Page 45

“It’s been really busy, Сестра.” He looks at his feet, kicking the rocks back and forth.

“A call would’ve been nice, Viktor. I have nobody here. Your fucking brother ditched me here with nothing but some dejected words.” My anger rises, not so much at him, but more at Dmitri.

“Let’s go if you want to ride. Dmitri bought you a helmet a couple of weeks ago when the bike was delivered.” I sigh, nodding my head. I’m excited to be able to learn how to ride. I’ve been waiting for this for months, trying so hard to speed up the process of learning how to drive, but I had to wait on their schedule until I could drive on my own. Viktor told me Dmitri wanted me to drive alone for a while before he came to teach me the bike.

I follow Viktor to the U-shaped driveway at the front of the house, where a neon pink Ducati Panigale V4 is parked. My jaw drops, an exaggerated gasp falling from my lips. She’s fucking beautiful. I’ve done my fair share of research on bikes, models, videos on how to ride, and the techniques. I researched everything.

I knew what make and model this is, the cc of it, how they built the fucking engine. This is a 1,103cc bike. Its engine weighs 143lbs, has 215 hp, and a top speed of 198.

When I say research, I mean every second I was in my room, I was on my laptop watching YouTube videos of everything.

“I told Dmitri not to buy you the fastest one, but that man never listens. Always wanting the best.” I rush over to the bike, looking over the whole thing while muttering all the specs to Viktor, who chuckles at my knowledge. “Damn, you sure do know a lot, Сестра,” he chuckles, walking over to his truck and grabbing a matching pink helmet, pink X’s, and a smile on the front.

So now, my Kia, bike, and helmet match. He did his best to make me happy, even when he knew it was not what I truly wanted.

“Where is he?” His eyes darken. He knows what I mean. He clears his throat, pulling out his phone before typing a quick text and then pocketing it.

“He is in Russia. He moved back. Damien is in charge of the states, and I bounce back and forth.” He left the country? My heart breaks even more than it already is at his words. He really did leave. Tears threaten to spill over my lids. He abandoned me. Like everyone else. He just keeps proving I’m disposable to everyone.

“He is stupid man, Penelope.” He walks closer to me, leaning to my ear. “Make him regret it,” he whispers in my ear, sending tingles all down my body. He pulls away swiftly, clearing his throat.

“Alright, let’s start lesson one,” he says, walking over to the bike and turning the key, the little thing roaring in the vastness of the fields.

We’re racing down a long straight road, me watching every movement Viktor makes as he talks to me through the helmets. We’ve driven this same road so many times today that I can’t even tell which way is home. “Alright, Сестра, your turnnnn,” Viktor says in a singsong voice, slowing to a crawl and stopping fully on the side of the road.

I giggle, getting off the bike and waiting for him to get off before practically throwing myself on the bike. “Easy there, lead foot. I know you like to go fast in that little Kia of yours, but this bike will kill you if you don-”

I cut him off, hands flying in the air, “Yes, yes, I KNOW. I have spent the last three months watching YouTube, scouring Google, and more time on Reddit and company websites, more than I’ve seen people.” I’m out of breath when I finish, and Viktor’s jaw is pretty much on the road from how far down it is. “Keep it open any longer, a bug is going to fly in there and take a shit.” I cross my arms over my chest, and his jaw snaps shut.

He rubs a hand behind his neck. “Damn, you got a little mean, and you didn’t stutter once.” Pursing my lips and tap my pointer finger and thumb in a repeated pinching motion. Destiny and the group taught me stuff about today’s generation. My gesture means to clock it. He groans at that, “And you know the hip lingo? Oh fucking Christ.” Oh, boo hew.

“Come on, I want to rideeee,” I drawl out the E’s in a childlike, whiny tone. Muttering under his breath, he walks towards me and throws his leg over the bike, shifting behind me to get comfortable. I feel his hands go across my stomach through the leather of my jacket, and I stop breathing.

“Alright, you know what to do, right?” He asks, uncertainty in his tone. I nod my head yes, and start the bike. Holding the clutch down, I shift into first and slowly release the clutch, slowly twisting the opposite handle, the throttle. The bike lurches and stalls, and I shout a very loud ‘fuck’ that has Viktor laughing in his helmet.

I reset, doing all the same steps and triple-checking my movements. The bike goes forward, no stalling. I twist the throttle more until the engine roars to be shifted. Shifting into second, taking my hand off the throttle, and pressing the clutch fast when I move gears. I move into third, then fourth, going over 130 mph. Viktor hasn’t said anything behind me, sometimes adjusting my body to a correct position.

“Alright, slow down to a stop. If you can do that, you can drive us home.” Excitement floods me, and I focus everything I have on slowing down and stopping.

It’s later in the day, and I’m lounging around the pool with my little group of friends. I’m wearing a two-piece pink triangle bikini, showing off all my still-filling curves. Destiny has helped me a lot with my body image.

She’s been working out with me every morning. I sit with my feet and calves in the water, leaning back on my hands while Kai swims around my legs, sometimes tickling my feet, causing him to get a kick to the chest, and he’ll bellow out a laugh.

He’s an attractive man, don’t get me wrong, just not my type. Dmitri is my type. Kai is a man who looks like the sun. Dmitri is the opposite. He is the moon on the darkest night.

Anna and Melody sit in the sun chairs, long flappy hats on their heads. Luna and Destiny are sitting on either side of me, all of us chatting like we’ve known each other for decades.

I know it’s the end of December, but the perks of living in the manor are that they have an Olympic-sized pool inside. An inside pool, and it’s heated. I don’t ever want to leave here.

Obviously, I did perfect on my slow down and stop earlier, and I got to drive home, Viktor yelling at me to ‘TURNNNN’ when I was already turning. Like, get a grip, dude, I know what I’m doing. Viktor said I know more than he gave me credit for, so I have been cleared to ride alone, but not with anyone else until Riot approves. I grumbled at that bullshit.

I told the girls and Kai about my bike ride experience. They all screamed that I need to take them on a ride eventually. I told them all what Viktor said, and they all made their disapproval known. I laugh at them, making sure they know that they’ll get their rides eventually.

“Guys, we should play chicken!” Kai says, excitement screaming from him. Destiny gasps and screams a ‘yes’ and flings her small body into the pool, splashing us all. Melody murmurs a no, as does Luna, as she moves to one of the sun chairs. Anna doesn’t have a choice but to say yes because she’s the only one left. Reluctantly, she slinks into the water.

“Okay, Des, you’re on me. Penny, you’re on Kai,” Anna says, moving towards Destiny. Kai grabs my foot before yanking me hard, pulling me into the pool as I scream for mercy, and he laughs evilly.

Anna stands in the water behind Destiny, and Kai stands behind me. We’re in a sort of shallow part of the pool. Not too deep for Anna to drown because she’s so short, I mean shorter than me, and I’m five-three.