Chapter 6
LARK
The rumble as Hal starts his Ducati is what snaps me out of the daze he left me in.
My cheeks heat as I chance a guilty glance around me, hoping no one saw what just happened.
Luck is on my side for once.
Rook is absorbed in something on his phone, and Colt is busy lecturing Remy. The later twin just rolls his eyes and huffs at whatever his brother is saying. Colt’s whispered shouting is a little too quiet for me to make out over the roar of Hal’s bike, so I don’t know what they’re talking about.
Leaving the three of them to it, I wander over to the rocky wall separating the green area and parking lots from the river. I take a seat on it, careful not to be in frame of Hal’s photoshoot while still having a good view of it.
I watch Hal effortlessly talk, joke, and laugh with Charlie, seeming as at ease with her as he is with his friends. Hal seems like the type who can talk to and charm just about anyone with his easygoing personality. It’s a skill I wish I had.
“Mind if I sit here?” a deep voice asks, startling me.
Glancing up at Rook, I get lost in his gray eyes that seem to change color depending on his mood. Realizing I’ve been staring at him without saying anything for way too long, I blush and duck my head. “Nope. Feel free to take a seat.”
I see Rook’s lips twitch up before he sits down. He leaves a foot or so between us. Rook’s far enough away that I don’t feel squished but close enough that I can feel the heat radiating from him. He’s like a mini space heater.
When he sits down, his phone buzzes. He pulls it out of his pocket and frowns at the device. As he taps at it, his eyes pinch at the corners and his frown deepens.
I watch him for a long moment before hesitantly asking, “Everything okay?”
He looks up at me in surprise. Rook shoves a hand through his closely cropped blond hair as he stares blankly off into the distance for a moment before focusing back on me. “Yeah, everything’s fine. I’m just trying to figure out a really annoying bug in one of the new apps I developed.”
My eyebrows jump up in surprise. “You make apps?”
He shifts around uncomfortably before reluctantly admitting, “Yeah.”
I grin up at him. “That’s so cool! You must be super smart.”
He blushes and ducks his head. A small smile tugs at his mouth at the compliment, but he shuts it down. “Nah, not particularly. I just like tech. It makes more sense than people a lot of the time. And making apps is actually pretty simple. Pretty much anyone could learn how to do it.”
I laugh. “I really don’t think so. I’d love to know how to program, but none of it has ever made sense to me.”
“I could always teach you if you want,” Rook hesitantly offers. “I promise it’s not as hard as it seems once you know how to go about it.”
“Really? That would be awesome. I’ve been needing a new website for my business for a while, so it’d be cool to be able to make it myself.”
That’s one of the hard parts about working for myself.
I don’t just need to know how to design.
I also need to know how to do different forms of marketing, build a website, find and talk to clients, book keep, manage administrative tasks, and more.
It can be overwhelming, but it’s also gratifying to be able to do so many things myself.
Rook’s eyes widen with shock before filling with admiration. “You own a business? That’s very impressive. What type of work do you do?”
Like I always do, I try to shrug off the compliment. “Graphic design, so nothing super cool or anything.”
“It sounds pretty cool to me. Does that mean you’re good at drawing?”
I tilt my head back and forth. “Good is a stretch, but I do like to draw.”
At least, I did. I haven’t found much joy in drawing or anything else for the last six months.
Drawing has always been an escape. When the real world and people get too much, I can run away and get lost in drawing a serene valley, tranquil woods, or worlds that only exist in my imagination.
Sketching is also a way to express everything that hurts too much to put into words. For some reason, drawing it on the page is infinitely easier than talking about the swirling mess that’s my head most days.
Rook rubs the back of his neck before glancing at me. “Then maybe we can make a trade. I’ll teach you how to program, and you teach me how to draw.”
I snort. “That seems like a hugely imbalanced trade. I’m not just being modest. I do actually have the artistic talent of an asthmatic ant.”
