Page 20 of Wilder Love
“Better clean up your mess, dirty girl,” Tristan told me with a smirk that seemed to be permanently etched on his stupid face.
I flipped him the bird. He was laughing as he steered Paige down the hallway. She was wearing her little blue and gold cheering outfit, he was in his football jersey. It was the Friday before Homecoming, and it was Spirit Day at Costa del Rey High. Rah rah fucking rah.
As I’d suspected, Mom’s school visit had repercussions. Rumor had it that she had made a play for the guidance counselor. That in itself would have been bad enough but what she had done next was the worst possible thing that could have happened. She had shamelessly flirted with Tristan Hart, and he had gone right along with it because he was cruel, and he was calculating. Every school had a Tristan Hart—handsome, rich, thought he was God’s gift. Guys like him were dangerous. They used people as playthings, were used to getting whatever they wanted, and had never heard the word no. Unfortunately, I had drawn his attention.
Tristan Hart watched me all the time.
8
Shane
“Kai,” I yelled, my voice carried away by the wind.
“What?”
I slowed down, and my mom caught up to me, riding on my left.
“We should call the baby Kai.” I held my arms out to my sides, riding without hands. “It means ocean.”
She smiled, the dimples in her cheeks making an appearance. “I love it. Hands on the handlebars, Hotshot.”
I grinned. “Race you home.”
“Stop and look before you cross,” she yelled after me.
The white van came out of nowhere, flew right through the stop sign without even slowing down. “Shane!”
I veered sharply to the left and braked hard, flying over the handlebars and landing in someone’s front yard. Wheezing, I rolled onto my back and stared up at the puffy clouds in the blue sky, the wind knocked out of me. My heart was pounding so hard I could hear it in my ears.
“Are you okay?”
I blinked up at the woman standing over me. “I’m good.”
Her eyes widened, and she covered her mouth with her hands. “I’ll call an ambulance. Everything is going to be okay.”
My brow furrowed. What was she talking about? “I’m fine.” I jumped to my feet just to prove it. But she wasn’t looking at me.
* * *
“Take me with you,”Remy said as I straddled my bike. She had just appeared out of nowhere. That was her though. She moved like a ghost. My blue ghost firefly. Rare and fleeting.
“You don’t know where I’m going.” Neither did I. I was just going for a ride with no real destination in mind.
“It doesn’t matter where you’re going. I want to go with you.”
A sane man would say no. Before she had turned up in her ripped jeans and hoodie, her hair braided and hanging over one shoulder, being alone was exactly what I’d wanted.
I handed her my spare helmet and revved the engine while she adjusted the chin strap.
When she climbed onto the back and wrapped her arms around me, I closed my eyes briefly. Why did it always feel so right? Without giving myself time to dwell on it or change my mind, I pulled away from the curb. We rode through the dusk, the sky inky blue, the daylight hours getting shorter. It was October, but summer was still lingering, the breeze warm.
And we just kept riding. Zipping up the coast, a blue moon ghosting over the ocean, Firefly’s arms wrapped tightly around me. She was a wildcard, this girl, with her ocean eyes and heartbreaking smile. But still, I wanted her. Every broken piece of her.
An hour… or two… who knows how long we’d been riding before I steered us home. Remy followed me up the stairs and into my apartment. I didn’t invite her, but I didn’t uninvite her either.
She scrunched up her nose when I suggested ordering sushi. “Raw fish?”
“Have you ever eaten it?”
