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Hi!  

Some of you noticed that it took longer than usual to get this out. On the last chapter, 1 out of every 16 readers voted. It takes me a while to write each chapter, and a second for you to vote. So if you're enjoying the story, let me know by voting. It's the feedback that keeps me motivated <3

Thank you to @_.drishxti._ for the poster!

Chapter 59: Slow down

I stood in the middle of a desert. Sand filled the landscape as far as I could see. A small line split the sky from sand, and it made me feel like I was one grain in trillions. One life out of billions. People have come before me and people will come after me.

How much of the world will I see?

I stared at the desert like it was one giant hourglass. I could see the group in front of me, taking in the instructor's speech. I guess I was just going to wing this.

Or ask Luke.

I watched him half listen to the instructor, his arms crossed over his broad chest. The sun glinted off his skin and created small shadows under the curves of his muscles. That desert heat made him hot. Made us both hot.

He turned his head to look back at me and seemed surprised to catch me already staring at him. It was a cute look though, and his lips curled into an even cuter smile.

He turned his back to the instructor and walked towards me, bridging the empty space between me and everyone else.

Something about the desert and today being the last day of the year made this different. The space between us and the golden ground beneath us felt like he was crossing worlds. From his to mine.

I used to feel so incredibly lonely. Despite going to school every day and being surrounded by people, I felt like I was living in a desert. Which is ironic, since I am in an actual desert right now, feeling anything but alone.

It sounds crazy to say, but Luke disrupted my lonely world without even realizing it. He saw me instead of seeing through me and that stunned me.

Luke kissed me, taking me partly by surprise. His lips were smooth to touch and my eyes fluttered shut. The wind wrapped around us as the sun beat down overheard. The heat created such a dense air between us that his soft lips felt like water on my chapped ones.

He tilted his head to kiss me so that his red cap wouldn't get in the way.

I pressed my fingers against the tip of his cap to pull it up slightly so I could see his vibrant blue eyes even better. Strands of his black hair fell loosely over his forehead.

It felt unbelievable to stare at him and have the desert landscape behind us. One year ago, I would never have imagined the two of us to be here, like this.

"Smile!" Oma called out to us with camera raised to take pictures.

We broke apart from our kiss, but his arms stayed around me. While she snapped a photo, we could see the instructor standing irritated behind her.

Luke said to me, "You not paying attention is cute until you crash into me on your quad bike."

His hand slipped into mine.

"You're not paying attention too," I argued, wrapping my fingers around his hand.

"I have a driver's license," he answered as we started to walk back towards the others.

"So do I!"

He scoffed at that.

**

~Luke's POV~

I stared at her. Sunglasses on and her hands wrapped around the handlebars, Millie was the hottest girl.

She revved the engine. Her hair was in a ponytail and I liked being able to see her neck. I kept watching the end of her ponytail bounce against the cape of her smooth neck.

Chad nudged me as he walked past, "You're getting too soft."

I turned to the boys on their quad bikes. They wanted to race and were busy calling out the stakes. Chad tried to raise it to a level none of us were interested in.

"Luke," Austin called me over, breaking away from Chad and Oma.

I went to him, knowing I did not want to have this conversation.

Austin knows me so well I can't even look him in the eye without him guessing something's up. I stood opposite him, waiting to hear whatever he had to say.

"How you doing?" he asked.

"I've been better."

"She doesn't know?"

"No and it's going to stay that way."

Austin disagreed, "You should tell her man."

I walked away. I didn't want to talk about it. Why did this vacation have to f*ck with my relationships?

**

~Millie's POV~

I pressed my foot on the peddle and started to drive.

The sound of the quad bikes made it hard to have a sincere conversation. Austin was driving in circles in front of us. But I still tried to give it a go. I brought my bike to the same speed as Chad's.

"Thank you!" I told him, while he was posing for a selfie over on his bike.

"No sweat," he answered, lowering his phone and driving with his left hand, "What for?"

"For bringing us all here."

"MILLIE!" Cearra yelled from her bike.

We drove our bikes towards each other, and she was practically bouncing on hers.

"Can you believe we're doing this?" she exclaimed but was interrupted by the sound of her cell phone ringing, "Ugh! My mom has the worst timing."

"Answer it," I encouraged her, as we followed the instructor.

He was yelling at the boys who had started to drive out of control, out of bounds and out of the speed limit. Who knew there was a speed limit in the desert?

The instructor had made it very clear he wanted us to not reach maximum speed.