Just because I’ve always enjoyed drawing doesn’t mean I’m any good at it. I refuse to show anyone, even Charlie, my sketchbook full of smudgy charcoals, blurry pastels, and harsh slashes of pencil lines. I draw for me, not for anyone else, so it doesn’t matter if it’s any good.
Rook barks out a startled laugh. “I get the sense that you’re your own worst critic. I’d bet you can draw a hell of a lot better than you give yourself credit for. You support yourself by selling artistic services to other people, so I highly doubt you lack any talent.”
The man is perceptive, I’ll give him that.
I know I’m overly harsh on myself, but it’s hard to see any good in myself after a lifetime of being told what a disgrace and failure I am.
Before I can figure out a reply, Charlie hollers, “Blondie! It’s your turn. Get down here.”
Rook sighs before giving her a sharp nod.
He then pulls a lime green Post-it and black pen out of his pocket.
He scribbles something down on it before handing it to me.
“Text me so we can figure out a time to start. Even if you don’t wanna teach me how to draw, I’m still happy to teach you how to code. ”
“I’ll teach you what little I know,” I mumble as I take the paper from him.
Rook gives me a half smile before he pushes to his feet and stalks over to his bike.
When it rumbles to life, I glance down to see his name and number scrawled in neat handwriting. I snort because the name really wasn’t necessary. I don’t usually have random people handing me their numbers, so it’s not like I’ll get confused about who it was.
I’m watching Rook ride down to Hal and Charlie when two people sit next to me, one on either side. Glancing between them, I’m unsurprised to find Colt and Remy perched on the wall, pretending to watch their friends below.
Remy’s the first one to glance over at me. He grins when our gazes connect, and it makes his angular face look almost boyish. “Hi,” he practically shouts with how excited he is.
I can’t help my half smile at the genuine joy radiating from him. “Hi.”
At my soft greeting, he ducks his head and looks away. He fidgets for a moment before reaching into his hoodie and pulling out a tennis ball that he starts bouncing on the paved trail.
“So… you like sport bikes?” Remy asks before he cringes at himself and hangs his head.
Colt snorts at his brother, but I keep my attention on Remy. I know what it’s like to feel so damn awkward when trying to talk to new people, so I just want to put him at ease.
I give him a small smile. “Yeah, I think so. I just got my first bike yesterday.”
“A 636 is a sweet first bike. I have a Cbr600 for stunting, so I’m partial to 600s. What made you wanna start riding?”
I shrug because there’s no way I’m telling a stranger the real reason. “I rode dirt bikes as a kid, so it seemed like a good next step.”
He grins at me. “Really? That’s sick. Bet you did a lot of crazy jumps on your dirt bike.”
A startled laugh bursts out of me because, normally, people don’t guess that jumping was one of my favorite parts of riding dirt bikes. “Yeah, I loved going to motocross tracks and jumping my little heart out. I eventually got banned from it because I kept breaking stuff.”
Coop, Charlie, their parents, and Wren had to stage an intervention after I broke both my legs in multiple places, my arm, and my collarbone doing a particularly risky jump when I was sixteen.
As much as I loved the rush of jumping my bike, I couldn’t stand how distraught they were after I woke up from surgery.
I’ve only done small jumps since, and I definitely miss it sometimes. I don’t miss the constant aches, pains, stitches, and casts from it, though.
“Badass.” Remy holds his hand out for a fist bump.
I hesitantly tap my knuckles to his, and he grins like he just won the lottery.
“Stunting isn’t the same thing, but it’s still pretty fun.
If you ever wanna try it out, I can show you the best places to practice wheelies, stoppies, drifting, and other fun stuff. ”
“I might take you up on that sometime.” When I’m way more confident riding my bike, of course. No way am I embarrassing myself in front of a hot guy by wiping out a bunch of times and looking like the uncoordinated dork I am.
“If you do stunt, wear extra gear,” Colt rumbles. “It can fuck you up just as badly as dirt biking.”
I glance over at Colt in surprise. He’s not looking at me, though. He’s staring out at Rook and Hal with his jaw clenched tightly. Colt seems upset about something, and, as usual, I assume it’s something I did.
