Chapter 23 Kiera
KIERA
I followed closer behind them, not wanting to get left out any more than I already was. But the two of them walked ahead of me, chatting about the bike.
It was leaner than the red Ducati Leo drove.
Probably easier to maneuver.
They rolled the bike away from the house and toward a large carriage house at the edge of the driveway.
It was gorgeous, and — even from the outside — larger than most people’s houses. Dark mahogany carriage doors towered over the driveway, casting a long shadow on the gravel.
On the Suzuki’s handlebars, Spencer clicked a black button.
As she did, the wood doors swung open toward us.
Neither of my two angels waited for the door to fully open before stepping inside. They didn’t miss a beat as automatic fluorescent lights flicked on, casting a sharp and clear light over everything inside the garage.
And boy, was there a lot to look at.
I blinked quickly, willing my eyes to adjust. Lining the walls were dozens of tool carts, metal cases full of equipment. And at the center was a small, rectangular lift with a ramp.
Leo and Spencer guided the blue bike toward it, each of them grabbing a side.
The whole place was like a private auto shop, tools shining under the bright lights.
Everything in there looked like it had been taken off a rack this morning, hand delivered to my two angels.
All the autobody shops I’d ever seen were rinky-dink and rundown.
Barely running better than the cars they fixed.
But this… this felt like walking into the Ritz of garages.
“Did you think we’d have some sort of hick setup?” Spencer laughed, toned arms on display under a white muscle tee as she and Leo gave the bike one last, stern push onto the lift. Both of them were a sight to behold as they used their bulk to muscle the bike into place.
My throat tightened as I watched their glistening skin.
What the fuck is wrong with me?
In my mind, I knew that I didn’t like girls. But watching them work, my body said otherwise. I wasn’t sure anyone could watch two bikers built like gods get to work without feeling the hum of energy buzzing through my center.
Besides, it’s not like either of them were very girly. They were better gentlemen than any man I’d ever met — more competent and helpful, even with Spencer’s incessant come-ons.
And what had a man ever really done for me anyway?
The whirring of the lift broke my trance. Spencer’s foot pressed onto a black pedal by the base of the black metal lift.
Leaning against the door frame, I crossed my arms.
Leo pulled up a stool, rolling it across the polished concrete floors. Sitting down, she immediately whipped out a flashlight and started to examine the bike.
But as I leaned there, an image flashed behind my eyelids.
My dad, on an old leather stool, looking over his vintage bike. The one he hardly ever rode.
Shaking my head, I tried to stop the flood of images coming back to me.
The way he held my hand as we walked out to his own home garage, the way he’d laugh with his buddy back there. Some friend from high school, his business partner I think.
I rubbed my eyes, hoping to flush his face from my mind.
What happened to that bike? To that guy?
After he passed, my mother refused to talk about him. She wouldn’t confirm my memories, wouldn’t let him live on in my mind.
But I could still see the way he’d hold his arms open to me when he got back from work, his face weary from a long day. Then he’d set me on a stool of my own and let me watch him work far past my bedtime.
“You alright?” Spencer lifted her head from the bike, her arm resting on the seat as she watched my face. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
Nodding, I tried to catch my breath. I still had hope of holding this anxiety attack off.
“Yeah. Do you two mind if I walk around?”
Their heads whipped toward each other, some unspoken conversation passing between them as they considered my request.
Filled with concern, their eyes watched me closer before Spencer sighed. “Sure. Just don’t go too far, okay, Bunny?”
With a nod and a weak smile, I pushed off the doorframe and headed back to the driveway. The sun was high in the sky, warming the air around me. But I couldn’t shake the shiver in my bones.
I hadn’t thought about that garage in years, hadn’t been able to picture it since he passed.
Why was this place stirring so much? Was it the house or was it the two hunky mascs following me around?