| 09 |

~ Banks Woods ~

I walk closely beside Lance. It's not because I want to. It's because there are so many people around us that gives me no choice but to move closer to him to avoid bumping into them.

The air smells like smoke, alcohol and dirt. I look around, observing everyone with their warm jackets and dark clothes. Many people have motorcycle helmets on, dressed in guard jackets and gloves. At a distance, there are loud noises of engines and a crowd yelling and cheering.

I nearly walk off into the crowd, before Lance pulls me by my elbow into another direction.

I take two fast steps to catch up to his long legs, furrowing my eyebrows. "I don't get where we are."

"It was written on the sign outside."

"It was written in Vietnamese."

"Oh right. Nevermind that. Just follow me."

"That's all I've been doing," I grumble.

There's a small cabin sort of thing with an open window. A purple hair-coloured woman stands inside with a cigarette in her mouth. Lance walks straight up to her before reaching into the back pocket of his jeans. He takes out a card and hands it to the lady, who then writes something down on a notepad. It takes me a moment to realize it's a driver's license.

She hands the license back, along with a set of keys. "You're good to go."

He nods, sliding the card into his pocket. He looks at me, gesturing with his head for me to follow him as if I haven't been doing that since we got out of the car.

He leads me to another cabin and unlocks the door with the keys the lady handed him.

Wariness creeps into me when Lance holds the door open for me.

"Leading me into an unknown cabin where you can murder me and no one will know." I nod. "Such a wonderful date."

"I told you I'm not Ted Bundy." He sighs.

"What are we gonna do in the cabin?" I ask, suspiciously.

"We're going to equip ourselves."

"With what?"

"Get in and you'll find out."

"This is by far the shadiest date I've ever been on."

He rolls his eyes with a smile before gesturing for me to get in.

I walk in.

There are rows of shelves lined on one wall. Other than that, there's only a couch on the other side with a small coffee table. On the shelves, are a row of jackets and strap-on backpacks along with a few dark gears.

My eyes widen. "Is that a whip?"

Lance glances at the pile of random objects on the shelf before quickly shaking his head. "It's not for what you think."

"Yeah, nice try. Abandoned place with people wearing dark clothes. Secret cabin. Whips and other torturing stuff. I already sent Kaylee my location, by the way."       

He shakes his head, walking towards the shelves. Picking out a jacket, he hands it to me. "Put this on."

"Why?"

"Do you always have to question my moves?"

"I'm trying not to end up dead."

"Put the jacket on then." He thrusts it into my hands.

I hold the jacket in front of me, observing its hard leather, straps and zipper. Reluctantly, I slide off my current jacket and put on the other one, adjusting the straps according to my size and zipping it up. Lance does the same with another one. He then hands me a pair of gloves that I pull onto my hands.

"Why are we wearing all this?"

He smiles. "We should limit the number of questions you can ask within an hour."

I narrow my eyes. "Maybe we should set a limit to how many of my questions you can choose not to answer."

He doesn't say anything, opening a shelf above and picking out two helmets, handing one to me. He grabs a backpack too, slinging it over his shoulder. Before I can say anything, Lance is walking out of the cabin, waiting for me to step out.

He locks the door before starting to walk. The whole time, I try to figure out what's going on when it suddenly dawns upon me. We reach a line of motorbikes standing tall and proud under a shed.

"You cannot be serious."

Lance looks at all the motorbikes before recognition flashes on his face when he spots one. He reaches towards it and inserts a key, pulling the bike out. He pats the headlights, turning to smile at me.

"Ready for some thrill?"

  ●・○・●・○・●

I never thought I would find someone as stubborn as me. Even more than me. We argued for a whole fifteen minutes before Lance finally convinced me.

My eyes are still wide with surprise as I look around at the other bikers wearing the same jacket and helmet as Lance and me. We're all lined up at the start of a dirty race track with rocky bumps and mud. There's a sea of people around us, yelling out names and betting money.

"Is this even legal?" I grit.

"Nope." Lance flips the visor of his helmet down. He slides the backpack over his shoulder so it's at front of his chest. He grabs two extra straps and firmly clicks it behind his back.

"Here's what we have to do." He flips up the visor again to talk to me. "As you can tell, we're about to race." A thrum goes through my chest. I have no idea if it's because of the anxiousness, excitement or the crowd of screaming people. "And we have to take other bikers down."

"What do you mean?"

He pats the backpack on his chest. "This contains colourful smoke grenades that we have to shoot at other bikers. Once they fall off their bike, they're out."

My eyes widen. "Meaning we're gonna be pelted with grenades too?"