"We're quad biking, mom. Let's speak later!" Cearra said.

"Be safe! I'll call you later. Love you!"

Cearra's mom had bought her an international calling card to only be used for calling her and emergencies. If I even thought about making a call from my cell phone, I'd be broke. Besides, the chance of me missing a phone call from my mom was -0%.

"Girls! Are you really going to let the boys beat us?" Oma called out to us, pointing at the guys ahead of us, "We're letting them have all the fun!"

She revved her engine and drove faster to catch up to them. Cearra and I followed suite. I pressed down on the pedal and lowered my head, to avoid wind and sand flying into my face.

We raced over sand chasing a clear blue sky on the horizon. Eternally impossible to reach.

I saw Luke on his quad bike at the top of a dune. His shape created a long shadow in the sand. I saw him slow down and turn his head towards my bike.

Then he drove fast down towards me. He swerved so we were driving in parallel and called out, "Do you know where the break is?"

"Why do you always think I can't drive?" I called out back, hitting the bike's limit.

"Because you can't!" Luke yelled back.

The wind whipped against my ears, making it hard to hear. Without realizing, we found ourselves at the front of the competition.

We were going downhill now.

"Don't press the front brake hard or you'll flip over," Luke called out.

OK, I'll admit I didn't know that.

My hands were vibrating over the handles as we drove so fast down it. 

I very slowly pressed the brakes, turning my quad bike a little to create more friction.

"Brake in a straight line!" he yelled out, "Or you'll skid."

OK, I didn't know that either.

I pushed my body backwards to balance out the weight on the bike.

We crossed the finish line within seconds of Chad, Oma and Austin. Chad stood up on his bike and yelled out victory.

Luke took his helmet off and came directly towards me, "Did you know where the break was?"

"Yes! It's here," I pointed at what I seriously hoped was the brake.

I like it when he's scared for me. He gets angry like this and I think it's adorable. Obviously, I would never tell him that.

Luke helped take my helmet off, "You're crazy, Minnie."

"You were right there with me!" 

He smirked, "At least we now agree on who's the good driver."

My hair tumbled out of its squished ponytail. I grabbed my hairband before it fell. I saw his eyes flicker to my hair before locking with my eyes again.

"Quad bikes don't count," I argued, "I'm still a good driver of actual cars."

"Are you? Name one time you-"

"I saved a raccoon!"

He paused and looked down at the sand. "I should've seen that one coming."

**

The instructor held Oma's camera in his hand.

Our bikes were lined up, side by side with a backdrop of a sand dune behind us. I was standing on the back of Luke's bike, pressing one hand down on his shoulder for stability. The other hand was raised in a peace sign. Cearra was beside me, doing the same behind Austin.

"Smile for the camera!"

And that was it. We quad biked over sand dunes on new year's eve. 

**

The ride back was long but nice. I sat in the back of the van with Luke and had my head resting on his shoulder. We were dirty from the sand but that didn't bother me anymore. My hand was lazily resting on his knee and his hand was over mine. His head rested on mine and his beautiful blue eyes were closed.

"Luke, what's your playlist?" Chad called out from the front of the van.

Luke opened his eyes and spoke in a low voice, "Let Millie pick."

"Me?" I asked, as if there was another Millie here.

Luke handed me his phone to choose the next song. It was already connected via Bluetooth to the stereo.

"Choose anything," Luke told me, "Don't think about what they want to listen to."

DJ's are under such pressure to bring the mood. I clicked the search bar and typed in a song. After a few seconds, it started to play.

Sun-EL Musician - Sonini feat. Simmy & Lelo Kamau

**

We arrived back at Chad's villa in the mid-afternoon. We were dusty and dirty, but there was palpable excitement in the air. A morning in the desert had rejuvenated us and we were excited for where the evening would take us.

This was New Year's Eve and it had started off incredibly.

I entered the villa hungry. I wanted to take a shower and a nap and all my needs dissolved when I saw her...

Bianca was standing in a sundress in the middle of the entryway.

Like a horror movie.

"Welcome back," she greeted us, "I think it's time we all have a little chat."

The front door closed behind us. 

I whispered, "Does she want to kill us?"

A/N: We're about to get into Chapter SIXTY.  What is Bianca going to do?  And what is Luke hiding?

Please remember to vote - it takes you only a second and it takes me a lot longer to write! I would love it if more than 1 out of every 16 readers vote!

See you next time or on Instagram before then :) There'll be a quasi-giveaway on it next week.

Natalie

IG: @NatalieInACorner

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