“Have you ever seen your father scared of anything?” Aaliyah asked, and Dominic looked at her, not liking the sound of it.
“Aaliyah, don’t act too mischievous,” Dominic said, and Aaliyah smiled.
“If your answer is no, your father is in for a bumpy ride,” Aaliyah chuckled, and Dominic shook his head, walking back to his bike.
“Ashton! Are you ready for a kiss?” Aaliyah chuckled at him, making fun of the time she saved him.
“Stop it. There are no rules like that here,” Ashton said, and Aaliyah smiled.
“Are you sure?”
Ashton’s gaze flickered to the rule board before he read the line.
“The winner can kiss anyone from the opposite gender participating in the race,” Looking at the line, Ashton felt more scared for Aaliyah than himself.
“Enough chit-chat. Let’s get going,” Nathan walked to Aaliyah before sitting behind her, and Aaliyah noticed how Samantha sat behind Ashton and Momo sat behind Mr. Volkov.
“We have to win this, Mr. Volkov,” Momo shouted, and Aaliyah grinned.
‘I know you are excited, Momo, but I am sorry. You can’t win with me here,’ Aaliyah thought before starting the bike and riding to the starting line.
“Will you be able to at least compete and enter the top ten?” Nathan asked smugly, and Aaliyah didn’t comment on that.
If Nathan thought sitting behind a racer, who doesn’t even care about her life when racing, was a good idea, he didn’t know what kind of surprise he was in for.
“Racers ready? Wear your protection properly. The hill is steep, and race at your own risk. Remember, life is more important than a trophy,” The host announced, and Aaliyah cracked the bones in her neck.
“Do you think my son likes you?” Nathan asked Aaliyah out of the blue, and her hand froze.
“What makes you ask that?”
“I have never seen him looking at anyone like the way he looks at you,” Nathan scrunched his brows.
For the first time, he felt that his cold-hearted son was capable of this feeling too. In the span of two hours, he witnesses more emotions in Dominic’s eyes than he saw in a year.
Jealousy, protectiveness, love, affection, care, anger, frustration, irritation, annoyance, and helplessness. There is hardly any emotion left.
“What makes you think that? And why do you think you can tell this to his student? Aren’t you afraid this behavior will make things harder for your son? For all you know, I might start to hate him now,” Aaliyah asked, bringing him out of his thoughts, and he cleared his throat, feeling troubled.
She was right. What if the girl knew nothing about it, and he put his son in a tough spot?
“You won’t tell him, right?” Nathan asked, and Aaliyah chuckled.
“The results of this race will decide that. Hold on tight, uncle. I won’t want to lose because of you,” Aaliyah said before accelerating the bike, and Nathan rolled his eyes before placing his hand on her shoulder.
Just because this girl doesn’t know about his background, she was taking him so lightly. If she knew who he was, she wouldn’t be saying this. Hold on tight? She barely looks like the type who would finish the race, let alone win it. Nathan told himself.
“One, two, three, go!” The host shouted, and Aaliyah accelerated the bike before starting, Nathan’s hold immediately tightening on her shoulders in shock.
“Mr. Nathan, hold tighter. I am a competitive person, and I won’t think twice before throwing you on the cliff to win,” Aaliyah said, and judging from how fast she was moving, he didn’t doubt that anymore.
“I will win this time, Aaliyah,” Ashton shouted, and Aaliyah smirked before accelerating the bike, making a swift turn on the cliff, and Nathan gulped.
“In your dreams!” She shouted back before chuckling.
Swaying her bike like a psycho professional racer, Aaliyah smiled in the fresh air before turning again, almost throwing themselves into the cliff, and Nathan shuffled closer to her, trying to keep his strong facade.
“We will win this for sure, uncle. I won’t let you lose,” Aaliyah said.
Well, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to win this race anymore. His safety sounded more precious to him at this moment. Nathan pressed his lips into a thin line.
“Mr. Volkov!” Aaliyah rode with him before winking at Momo, and the latter raised her brows.
“I didn’t know you were this good,” Momo looked at Aaliyah in awe. She had heard from David that Aaliyah is into bikes, but she had never imagined she was such a good racer too.
“Look ahead!” Momo shrieked in horror, and Nathan closed his eyes too, but Aaliyah passed them swiftly, barely leaving enough space to turn in time.
Taking a deep breath, when he felt the bike still moving, Nathan opened his eyes slowly, his gaze falling on the bike’s speed, and he bit his lips when he saw 180 km/hr speed.
“Little girl, I think you should slow down a bit,” Nathan said, but Aaliyah only looked at the people still riding ahead of her.
“I have a question for you, uncle. In a hypothetical scenario, if your son likes me, will you accept me? I don’t think you support your son from what I have seen,” Aaliyah slowed down a bit to hear his response.
“I won’t,” Nathan said without a second thought.
He won’t accept any girl for his son until he is sure she is the right fit for him and the family. He will have to make sure that the girl isn’t using his son for his wealth and power, and more importantly, any normal girl wouldn’t accept their background easily. So they need to keep everything in mind.
So thinking about accepting a mere schoolgirl was not even a question. Nathan was about to explain and say he wouldn’t because she doesn’t know anything about them, but Aaliyah didn’t give him any chance as her demeanor immediately turned cold.