“Thanks,” I whisper, not wanting to piss him off further.
Colt doesn’t look over at me but gives me a tight nod of acknowledgment.
The three of us sit in silence, save for the rhythmic thumping of the tennis ball Remy’s tossing, while we watch Charlie direct Rook into a bunch of different poses with and without his helmet.
After a few minutes, Charlie steps back and glances in our direction. “Thing One and Thing Two, you’re up!”
Colt sighs before he fluidly unfolds himself to his full height. He prowls to his bike without a second glance at us.
I stare after him for a moment, wondering what I did that made him so angry with me. A little part of my heart I refuse to acknowledge hurts that I pissed off Colt, but I ruthlessly shove it down.
“Don’t worry about Colt, alouette,” Remy leans over to whisper.
“He just hates that I stunt and doesn’t like me dragging someone else into it.
If my twin had his way, he’d smother me with bubble wrap and lock me in a padded room to keep me safe from everything.
Colt’s not mad at you. He’s pissed at me for putting both of us in danger, at least in his mind. ”
I look over at Remy in surprise, wondering how he knew exactly what I was feeling. He smiles at me before bounding off after his twin, not giving me a chance to reply. Not that I really knew what to say.
Hanging out with Hal, Rook, Remy, and Colt has been… fun. I feel a little lighter after talking and laughing with them, and it scares the shit out of me. The way my heart skips a beat when any of them smile at me makes me want to hop onto my bike and ride far, far away.
But I can’t just ditch Charlie like that or make a scene by running like a frightened rabbit. So, I sit stiffly on the rock wall and watch Colt and Remy on their bikes.
After what feels like an eternity of me regretting all my life choices, Charlie cups her hands around her mouth and calls, “Jojo! Stop moping and get your cute butt down here.”
I can’t decide whether to roll my eyes or blush, so I do both as I reluctantly walk down to Charlie and the guys.
All five of them watch me as I try my hardest not to trip and face-plant on the uneven pathway.
Shifters are supposed to be inherently graceful, and I am—until I crash, bump, or trip over something.
When I reach Charlie, I huff at her. “I wasn’t moping.”
She snorts. “Sure, you weren’t. Now that pictures are done, you guys wanna grab a bite together? I know a diner not too far from here. Their burgers and shakes are to die for.”
I give Charlie a death glare. The last thing I need is to spend more time with the four mysterious bikers I seem to see everywhere. I know what happens when you fall for someone, and I refuse to go down that road again.
She ignores me and looks expectantly at them.
I’m surprised when Colt’s the one to answer for the group. I would’ve thought Hal or Rook was in charge because they both seem older than the twins. “We’d be down to hit up the diner. We haven’t had dinner yet, so something to eat sounds perfect.”
Charlie looks at me with puppy-dog eyes, knowing how well they work on me. “No” was on the tip of my tongue before she silently started pleading with me.
“I’ll even get a strawberry shake and share it with you,” she coaxes, knowing how much I love combining chocolate and strawberry shakes together. If I could live off ice cream and Alfredo alone, I totally would.
I sigh, accepting there’s no world in which I say no, regardless of what I want. “Yeah, I’ll go.”
I can’t even be peeved at my best friend. She’s only trying to force us together because she thinks it’s what’s best for me. I just wish people would listen to what I want instead of what they think I need. But that probably requires me to be able to speak up for myself.
“Yay!” Charlie squeezes me in a tight hug before grabbing my hand and hauling me over to our bikes. “You guys can follow us, as long as you think you can keep up, that is.”
I let out a chuckle. Everyone besides me has a liter bike, so they can absolutely keep up with me and my 636. Charlie might be able to outmaneuver them on her R1, but I know she’d never leave me behind.
One side of Hal’s mouth kicks up, and his green eyes shine with mirth. “I dunno if we can keep up with Lark. She looks like a speed demon. You might have to give us the address just in case.”
I huff a laugh but can’t keep the smile off my face. Hal grins at me, causing my heart to do a flip in my chest, before striding back to his bike.