my face.

‘You’re not caged, Little Suspect.’ He smiles. ‘Not if you don’t want to be.’

His lips brush against mine, as if testing the waters, and when I close my eyes, he comes crashing in. His mouth claims mine and my body shivers as his hand wraps around the nape of my neck.

My fingers trail up his body, feeling every hard muscle before my nails bite into the leather.

He sucks and nibbles at my lower lip and my body completely gives in to him.

I melt into his arms, and I’m sure if he wasn’t holding me, I’d be a puddle on the ground.

My lips part in a whimper as his tongue skims their seam.

He pulls back, only a fraction. He’s still close enough that our lips graze.

‘You taste like the sweetest lemons I’ve ever had,’ he groans against me.

I feel his smile and he kisses me. His hot, relentless tongue swirls around mine and that fleeting feeling of leaping over the edge feels as if it’s becoming a reality.

I’m lost. I’m falling. I’m flying.

I’m his.

I’m completely sucked in by everything that is Ryker. His strong and powerful hands holding me captive. And his lips, these damn gorgeous lips. I’m addicted. An annoying thought nags at the back of my mind that this is wrong and I push it away.

I won’t let anything ruin this.

My body tingles straight to my core. Never in my dreams did I think Ryker Edwards would kiss me like I’m the oxygen he needs to breathe. We break away, both sucking in air. His eyes travel across my face, and then there’s that smile again.

‘Let me call the guys and tell them to meet us.’ He pulls out his phone, and I squint at the bright light. The faint sound of a ringtone sounds until it hits voicemail. He tries a few more times, getting Tyler’s, Renny’s and my brother’s message banks.

‘Hmm.’ He frowns. ‘You heard from Monz?’

I shake my head. ‘My phone’s in her car.’

He clicks his tongue a few times, tapping his phone against his chin before pocketing it.

‘Come on.’ He links his fingers back with mine. ‘The plan was to be at The Tropics for a quick race or two and then go to Lucifer’s Dream. I don’t see a reason to veer from that plan.’ He waggles his eyebrows.

Unsure, I purse my lips. ‘But I was never part of that plan.’

‘Maybe, but you’ve gotta be adaptable. Plans always change.’ He shrugs. ‘What do you say? We could go, check out the Tropics for a bit, maybe even watch Jace race, then head to the carnival.’

Back at his bike, I snatch up the helmet, feeling high on life.

‘I’ve always wanted to watch Jace race. Let’s go!’