My Fake Boyfriend Is the School Bad Boy novel Chapter 27

Chapter 27 Arms Wrapped Around a Racing Heart

He rolled the throttle back as we exited the curve. The bike surged forward, eating up the straightaway.

My fingers were digging directly into the hard muscles of his stomach. I shifted my grip slightly, my hands sliding just an inch higher, slipping beneath the bottom edge of his open leather jacket to find better purchase against the freezing wind.

My right palm pressed flat against his ribcage, right over his heart.

I expected to feel a slow, steady rhythm. I expected the calm, calculated machine that handled a physical fight with a teacher without breaking a sweat. Ryder Steinmann didn’t panic. He didn’t lose control. He existed in a permanent state of bored indifference.

But as my palm flattened against his ribs met my skin.

His heart wasn’t just beating; it was hammering. It was a wild, desperate, incredibly fast rhythm that crashed against his ribs with brutal force. It felt exactly like the panicked bird trapped in my own chest.

I froze, my breath catching in the confined space of my helmet.

The heavy, rapid thud against my palm didn’t slow down. If anything, as my hand settled fully against his skin, the rhythm spiked, growing even more erratic.

He wasn’t calm.

He was just as affected as I was.

The realization hit me harder than the freezing wind. Just like my perfect grades and starched collars. He had completely manipulated the entire school into believing he was untouchable, but right now, with my arms wrapped around him and the wind drowning out the rest of the world, his body betrayed him.

He was feeling this. The heavy, terrifying gravity of whatever was happening between us was pulling him under, too.

I didn’t pull my hand away.

Instead, I slowly uncurled my fingers, letting my palm rest completely flat against the rapid, heavy beat of his heart. I rested the side of my helmet against the space between his shoulder blades. I closed my eyes again, shutting out the blurring trees and the gray sky.

The fear of the motorcycle completely vanished. The lingering nausea from Mr. Harrison completely evaporated.

The only thing that mattered was the steady, burning heat of his skin beneath my hands and the frantic rhythm telling me I wasn’t falling

apart alone.

The ride didn’t last nearly long enough.

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Chapter 27 Arms Wrapped Around a Racing Heart

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The aggressive roar of the engine dropped to a low, rumbling idle as we turned onto my quiet residential street. The neat, sensible houses

looked entirely out of place compared to the dark, heavy machine carrying us.

Ryder pulled up to the curb right in front of my cracked concrete driveway. He squeezed the brakes, the bike coming to a smooth, heavy

stop. He planted his heavy combat boots on the asphalt, steadying the weight.

He reached down and cut the engine.

The sudden silence was deafening. My ears rang, a high-pitched whine filling the space left behind by the loud exhaust.

I didn’t let go immediately. My arms remained locked around his waist, my cheek still resting against his back. The heavy, frantic beat of his heart had slowed just a fraction, but it was still thumping hard against my palm.

Ryder didn’t tell me to get off. He just sat there, his hands resting on the handlebars, his chest rising and falling with a deep, shaky

breath.

Slowly, reluctantly, I unwrapped my arms. My fingers felt stiff and completely frozen from the wind. I slid back, awkwardly pulling my right leg over the seat, and dropped my feet to the ground. My knees buckled slightly, my muscles weak from the adrenaline and the

vibration of the ride.

I reached up and fumbled with the D-rings under my chin. My fingers couldn’t grip the metal.

Ryder shifted on the seat, turning his upper body toward me. He reached out, brushing my clumsy hands away.

“Let me,” he murmured.

His rough voice sounded incredibly loud in the quiet street. He undid the strap in two seconds, his knuckles grazing my freezing jawline again. He gripped the sides of the helmet and pulled it up and off my head.

The cold air hit my face. My hair was a static, messy disaster, falling around my shoulders in tangled waves.

I looked at him.

He was staring down at me, the dark helmet resting against his thigh. The late afternoon sun was completely gone, leaving the street bathed in the dull, gray light of dusk. The harsh shadows returned to his face, but the look in his hazel eyes was completely unguarded.

It was the same raw, heavy look he had given me in his car yesterday, right before he fabricated the story about the bookstore.

“You okay?” he asked, his voice dropping into that low, gravelly register that made my stomach completely flip over.

‘I’m fine, I breathed. My voice was raspy. I looked down at the scratched leather of his jacket, unable to handle the intensity of his stare.

“The bike is… fast.

The corner of his split lip curved up. “You held on.”

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Chapter 27 Arms Wrapped Around a Racing Heart

“I didn’t have a choice,” I replied, a small, completely genuine smile breaking across my face.

Ryder’s smile faded instantly. His gaze dropped from my eyes down to my mouth, tracking the movement of my lips. The air between us

grew thick, heavy, and completely charged with that same chaotic static electricity from the library.

He didn’t move away. He leaned in just a fraction, the scent of him completely washing over me.

“Raisa,” he started, his voice a dark, rough whisper.

The front door of my house clicked open.

“Raisa? Is that you?”

My mother’s tired voice cut through the heavy silence like a knife.

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