"You sound as if they're real grenades."

"It's a bumpy road filled with piles of mud!" I throw my hands up. "This is just begging us to break our necks."

"See, this is what we're not going to do tonight." He hooks his thumbs in the front pocket of his jeans. "We're not going to worry about the what-ifs. The only thing we need to worry about is winning. Get me?"

"This is crazy." I shake my head. I did not sign up for this. The more I look at other bikers with their intimidating stances, the more my chest thumps with this unexplainable feeling. I look at the crowd and a small wave of dizziness comes over me.

"Are you scared?"

Lance's taunting voice brings me back into my body.

I cross my arms across my chest. "As if."

I can feel his smirk even though I can't see it through the helmet. "If you're scared, I can take you to that secret picnic you crave."

"I know what you're doing." I accuse.

"Do you?" He leans closer towards me. Even though I have my helmet on, the proximity between our bodies makes me wary.

"I'm not scared." I stand up straighter.

"Sure."

I glare. "Fine. Let's do this."

"No. No. We can still escape and go to that garden with the fairy lights and the cheesecakes with strawberries on them, sipping our grape juice—" He must've sensed the daggers I'm glaring his way because he shuts up.

A loud voice draws our attention and both of us look ahead to see a woman wearing booty shorts and a tight crop top holding a microphone in her hand.

"All bikers assemble and get your engines ready!"

Lance gives me one last look full of excitement and mischief, before flipping his visor down. He slings a long muscular leg over the bike, getting on it easily. He presses down on a lever with his foot, kickstarting the bike. The engine roars to life, making me gasp. Something flips in my stomach at the sound. My hands quiver with energy as I stare at the dark black beauty in front of me. It takes me a moment to realize that I have my thighs pressed together, slightly rubbing them against each other.

What the fuck? Am I...turned on? By the sound of an engine?

I can't explain the sudden excitement in my body. The motorbike looks deadly with its sleek and shiny darkness. It's not the bike that's getting me turned on, it's the promise of fleeting freedom, of the chance to be reckless and not care about anything. I can't believe I'm gonna sit on it.

The thought brings me to a realization. My eyes snap up to Lance who's looking at me with a patient look. My eyes widen. I'm gonna be sitting behind him. Meaning I'm gonna be plastered to his back.

"Are you getting on or not?" He gestures with his head behind him.

I swallow, gripping the hem of my jacket. Taking in a breath, I move to get on the bike. A few struggles later and making a fool out of myself, I finally get seated behind Lance, keeping an inch of distance between us.

"You know, you're going to have to hold onto me if you don't want to fall, right?"

"I know." I snap, while internally, my mind dances with mixed emotions. Hesitatingly, I lean forward, without moving my hips, and wrap my arms loosely around Lance's wide and hard body.

He looks down at my pathetic attempt to keep space between us and shrugs.

"Rules are renounced so go fucking crazy!" The lady yells into her microphone, getting the crowd fired up. "On your mark!"

Lance positions himself, bending over the headlights as if he's going to cut through the air. He flexes his gloved hands over the handlebars.

"Get set!"

My heartbeat gets frantic. I'm not sure I'm prepared—

"Go!"

The wind almost snatches me off. A yelp cuts through my mouth and I quickly grab Lance, tightening my arms around him. We're flying through the air, fighting against the wind. For a moment, the sudden urge to faint has me by the throat. I force myself to swallow, breathing steadily in and out through the thick helmet.

"You okay there?" A voice speaks right into my ear, startling me.

"Was-was that your voice?" I ask.

"Yup. There's an intercom inside the helmets. Saves all the need for screaming our lungs out."

My arms are hugging him tightly, plastering my front to his back. His hips are pushing into my core, sending a different kind of warmth there. I force myself to ignore the way I'm latched onto his body and turn my head to look around.

About seven other bikers are right on our tail. Two bikers are ahead of us by a couple of feet. The ones behind us look like predators on the run, ready to bite into their prey. The sound of the engines shoots an unexplainable thrill up my body. I clench my thighs only to realize Lance's are hips between them. I quickly stop myself.

"Unzip it."

"What?" I ask in confusion.

"The bag at my chest. We have to get those other bikers down."

I feel around for the bag on Lance's chest. The fear of rolling down the bike makes my muscles harder to move. We're moving so fast, every other thing around me blurs. If I go tumbling down this bike, I'm going to get run over by the other bikers.

I finally grasp onto the zipper with my gloved hands, sliding it open. Suddenly, the bike disappears beneath my ass for a beat before it reappears and I land down on it. Hard. A yelp cuts through my mouth.

