Chapter 9 Riding With My Greatest Nemesis
LYRA
THE NEXT DAY
DEAN: I know you’re mad at me, but you can’t just tell me not to pick you up for school. It’s our usual routine.
I let out a long breath, trying to steady the anger scraping at my chest. Balancing my backpack on one shoulder with one hand, I type back with the other.
ME: Usual routine, huh? Maybe do that with the girl you ditched me for yesterday. The one you were busy screwing like an animal. Fuck off, Dean.
The moment I hit send, I block his number. Immediately.
I don’t want to hear from him ever again. He’s been blowing up my phone all morning while I got ready, and every message only set my nerves on fire.
I shove the phone deep into the pocket of my oversized jeans and storm out of my room, speeding down the stairs. I rush past the living room, through the foyer, and reach the open front doors…
…and freeze.
Shit.
I just cancelled my only ride without even thinking of another option.
Brilliant, Lyra. Very calculated. Genius-level impulsiveness.
Now I’m stuck. No ride. No plan. And classes start soon.
And that’s when my gaze lands on him.
Like some sick answer to a prayer, and a nightmare wrapped in leather.
Reid crouches beside his bike, checking something near the engine. He’s wearing all black just like yesterday. Leather jacket. Pants.
He hasn’t noticed me yet.
In an instant, last night crashes back into me. The moment he caught me touching myself.
My cheeks heat.
Sure, he’d been pretty chill about it and swore he wouldn’t say anything. And I believed him. But that doesn’t erase the fact that Reid Hades saw me like that.
At least he didn’t see what was on my laptop. Thank the gods for that. He probably assumes I was watching porn.
Truth is much worse.
I’d rather rip my own tongue out than let anyone discover what I was actually doing.
Still… why did he have to walk in right then?
I barely slept last night; just lay there, replaying everything, drowning in embarrassment. And now, I have to face him.
And somehow, possibly… ask him for a ride.
Or I could beg Dean to pick me up.
I immediately shake my head. I’d rather crawl to school than beg that cheating bastard.
“Shit,” I mutter under my breath just as Reid straightens and turns. Panicking, I dart behind the door frame before he can spot me. My heart hammers like I just sprinted a mile.
What is wrong with me? Am I seriously hiding from him like some terrified kitten? I need to get over last night. I need to…
“Need a ride?”
His deep, smooth voice comes from right behind me.
I jerk around, eyes wide. Reid stands there, his face unreadable and annoyingly perfect.
For a moment, words fail me.
He definitely saw me before I hid.
Clumsy. Pathetic. Lyra.
“Come on. We’re late,” he says, not waiting for my answer. He takes my hand and leads me toward the bike.
I stare at our joined hands as I follow him silently. His grip is strong but careful. Warm.
Too warm.
It startles me.
Shouldn’t I be recoiling from the touch of someone I claim to despise?
But I don’t.
I walk with him instead. Speechless, heart thundering, wishing I didn’t like the feel of his hand around mine as much as I do.
“Catch,” Reid says as he reaches his bike, tossing the helmet my way.
I fumble, managing to grab it in the most painfully ungraceful way possible.
I slip the helmet over my head while he swings a leg over the bike and settles onto it like he was carved to fit that seat. The engine rumbles to life, deep and loud.
“Come on, we don’t have all day,” he mutters.
I climb on behind him without a word. My breath catches at how close we are. Skin-to-leather. Chest-to-back. Heat-to-heat.
“Hold on tight.”
He doesn’t wait for me to respond before taking off.
The sudden speed sends me lurching, and I immediately wrap my arms around his torso, clinging to him like my life depends on it. I swallow hard, praying he can’t feel the way my boobs press against his back.
Pull it together, Lyra.
I try to distract myself by looking at the city blurring around us. It’s beautiful; early morning light glancing off windows, rush of wind against my skin.
But nothing pulls me away from how good he smells. From how solid he feels beneath my grip. From how the hard planes of his body move like danger under my hands.
I want to trace them.
Fuck. Detach, Lyra. Now.
But I keep losing that battle, caught between the scenery flying past and the magnetic pull of him.
Thankfully, we reach the university faster than I expect, courtesy of his reckless speed. As he parks beside other students’ bikes and cars, I hop off and reach for the helmet.
Somehow, removing it is harder than putting it on. I bite my lip and tug at the strap, frustration spiking when it refuses to budge.
Then warm, long fingers slide beneath mine, unfastening the strap effortlessly. He lifts the helmet off me gently.
Our eyes meet as he takes it, a faint smirk curving his lips.
“Aren’t you the clumsiest girl alive?”
I let out a sharp huff. And freeze.
People are staring. Like, everybody. Students passing by slow down to whisper, eyes darting between Reid and me like we’re the morning entertainment.
Heat floods my cheeks.
I know what they’re thinking; what in the world is a nerd doing, hanging out with a bad biker boy/dangerous rogue alpha?
From the corner of my eye, I spot a familiar car parking near us. Dean steps out, with Roxanna beside him. They’re laughing.
Bile rises at the sight. Funny how they looked so guilty yesterday when I caught them naked. Guess regret has a short lifespan.
For the hundredth time, I curse the moon goddess for ruining my revenge spell. I wanted them broken. Not smiled up like nothing happened.
Then Dean sees us.
His laughter dies instantly. Roxanna’s too. His expression shifts into shock, then anger.
He strides toward us like someone ready to start a war.
But Reid steps forward and eases me behind him, shielding me.
The crowd stills completely, their eyes glued excitedly to the unfolding tension.
Dean stops inches from Reid, fists clenched so tightly his knuckles pale.
My heart kicks against my ribs.
Oh, gods. Please, don’t let them fight. Not here. Not now.
But my prayers go unanswered…