"Congrats, Hamilton," Ryder says to me with kind eyes. "Doesn't surprise me, though. I don't know much about motorcycles, but I do know yours is the nicest one here."

"I wouldn't go that far, idiot," I reply with a soft giggle. Oh no, Corina, we are not starting up that giggly girly shit again. Push it away! "There are plenty of nicer bikes here tonight. Did you see that blue Road Glide? Or the white Street Glide?" I look over to the touring models, longing to have one. They're just so heavy and I can't pick it up.

"I don't even know what those are, idiot," Ryder laughs, looking in the same direction as me. "But I don't have to, because I know for a fact yours is the best," he says while bumping my hip. I bump his back, and lean my head onto his bicep, taking in the moment.

We sit in silence for awhile before Ryder looks down at me, then to my plaque, and asks "do you want me to put that in my car? I don't think it will fit into your little bag, and I don't think it would be safe for you to hold it while you ride home."

"I really appreciate it, thanks." I look up to him and smile. "I don't think I can let go of it just yet, though. Let's walk around and look at some bikes so I can show this baby off." He laughs at me playfully, then walks off, leaving me to run to catch him.

Walking up to Josh and Caitlin, I introduce them to Ryder and start explaining what a Road Glide is. "The saddlebags and fairing is what makes it a touring bike. They're nice to have for long trips. Very comfortable with lots of storage."

"Newbie, huh?" Josh asks while pulling his jacket out of one of the saddlebags. The weather here in Daytona is always nice, but tonight has become quite chilly, dipping down into the low 70's.

"He's worse than a newbie. I don't even think the boy can ride a regular bicycle." Caitlin, who is standing off to the side, laughs at my remark.

"I can to!" Ryder interjects quickly. "It's just... it's been awhile." I roll my eyes at him. "But I have a great teacher here, so I'll be showing up to these things on my own bike in no time." He then drapes his arm over my shoulders, gently squeezing, making the electricity shoot all throughout me. Corina, push the feelings away, damnit!

"Good for you, man," Josh says with a smile. "Hope to see you on a nice bike soon. We'll get together and get some nice shit for it. Gotta make it nicer than Corina's so we can deflate her ego a little." Caitlin comes over, playfully smacking the back of her husband's head.

"Don't listen to him," Caitlin says to me, glaring back to Josh. "I know there's not much more that can be done to Black Betty, but we'll make her unbeatable." With that we all laugh, eventually saying our goodbyes and preparing to leave for home.

Ryder and I stand in front of my bike in silence, admiring the beauty. I tightly grasp my plaque, still not ready to let go when he reaches over to take it out of my hands. "Come on. It's late, idiot. You can admire it when you get home."

"Just a few more seconds. I need to take this all in." I pull it closer to my chest, hugging it as tight as I can, just so happy I won my first bike show in Daytona. I look up to see Ryder smiling down at me, laughing at my love for this plaque.

A few minutes later, Ryder finally convinces me to at least follow him to his car to make sure the plaque is safe and secure in the backseat. After closing the door, I look to him and ask "why did you show up tonight?" He just stares at me, expressionless, so I continue. "I mean, after this morning, you ghosted me again. I don't know, I was just worried I weirded you out and you didn't want to talk to me. I seriously thought it was Gina at the door! If I knew it was you, I would've just yelled through the door and told you to come back later or something. I swear!" Then he starts to laugh. How is this funny?

"Shut up, idiot. Remember, you talk too much when you're stressed." He finally calms his laughing a little. "I'm sorry I ghosted you, again, but let's talk about it tomorrow. I'm tired. I'll make sure your plaque is in your hands first thing in the morning." I go to argue, wanting my plaque as soon as I'm home, but he just laughs again. "Goodnight, Corina." He leans down to give me a hug, and I hold tight, never wanting to let go. He pulls away quick, then enters the driver's side of his car and pulls away. I watch as the tail lights slowly fade away into nothing.

Slowly making my way to the bike, I see Falcon and Bones coming my way. I send them a quick wave, and go to pick up my helmet. "Is that your man?" I hear Bones ask me.

"Not really, just a good friend," I reply half heartedly.

"Well, tell him to get his ass on the back of your bike next weekend when we all ride. You'll need someone there to keep you company," Falcon adds in.

"I think it would bruise his ego to get on the back of a bike with a girl," I reply with a smile. Just picturing Ryder on the back of one of my small Sportsters with little me riding him around makes me laugh. That, right there, would be a sight to see.

"You're probably right, darlin'," said Falcon, laughing. "We'll see you soon." They walk off, and I slip my helmet on and shiver, not excited for this chilly ride home. I should've worn my leathers, damnit.