"Sorry. I didn't see the bump." Lance readjusts himself. I can feel every tightly corded muscle of his back and hips as he pushes back into me, bending low over the headlights.

My hands fumble with the contents inside the bag, and I grab onto a round hard thing.

"What exactly am I supposed to do with this?"

"Pull the ring out and throw it at the bikers."

I pull my arm back to take a look at the grenade. Shit. I'm gonna have to loosen my arms if I want to pull the ring out. Oh god. Where the fuck did Lance bring me to? I'm going to fucking die.

Taking in a deep breath, I clench my legs tightly around the bike. I do it within a second. Quickly, loosening my arms, I grab the ring and pull it free. Wrapping an arm back around Lance's torso, I look back before raising my hand and launching the grenade at a biker right behind us.

It explodes.

The sound reverberates through my stomach. My eyes widen. Black smoke covers my view for an entire second before I see my victim on the ground, with legs on the bike but torso submerged in mud.

I wait for the guilt to hit me at potentially injuring someone. But instead...I laugh. A small delighted laugh escapes my mouth. The way the biker fell off looked so funny.

"Fun, isn't it?" Lance's voice fills my ears.

"I can't believe I'm this fucking mean."

He chuckles. "You're gonna have to get a lot meaner if you don't want to end up like your victim."

"I didn't know the grenades made such a loud sound when exploding."

He shrugs. "They're grenades. Quick. On your right."

I look back to see another biker following closely on our trail. Quickly reaching into the bag, I grab another one. Clenching my legs around the bike, I pull out the ring and toss the grenade to the biker. It lands directly on his seat.

BOOM!

The dark red smoke takes time to clear out. The biker comes into view, lying on the ground with his leg stuck under his bike. He tries freeing himself. He must've noticed me watching because he holds up both his middle fingers at me.

"Banks, duck!"

Lance's warning barely registers in my brain. I quickly plaster my head on his lowered back. A BOOM goes off right behind me, engulfing our bike with smoke for two seconds before Lance speeds out of it. I peek ahead to see a biker with a pink and black bike looking back at us through the helmet.

By the slender shape of the body, I can tell it's a girl. She's at least a foot ahead of us, riding directly in front of our bike to block Lance from overtaking. Lance tilts right, steering the bike in that direction. The girl follows. He steers left and the girl blocks us again. My arms tighten around his torso to keep myself from sliding off.

"We can't throw a grenade at her because we might get caught up in the smoke," Lance says.

"I'll take out the ones behind. You focus on not being bombed by her." I instruct.

He nods.

I reach around for another grenade. After taking three more bikers down, I realize I'm no longer clenching my legs. My arms are loose and free around Lance. There's determination firing in my veins at the competition, edging me with the need to win.

I launch another grenade, a laugh escaping me at the thrill of it.

My smile drops though when the biker emerges out of the smoke, unaffected. He continues speeding in our direction, revving his engine to make a monstrous sound.

I grab another grenade and throw it at him. He sharply veers left, dodging it.

"Duck!"

My head falls onto Lance's back, ducking just in time to avoid a flying smoke bomb. It explodes behind me into a green colour, painting the air. The biker who kept dodging my grenades, surfaces through the green smoke, seeming unfazed.

"He's a stubborn one," I grumble.

"The one ahead too. She won't let me overtake."

I do a mental calculation in my head. There were nine bikers in total, excluding Lance and me. I took down five meaning there are four more. Two of them are the stubborn ass behind and the girl ahead. The other two must've been taken down by the others.

I throw another grenade at the one behind and curse when he dodges it again. My legs clench around Lance's hips because we keep taking sharp turns to avoid being bombed by the girl

An idea forms in my mind.

I quickly tame it down because it'll surely get me killed. I throw another grenade and scowl when it doesn't hit.

"He's being really annoying right now."

"He's just too good."

I bite my lip, contemplating my idea again. It's a totally reckless decision that'll endanger my life if I'm not careful.

The old Banks would've done it in a second, without hesitating. The old Banks was reckless, careless and a lot more irresponsible than how the current Banks is.

I gaze at the lingering biker behind me, rethinking my decisions.

"The finish line is going to appear anytime soon," Lance speaks with a slightly tensed voice. "Let's hope they don't decide to bomb us at once. That's going to be fucking hard to get out of."

I glance ahead at the girl to see her being equally stubborn too, not letting us overtake her. She throws her grenades at us occasionally that Lance skillfully dodges with sharp steers and turns.

