32 Alone in the Whole World

Surprisingly, Ann wasn’t scared of my means of transportation and climbed onto the offered seat quite willingly. As I put the helmet on her, I noticed her hands trembling and her breathing uneven. And when I got behind the wheel, the girl hugged me tightly from behind, pressing her whole body against me.

That felt so damn good.

I started the engine, and we moved off. At first, I drove relatively slowly, giving Ann time to get used to the sensations. And with every kilometer, I felt her relax, no longer clinging to me with a death grip.

We rode around for quite a while, and eventually I brought us to a cute, very cozy café. My appetite had kicked in like a beast, and this place seemed just right.

“Nazar, this is so awesome!” the beauty burst out as soon as she got off the bike. “I’ll admit, I’ve always been scared of this kind of extreme stuff, but you handle the road so confidently! It’s incredible!”

“As soon as my brother and I turned eighteen, we got licenses for two categories right away. So from a pretty young age, we were already racing both cars and bikes,” I share a bit of truth as we walk into the café.

“It was totally worth it! I can’t even calm down!” her eyes sparkle with excitement, and it sends a warm surge through my chest.

How the hell am I supposed to ruin this evening with my dirt? She’s so happy right now, trusts me so much…

We place our order, and while we wait, we talk about everything under the sun. For the most part, I try not to lie and actually tell her some ridiculous childhood stories, tell her about my mother and how my father remarried successfully.

I only keep quiet about the fact that I have a twin and that I passed his kids off as mine, and all the bullshit I made up about their mother. Other than that… I’m clean and telling nothing but the truth!

In turn, Ann tells me about herself too. She has a younger brother, and her mom also remarried successfully. She barely remembers her biological father, since he left them when she was only three for another woman. She called him “the first asshole” in her life. The second turned out to be Kirill’s father.

It was obvious that the topic of her ex weighed heavily on the brunette and was hard for her to talk about. Even after all these years, she still carried a lot of resentment toward that bastard. But Ann didn’t go deeper into her emotional struggles.

After satisfying our hunger, we decided to ride around the city again. She liked it, and I liked that she liked it, that she was so close, hugging me carelessly.

“Want me to teach you how to ride?” during one of our stops, I suggested, and saw her eyes light up with childish excitement.

“I do!” my girl smiled boldly, and I got off the bike.

“Then we need to switch places,” I said, sitting behind the brunette, already feeling her nerves transfer to me.

“Aren’t you afraid we’ll crash?” Ann asked in a shaky voice. “Maybe I rushed into this. What if I do something wrong…”

“I’ve got you,” I reassure her, pressing closer and placing my hands over hers on the handlebars. “There’s nothing complicated here. Look, this is the ignition button, this is the throttle, and this is the brake…”

I explained the basics and key points. Ann listened carefully, memorizing, not afraid to ask about things she didn’t understand. Slowly, we started moving.

In reality, I was doing most of the driving, while the beauty just sat in front holding the handlebars, creating the illusion of control. But she loved it, absolutely thrilled.

We ended up at a small empty parking on a hill, and I turned off the engine. From there, an incredible view of the night city and the wide river opened up. A perfect romantic spot to talk. And secluded enough that there’d be no witnesses if she smashed the helmet over my head after my confession.