Pulling into the garage, I appreciate the warm air. Thank God the garage is heated. If I stayed outside any longer I think I actually would have froze to death. Putting my helmet up as I walk, I head inside and go straight to my bedroom, slipping out of my jeans and tank top and into the coziest pajamas I have. Falling face first into my pillows, I hear that familiar knocking on my wall, letting me know my idiot neighbor is bored.

"You know you have my phone number. You can text me instead of knocking on my wall." I don't want to talk at all, though. I just want to sleep.

"Yeah, but this is more fun. It makes me feel kind of like a kid again," he says. "When I was a little kid and got scared, I would knock on the wall, and my parents' bedroom was on the other side. That's when they knew to come comfort me until I fell back to sleep."

"Ryder Cunningham. Scared? I didn't think you felt that emotion," I say sarcastically.

"I've got a lot more to me than meets the eye, Hamilton." He chuckles lowly. "Come over, I'm bored."

"You're always bored, idiot. You come over here, it's cold outside."

"Fine." It takes a few minutes, but soon enough I hear a small knock on my window.

"You know I have a front door, right? My parents aren't here," I tell him, rolling my eyes as I open the window for him to crawl through.

"Using your window is more fun," he says rolling his eyes back at me. "You just now getting back?"

"Yeah, it was freezing! I went so slow to try to keep the wind at a minimum. All I had on was that stupid tank top," I reply, shivering at the memory of the cold ride home.

He looks at me with concern. "Are you still cold?" I nod a little before he comes over and wraps me up in his arms, instantly warming me up. I smile against his body, closing my eyes and taking in the moment.

Ryder breaks the hug long before I was ready, and sits down on my bed. "You got Netflix? I'm feeling a movie night," he says, swinging his legs up and leaning back against my pillows. Laughing at him, I whip out my computer, pulling up Netflix. "Give it to me." He takes the computer out of my hands before I can protest, and turns it away from my gaze. "It's a surprise."

Before long, we're watching the opening of The Benchwarmer with popcorn in between us, and enough bottles of soda to last a normal person a week. Ryder's eyes are glued to the screen, but I'm in no mood to watch a movie. I just want to sleep. Burrowing under my covers, I lay on my side and close my eyes, hoping to at least sleep for a few minutes before he catches me and wakes me back up.

"Wake up, sleepyhead," he whispers, catching me as soon as I start to drift off. I groan and roll over, only for him to shake my shoulders, fully waking me back up.

"I'm tired, idiot, let me sleep." I groan again, trying to get comfortable.

"No." Then, he's does the unthinkable. He starts tickling me. I laugh in response, wiggling around. I try to shove him away, but he's too strong. After a few seconds, I sit up as much as he'll allow me, whimpering out "I'm up! I'm up! Please stop!" He keeps going for another second, then slowly stops the torture. "Fuck you, idiot."

His eyes dart open, and he backs away quickly. "Let's get back to the movie," he says, changing the subject.

"I don't want to," I tell him, closing my laptop. "I want to talk."

"About?" Ryder asks, curiously.

"Today, this morning. You said you wanted to talk about it tomorrow, but why not now? I mean, we're both awake with nothing else to do." His eyes dart away again, staring down to the top of my laptop.

"We have plenty else to do," he says, beginning to open my laptop back up. "We have a movie to finish." I place my hand on the top of the computer, forcing it to stay closed. "Corina, please."

I'm starting to get pissed at him avoiding the topic. "I said I don't want to, Ryder. Please, tell me what's up." I stick my bottom lip out, begging for him to talk to me.

"Fine," he pouts. "Do you really want to know?"

"If I didn't, I wouldn't be asking, idiot."

He takes a deep breath, then opens his mouth to speak, but immediately closes it. I raise my eyebrows, pushing him to talk. "I was scared."

"Of?" I ask, getting fed up with the suspense.

"Well..." he trails off. I nudge him to keep going. "I was scared of not being able to control myself, okay!?" By now he's nearly shouting, and I shush him.

"Control yourself? What do you mean?" I'm beyond confused by what this boy is trying to get at.

"Control myself from you, idiot. I didn't know if I would be able to keep my hands off of you if I saw you again," he's staring off into the distance, and I'm staring at him in disbelief.

"Ryder..." I say, barely able to squeak it out.

"I gotta go," he whispers, taking long strides over to the window. He looks back at me with an emotionless expression before crawling out the window, making his way back to his own.

"Ryder, wait..." I trail off, but it's no use. He's gone. I wait a second and tap on the wall, hoping to hear a tap back, but I hear nothing.

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Updates may be a little off for the next few days! Im getting married in two days and my life is crazy right now lol