Our bike lurches forward and a gasp escapes my mouth when it wobbles on the muddy path, fighting for balance. My arms grab Lance's body, clutching onto him. He quickly gets it under control, keeping a firm hold on the handlebars and revving the engine to gain speed.

"What happened?" A tiny bit of panic laces my voice.

"The fucker rammed into us from behind."

"He can do that?" My eyes widen.

"If he's extremely skilled, then yes."

Okay, you know what?

Let's do it.

"I have an idea." I reach for the straps on Lance's back for the bag. Unclicking it, I slide it down his arms.

"What are you doing?" His voice rises in wariness.

"Could you take your hands off the handles for a quick second?"

He doesn't move for a beat, hesitating, before quickly releasing one hand to free a strap, then releasing the other when his previous hand is back on the handle.

I bring the backpack behind me. Taking in a steady breath, I tighten my legs around the bike, before letting go of Lance and quickly slipping the backpack on so it's on my stomach.

"Just trust me," I say.

A word leaves his mouth before he remains silent. Then he nods.

I look behind at the biker who won't leave our back. Looking down at the seat, panic grips me when I realize how risky this actually is with the bike moving at its full speed.

No. I can do this. I can do this. Everything's going to be fine.

Releasing a shaky breath, I grip the seat behind me from one side. I let my mind go blank, not allowing another thought to enter. I throw my leg back, spinning my body around.

"Banks!" Lance yells.

The wind nearly rips me over. I quickly slam my hands on the seat, clutching the sides and clenching my legs to gain balance. A loud unsteady breath leaves my mouth as my shoulders gradually relax.

Fuck. I did it.

I'm now facing the biker with my back plastered against Lance's. Lowering myself down on the seat so that the wind doesn't knock me off, I reach into the backpack with both hands and grab two grenades.

Pulling them out, I remove the rings at the same time with my thumbs and launch it at the biker from both sides. He has no choice but to remain in the center as the smoke goes off on either side of him. Not letting even a second pass, I grab two more, launching it in the middle so it comes directly into his path.

Just to make sure I really get him, I throw two more.

Smokes of red, green, blue and black mix in the air, blocking my vision. The smell of ash and something chemical fills my nostrils. When the smoke finally dissipates, I whoop in cheers when I see the biker down.

"We did it!" I yell, throwing my hands up. The wind nearly takes me down and I quickly slam my hands back down on the seat. "Oops."

Angling my head, I look ahead to see our bike still chasing after the girl's. Another idea forms in my mind, and this time I don't hesitate to act on it. Reaching into the backpack, I pull out all the remaining grenades. I have only three left after throwing out so many on the stubborn one.

Tucking those three grenades inside my jacket, I try making a ball out of the backpack.

"Try getting us as close as possible to her!" I direct Lance.

His veers left, putting us close to her for only a millisecond. I find the exact moment to strike and throw the backpack at her rear tire. The backpack opens up and the straps get stuck and rolled up into the wheel, causing it to abruptly stop. The girl loses balance for a hard second before she hits the brakes, preventing just in time for the bike to roll over.

Lance quickly takes the chance and speeds past her, zooming through the muddy track. The finish line is just ahead where the lady wearing booty shorts waves a huge white flag. The sound of the crowd whooping in excitement reaches my ears, making my heart beat faster.

A sense of giddiness fills me when we cross the finish line. People yell at us in exhilaration. A few throw their money and napkins at our bike, slowing down and coming to a stop. I can't help the grin that spreads across my face.

"Do we hold up our hand or something?" I ask.

He doesn't reply, flicking the bike's stand out and letting it tilt to the side.

Sensing the need to get off, I swing my leg over and hop down. I don't realize how jello-like my legs are, because the moment they hit the ground, my knees give out and I fall.

An arm snatches me back, weaving around my waist. Lance pulls me closer to him so that my body is tucked to his side.

"Careful." His voice sounds so close as if his lips are right near my ear. I shiver.

My legs lost their feel because of how much I clenched them. It's also because of the thrum of the engine that vibrated through my bones.

After letting the crowd have a good look at us and wheeling the bike back to the shed, we enter the cabin to get rid of the jacket and gloves.

I remove the helmet, sucking in a huge breath of free air. My hair sticks to my face and temples that I try smoothing back. Lance removes his helmet and my fingers pause.

I expected him to be grinning and smiling at how we won by taking down so many bikers, but instead of flashing his straight perfect teeth, there's a look of displeasure on his face. His eyebrows are furrowed and his eyes hard, almost as if he's...mad.

"What's wrong?"

He looks at me. "That dangerous as fuck. I thought you rolled off when you let go of me."

I blink. "We got the biker down though."