He won’t accept her for his son? His words echoed in her head, and she accelerated the bike, her acceleration catching Dominic, Momo, and Sandra off-guard while Ashton just bit his lips before accelerating his bike to reach her and tell her to slow down.
Sitting behind the boy who was oozing manly vibes, Sandra felt a bit contemplated, and her heart skipped a beat as she looked at his veiny hands.
Was she really getting attracted to this 19-year-old? She was 23 years old, and there wasn’t much difference in their ages, but it wasn’t right. He was Dominic’s student.
“Miss Sandra, please hold tight,” Ashton said, and Sandra bit her lips before holding his waist now, almost hugging him.
Ashton, who only thought she was holding him to make sure she didn’t fall, turned the bike swiftly at the cut, making her tighten her hold.
“Don’t worry, I won’t let you fall,” Ashton said, and Sandra’s heart skipped a beat again.
She has encountered countless men in her profession, but how many have been able to give her this kind of protected feeling?
“It’s okay. I trust you, Ashton,” Sandra said, and Ashton’s hands on the clutch froze for a second before he accelerated again.
“Aaliyah!” Ashton shouted as he rode behind her.
Accelerating the bike even more, she passed the person who was riding in the first place, and Nathan looked at the back of the unyielding girl with a complicated look.
What is this feeling? Why does he feel like his earlier presumption about her was slightly wrong? She was just a schoolgirl, so how could she ooze such dangerous vibes like she was some gang memb – Nathan paused his thoughts.
If that had been the case, Dominic had told him earlier when they were on the cruise, dining together.
Seeing the finish line after a small cliff, Aaliyah gave the last acceleration to the bike before making it jump over the cliff, landing back on the hill with a jerk, and Nathan felt his back hurting a little.
Stopping the bike with a screech at the finish line, she didn’t get down from the bike immediately, her mind swirling around what Dominic’s father said to her.
“I… I don’t think it was a good idea,” Nathan grumbled before getting down from the bike and sitting on the bench as the rest of the bikes started arriving one by one.
“Aaliyah, you -” Ashton shouted before looking at her dark gaze.
What is this? Usually, she has the biggest smile on her face after racing. Why is she angry today?
Ashton’s gaze shifted to Mr. Volkov’s father, who didn’t look in a good shape.
“Dad, are you okay?” Dominic walked to him with a smug look, and Nathan opened his eyes.
“You brat! Why didn’t you say -” Nathan ran away to puke, and Dominic pressed his lips into a thin line before grabbing a water bottle.
“I did warn you, remember?” Dominic smirked, and Nathan glared at him.
Sandra, who was smitten by Ashton, finally looked at the girl. Aaliyah was probably among the few people who made her father this uncomfortable. Sandra smirked, her smile faltering a bit when she saw Ashton pulling Aaliyah for a hug.
“Are you still angry about what happened on the cruise? I am not going anywhere, so what’s the big idea? Who provoked you?” Ashton said, and Dominic turned to them with an interesting look.
“What did you say to her?” Dominic’s cold voice was no joke, and Nathan coughed uncomfortably.
How can he tell his son what he said to her?
“Well, well, well, this was a mind-blowing competition, and I had never thought that the winning person would be an 18-year-old girl. Here is your prize,” The host walked to her with a small little-finger-sized trophy that had the image of an island carved on it.
“So, would you like to kiss anyone from the crowd here?” The host asked, and Aaliyah took off her helmet, her hair falling loosely on her back, taking many boys by surprise.
“He is here,” Aaliyah said before she looked at Dominic.
However, rather than walking to him, she turned to Ashton, making everyone who knows them raise their brows.
Grabbing his hand, she kissed the back of his hand before smiling at him.
“This friendship is more precious to me than you can ever imagine,” she kissed his cheeks, and Ashton’s face immediately flushed while Sandra squinted her brows.
She thought something was going on between this girl and Dominic. So why did the girl miss the opportunity and kissed her friend instead? To protect Dominic’s reputation? Or is all of this just in their heads?
“You guys wait for me in the restaurant,” Aaliyah said, and they nodded before leaving.
Dropping her gaze, Aaliyah got down from the bike before giving the keys to the host, walking to the other side of the cliff, her gaze flickering to Nathan.
The coldness and attitude in her eyes were the same as his son’s. Turning his gaze to his son, whose eyes had turned a bit darker, Nathan felt awkward.
He might’ve really ruined his son’s big idea. He doesn’t even know if his son was thinking of telling her his feelings on this trip, and he told Aaliyah he wouldn’t accept her for his son. Nathan looked at Benjamin.
“Hey, I think I did something wrong,” Nathan said to his elder son, and Benjamin chuckled.
“So brace yourself for it. Dominic doesn’t look too happy right now. I told you to not interfere right now. Everything has a time. We could’ve scared her away later, but now -” Benjamin chuckled before walking to the restaurant, followed by Sandra, who just shook her head at their father.
“Seriously, dad. You screwed up. No wonder he didn’t want us here,” Sandra sighed, and Nathan raked his hand in his hair before looking at his son, who was standing in front of Aaliyah, who was holding his collar now.
Nathan quirked his brows before looking away. There was just something about this girl that he wasn’t able to pinpoint, and he didn’t like the idea of it.