The “beast” roared, the wind whipped, and the engine between her thighs made her body vibrate. Both arms wrapped tightly around him, her chin on his shoulder, she leaned into him and enjoyed the ride, hoping he couldn’t tell how excited he made her.

Her scarf flapped around her ears, loosening even more, until it flew away. She twisted around to watch it billow and soar like a black kite, before landing in a crumple on the asphalt.

The town dropped away, the businesses thinned, until there was nothing on either side of the highway but wide, open meadows. Colorful wildflowers mixed with the tall grass and scrubby brush.

Her gaze snagged on something in the distance. What the heck is that? In the middle of the field stood a large, wooly animal—

“That’s a bison.” She bounced in her seat, her helmet clacking against his, as she gestured to the side of the road. “Pull over, please.”

He slowed, easing onto the shoulder. Idling, he dropped both legs to the ground. “What’s up?”

“I want to take a picture.” She climbed off the bike.

“Of what?”

“That’s a bison.” Digging around in her purse, she pulled out her phone and hustled back the way they’d come. Her high heels wobbled, the soles crunching on gravel. After she took a few shots, she pulled up the best picture and started to send it…

When she remembered.

The two people she would’ve sent it to were no longer her friends.

All the freedom she’d felt on the back of that bike, the wind blowing in her hair, fizzled out like a damp firecracker.

She felt a wall of powerful energy at her back. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I’m just going to send this to…my parents. They’ll get a kick out of it.” She took in the scene around her, the puffy white clouds scudding across a bright blue sky, the yellow, red, and white flowers dotting the meadow.

“You okay?”

She tried to rally and give him a smile, but the loss had her firmly in its grip. It hurt that Marcel had cheated. It sickened her that Fabiana could be so two-faced.

But, in the end, she wasn’t out a fiancé so much as alone in the world. There weren’t many she could trust, and so she’d given it all to them. Now, she had no one. “Sure.”

The skin around his eyes crinkled, and he seemed to struggle before giving her a terse nod. “We should get you to your appointment.”

“Of course.”

But, in that moment, she didn’t know how she could do it. She’d rather swim with stinging jellyfish than try on her wedding dress.

“I’m sorry to be so difficult.”