He shakes his head, squeezing his eyes shut, before opening them again. "That was fucking amazing, but it scared the shit out of me."

Something squeezes my chest. He's worried for me? 

"I'm alright."

"I can see that." Slowly, he exhales, shaking his head again. The muscles of his shoulders loosen as he lets himself cool off. "That was fucking amazing." This time, a grin slides on his face.

I inhale finally, not knowing that his displeased look had made me hold my breath.

I smile automatically. I can still feel the vibrations of the engine gripping me by my thighs. The whipping wind as we cut through it. The way my heartbeat rose, threatening to jump out of my chest.

It was...surreal. Too fast. Dangerous. And so much fucking fun.

I get rid of the rest of the biker gear, putting them back on the shelves. "Is there a bathroom here?" All the excitement somehow filled up my bladder too.

"I'll take you to it."

We leave the cabin and Lance locks it up after which we walk across the dirt track. There's still a sea of people, and between them I spot another group of bikers, lining at the start line.

"Is there another race?"

Lance nods. "This goes on till four AM."

"How did you even find this place?"

His lips twitch up in a smile. "A friend of mine loves these kinds of things. It's not like she forces herself to dabble in illegal stuff. She just loves being impulsive."

Her?

My eyebrows furrow. Why am I not happy with that?

I shake my head and those thoughts away.

We come across another cabin which holds up a sign that says 'Bathroom'.

"Wait here if you don't see me when you come out."

I nod at him, before making my way inside.

After doing my business, I walk out of the stall and pause when I see a tall blonde girl standing in front of the mirror. She's putting on a dark pink lipstick, smacking her lips together lightly as she checks herself out.

She meets my eyes through the mirror and flashes me a smile. I smile back before standing beside her to wash my hands.

I can't help but take another look at her. She's stunning. She's got this gorgeous face with clear skin and perfect makeup. Her blonde hair falls to her waist and is styled like the 90s blowout. Her eyes are clear gray making them look hypnotizing.

She catches me checking her out and smiles at me again. I smile back before looking down, embarrassed.

When I'm done washing my hands, I look around for a tissue and freeze. Right beside the blonde girl on the counter is a helmet. A pink and black helmet.

"You're the biker from the race." I blurt without thinking.

"What?" She looks at me.

I motion at the helmet. "We were in the race together."

Her perfect eyebrows furrow as she gazes at me. Recognition flashes in her eyes and her plump mouth drops open in an 'Oh'.

"You're the one who threw the backpack at me." She narrows her eyes.

I shrug. "There were no rules."

At that, a grin spreads across her face. "I'll give you that. I hate rules, but you know what makes rules fun? Breaking them."

"It also leads you to prison." 

Her grin gets even wider. "Only if you get caught. That's the thrill. Doing something you're not supposed to and then feeling your heart jump at every possibility of being caught. Where's the fun in life if everyone follows the same thing and no one rebels?"

The way her eyes glint with mischief tells me enough about her nature. She's a wild one.

"Don't let my brother hear that. Although him being in prison might cut down on my grocery bills."

She chuckles.

I nod at her. "'Kay then. It was a good race."

"Next time," She smiles at me, "I'm going to crush you."

The competitiveness in her voice makes me pause. I walk out of the bathroom, trying to forget her perfect features. A sense of familiarity weaves into my mind. It's like I've seen her before. I don't remember where, but I've definitely seen her somewhere before.

Lance is leaning against the cabin wall, looking over at a group of people playing poker. His gaze flicks in my direction when I come into his view.

"Here." He holds out a tiny bag to me.

I take it. "What's this?"

Zipping it open, my jaw drops open. It's money. So much money. For a minute I think I'm imagining the thick wad of cash. Just by the look of it, I can tell there's enough money to cover up for two rents and groceries.

I slowly look back up at Lance. "Why...why are you giving me this?"

"It's the money from our win." He grins.

My eyes are still wide and I think my hands tremble a little. "You-you can't get this much money from winning an illegal race."

"Yes, you do. I'm not going to lie, the richest people on the planet almost always have their hands dirty. Illegal stuff brings money."

"And here I thought you were daddy's proud innocent boy."

He holds up his hands in defence. "Hey, just because I know things doesn't mean I involve in them. My father's enterprise is completely legal."

I look back at the cash and still can't believe the amount I'm seeing.

"Let's go. We still have dinner left."

✄┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

It's the first day of June already?? If you see any typos or mistakes in the chapter, please ignore them. I edited this in the middle of the night in a sleepy trance <3

Words: 4,800

Date of publishing: 1st June 2024