pull me back | a drag me down spin off

【fourteen】

When the speed of the motorcycle slows down, and comes to a halt, I remove my head off Riker's back. The ride was such an adrenaline rush, and I loved every second of it. I nearly had a heart attack at first, but eventually got used to the fast speed. Plus, I got to keep my arms tightly secured around his muscular body. So it was a win-win for the both of us.

I slowly take my helmet off and run a few fingers through my hair. Riker hops off the bike and also removes his head gear. He shakes out his messy locks and combs it back with his fingertips.

I finally look at the destination in front of us, to see where we are. It's a small brick building with a green banister on the front.

"We're at a bar?" I question, turning back to look at him.

"Not just any bar, it's a private bar." He smirks and takes my hand in his. "Come on."

He leads me to the back, and my head is reeling. Cement steps appear in front of us, and Riker quickly rushes down them, pulling me with his every move.

A bouncer is standing by the door, and I can hear music thumping from inside.

"Jack, good to see you man." Riker sends him a low grin.

"Riker, right this way." The man makes eye contact with me before opening the door.

A cloud of smoke rushes out from the inside, and the smell of stale cigarettes fills my nostrils. I scrunch my nose up as Riker leads me into the large room. Classic rock music is playing from the jukebox.

As my eyes get adjusted to the dim lighting, I notice some cool things. There's a large TV hanging on the wall, and brown leather couches surrounding them. A pool table is set up in the corner while a mini bar with a girl standing behind it is across from it.

"I thought this was a bar?" I laugh.

"Upstairs is a bar, this is the private downstairs hang out. Pretty cool, huh?" He looks back at me.

"It's awesome." I sincerely say.

"It's exclusive, you have to be pretty popular to even get down here."

"No shock that you are." I bite down on my lower lip.

"What do you want to drink?" We approach the bar, and he raises an eyebrow up.

"Oh, I didn't know we would be drinking-"

"I'm not, since I'm driving. And because it's a motorcycle, I'm extra cautious. But, you can if you want. I don't want you to feel pressured, though." He scratches the back of his neck.

"I guess I'll just take a bud light." I shrug my shoulders, and send him a smile.

"Coming right up." Riker turns to order my drink from the bartender. He slips the woman some money before handing me my beer.

"Thanks, you didn't have to pay for it. Again." I laugh and take a sip.

"Nonsense, it's a date." He smiles down at me and leads me over to a couch in the corner. I notice that a few people have already cleared out of this private room. We take a seat next to each other and I continue to look around.

"This is way different from ice cream, but I love it. I've never been to a place like this before."

"Ice cream and a walk on the beach isn't really my type of atmosphere." He shrugs.

"You're right, that's totally Cameron." I don't mean to bring my best friend up, it kind of just naturally slipped out of my mouth. I nervously gulp and look back at him.

He pauses for a moment, then lets out a sigh. "I'm sorry about what happened at my party yesterday. I have no idea what Jesse was thinking when he made you kiss him. That was probably so uncomfortable."