Page 53 of Poinsettia Lane

Everly feels free to be herself with him, and she giggles when she thinks about the fuzzy red socks she has on inside the boots. If they’re going out at night, she doesn’t want her feet to get cold. She may also be secretly hoping they lose their clothes at some point tonight and he discovers them in the process. Everly needs his laugh like she needs to breathe.

Right on time, the rumble of his bike rounding the corner onto Poinsettia Lane reaches her ears. Everly flips off the kitchen and foyer lights, then steps outside, fingers trembling with excitement and nerves as she locks the ornate wooden door behind her. When she turns around, Asim already has his helmet off and was very clearly staring at her backside. Frankie was most definitely right.

She clears her throat, and his eyes jump up to hers. Everly smirks at him and cocks her hip, hand on her waist, relishing this moment as she turns the tables on him.

Asim swipes a hand down his face, seeming to be lost for words. Then he chuckles, acknowledging that she caught him, and swings his leg over the bike.

“You clearly already know this, but just in case,” he says, prowling up to her, “you are stunning, Ever.”

Before she can respond, he leans down and places a sweet kiss on her lips. Everly grins as he pulls away, and Asim turns back to the bike. He flips open the storage compartment, pulling out a second helmet. It’s a deep, rich red color, matte instead of shiny, with a charcoal visor. Darker than wine, it’s a near perfect match for the color of her lips tonight.

Everly loves it.

“Did you get this for me?!” she gasps.

“Of course. I can’t have you riding without a helmet," he says. “And I’m glad to see you’re wearing leather anddenim too, good choices if you’re going to be on a bike, even if they are designed to torture me.” He gifts her one of his playful winks, and she bites her lip as the grin threatens to take over her face.

Asim fits the helmet over her hair and secures it in place. Stepping back, his gaze fires along her skin. It’s a thrum through her blood as his eyes sweep up and down her body, and he lets out a soft whistle.

“You just might be the death of me.” His voice is low and gravely, hands fisted at his sides. Flexing his fingers, he pulls leather gloves from his back pocket and focuses intently on putting them on before bracing himself and turning back to her.

“Ready?” he asks.

Everly nods, her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth.

Asim straddles the bike to stabilize it and offers her a hand to hop on behind him.

“Snuggle in close,” he says, pulling her arms tight around his waist. “Hold tight, lean into the turns with me, and if you would like to stop, tap my side three times.”

Everly listens intently, committing everything to memory. Secretly she’s always wanted to ride a motorcycle, but her parents would never have approved, and she hasn’t had an opportunity before now.

As she settles onto the seat, his heated palm meets her right calf and he guides her foot into place, pausing for a moment as his gaze snags on the image of her booted foot on his bike, then he does the same with her left. Everly’s stomach tightens as she imagines his hands traveling further up her legs.

Unfortunately, he lets go instead.

Asim secures his own helmet, then reaches for her hands on his waist, pulling them more tightly around him so her breasts are pressed into his back, not even an inch of space between them. He pats her hands, indicating she should keep them there, and Everly gulps, her blood thrumming with nervous excitement.

Asim kicks the stand up and starts the bike with a thundering growl before it tapers off to a steady purr that shoots through her body. For once, Everly’s grateful forthe obnoxious sound, because it covers her gasp of surprise.

She knew it was coming of course, but she didn’t expect the vibrations. Everly was already feeling flustered; between Asim’s hands on her and how confidently sexy he is sitting on the bike, she’s feeling more than a little aroused. Add the steady vibration running straight up between her legs and she’s about to completely lose her mind, and they haven’t even left the driveway yet.

Asim angles his head over his shoulder, and although she can’t see his face through his helmet, she knows he’s asking if she’s ready. She nods her head against his back and he pats her hands once more, then twists the throttle.

Everly inadvertently squeezes a little tighter as they take off and she feels him chuckle against her. She’s already grinning too though, and as they twist and turn out of her neighborhood to the more deserted back country roads, Asim starts to pick up speed. Everly clutches his jacket in her fists, arms wrapped tightly around him. A giddy laugh is bubbling up in her chest and instead of holding it in, she lets it belt out of her, throwing her delight to the darkening sky above them.

Asim ups the speed when he hears her and Everly shrieks with glee. She has not felt this alive in years, maybe ever, and she’s determined to embrace every moment. Everly isn’t paying any attention to where they’re going, instead she focuses entirely on the live wire that is her body right now.

She’s electric and invincible.

All too soon, the bike starts to slow and she opens her eyes, not aware until that moment that she had closed them. Everly looks around, seeing no buildings or vehicles or any hints of humanity at all, and she has absolutely no idea where they are. She braces for the anxiety to set in, but it doesn’t come.

Asim parks off the dirt road near some large boulders and kills the engine. She loosens her hold on him with a sigh as he pops his helmet off before gently shifting her feet to the ground on either side of the bike. Everly isn’t sure she can move on her own; the vibrations felt goodinitially but now her whole body feels like jelly and her legs are almost numb. Asim twists toward her and she shrugs her helplessness, flailing her arms at her sides in emphasis.

Chuckling, he places a steadying hand on her shoulder and swings himself off first, keeping his hip against the bike to steady it, then turns and circles her waist with his hands, lifting her clean off the seat and standing her in front of him. He wraps one arm around her, and loosens her helmet with the other. Everly reaches up to pull it off, shaking her hair out as she does so and eliciting a groan from Asim.

“You’re really trying to do me in tonight, aren’t you?”

“I could say the same to you," she grumbles in return, biting her tongue and pinching her lips to hold in her smile at the crooked grin on his face as she hooks her helmet on the handlebar.

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