Chapter 21
The Long Ride Home
They didn’t rush.
Tater kept the pace slow, steady—one hand on the throttle, the other sometimes reached back, needing the reassurance of her hand still gripping his side. The rain came and went, it turned the highway slick and shiny beneath the fading moonlight.
By the time they hit the valley, the fire on the ridge was just a faint orange glow behind them. Ren leaned into him, silent, her warmth the only thing that felt alive in the cold night air.
They stopped once beneath a gas station awning on the edge of nowhere. No words. Just the smell of wet asphalt and burnt rubber. She stared out at the horizon, eyes distant, until the black began to soften into gray.
When the first hint of daylight cut through the clouds, he kicked the bike over again. She climbed on without a sound.
The road home felt endless, but neither of them hurried.