The music still pulsed behind her like an echo of her racing heart. heels dangling from one hand like defeated trophies, the other hand clutching her phone sticky with spilled vodka cranberry.
“I swear,” she slurred to herself, “if one more man lies to me, I’ll just start dating clouds.”
“Rough night?”
A calm, low voice cut through the haze like the glint of a blade.
Ava turned and froze.
There she was. Leaning against a sleek black motorcycle, silhouetted in the glow of a flickering streetlamp.
Short dark hair tousled just right.
Blazer over a button-down. Sharp jaw, serious eyes. Handsome Dangerous Beautiful.
Ava blinked, heart stumbling. “Wow. You’re like… illegally attractive.”
The stranger smirked. “That so?”
“Name?” Ava asked, squinting as she stepped closer.
“Rowan.”
“Oh my god. That’s such a hot name,” she said, the words tumbling out unfiltered. “You sound like a sexy assassin.”
Rowan raised an eyebrow. “You always hit on strangers in parking lots?”
“Only the ones who look like sins I wanna commit… and maybe crimes, I dunno, depends on the lighting,” Ava said, already regretting the sentence halfway through.
And then before Rowan could react Ava surged forward and kissed her.
It was clumsy. Warm. Rowan stiffened for half a second before letting it happen—caught in the gravity of this chaotic girl and her alcohol-fueled courage.
They broke apart, breathless.
Rowan touched her own lips, eyes narrowed slightly.
“Do you even know who you just kissed?” she asked, voice unreadable.
Ava giggled. “Mmmhmm. Rowan. Hot biker guy in a blazer. Heartbreaker energy. Five stars.”
Rowan stared at her.
Then—
A hotel room. Somehow they ended up tangled in Ava’s sheets, laughter and fire still crackling in the air.
Rowan was careful, deliberate. She laid Ava down gently, kissing along her neck, one hand slipping under her top with practiced confidence. The fabric slid away like a secret, landing somewhere on the floor.
Ava pulled Rowan close, hands fumbling at the buttons of her shirt. She finally popped the last one—
—and froze.
A bra.
Ava blinked. “Wait—wha—are you… a woman?!”
Rowan leaned back just slightly, her face unreadable.
“You didn’t know that?”
Ava’s world tilted. “No! You—you said Rowan and you looked so—so... sinfully handsome!”
She buried her face in her hands. “Oh god, why did I drink…”
Rowan’s hand was still on her waist, but her eyes flickered with disappointment.
“So… should we stop?” she asked softly.
“What? No!” Ava jolted upright. “I mean—no. I just…”
Her voice cracked. “I’ve never done this before. With a woman. I don’t know how to... how this even works.”
The air went still.
Then Rowan smiled soft, understanding, devastatingly gentle.
“That’s okay,” she murmured, the corner of her mouth twitching like she almost smiled but thought better of it. “Just… relax. Let me do the work, sunshine.”
