Chapter 66: Ice Cream & Ride.

Max ate his ice cream slowly, the spoon scraping softly against the glass bowl. He didn’t go after Blanka because there was no point, it was not like he wanted to date her or could give her what she wanted. Everyone has a decision to make, and hers was simply not to accept the way he lived. He couldn’t blame her for that.

Hmm, it’s good

The cold ice cream melted on his tongue, sweet and smooth, the chill spreading through his mouth and down his throat. The soft music in the background played quietly, plates clinking here and there, low voices blending into a calm hum.

The restaurant hadn’t changed at all, only his table felt emptier now. Max just sat there and finished his dessert like nothing happened, posture straight, movements normal, like this was just another evening, he didn’t know if he was still friends with her or not. Maybe not.

Maybe I am a pathetic person in her eyes?

He paused for a second, then took another spoon without thinking too much about it. Overthinking never fixed anything. The world didn’t stop for heartbreak, and neither did he.

It’s just sad, I couldn’t get her to help Saoirse, I think I should personally intervene, sigh!

Max stood up while wiping his mouth with a napkin. He had already paid for the ice cream, the empty bowl pushed slightly aside, the cold sweetness still lingering on his tongue.

There was no reason to sit any longer. His mind was no longer on Blanka, it had already shifted elsewhere, turning over plans, thinking about how to get close to Saoirse naturally and not look like some creep following her around.

Well, going to her restaurant is a nice way to think more, maybe I will take Machina and Jeanne there, same-age girls would help her open up more.

The idea sounded simple and clean in his head. Girls talk easier with girls. Less pressure. Less suspicion. More natural bonding.

Max walked out with his hands in his pockets, thoughts stacked one over another, and when he reached the lobby desk and received two helmets in hand from the attendant, he paused for a second, slightly surprised.

He came with Blanka, and she was so excited to keep that red helmet earlier. For a brief moment her smiling face flashed in his mind. He smiled faintly, then took both helmets without saying anything.

The elevator doors slid open with a soft chime and carried him down to the basement parking.

There she stood, as pretty as she was the first day.

The red bike waited alone under the white lights, paint deep and glossy, reflecting the concrete floor like a mirror. Clean. Sharp. Quiet. Like it had been waiting only for him.

Max walked toward it slowly, the noise in his head fading away, right now… he just wanted to ride.

Max pulled out his phone. If he was going to ride, he might as well ride properly, not just circle around the city. His thumb moved across the map calmly, zooming out of Munich, tracing the highways like lines on a board. He wanted open roads, long stretches, no traffic lights, no stops, no restrictions. Just engine and wind.

A92 Autobahn, will take me total two hours to Deggendorf town and come back here, it’s 06:30 in the evening, 08:30 and I can come back and study, while I am at it, I will use the Palladium Card to get more money from there and withdraw a few hundred thousand euros around that town.

The route looked clean. Straight lines. Few exits. Perfect for speed. Perfect for thinking.

Max nodded. The plan was simple. Dinner was done, nothing tying him down tonight. He texted Machina that he would be late, then put the phone away and wore his helmet. The red extra helmet in his hand suddenly felt bothersome now that he planned to ride hard and fast. Carrying weight behind him at high speed wasn’t ideal.

I’ll drop it in the grocery store near the apartment.

He locked the extra helmet securely on the rear hook, tightened it once to make sure it wouldn’t move, then slid his backpack over his shoulders. This would help him carry the cash home. His credit card didn’t support bank transfer yet, so physical withdrawal was easier. If he cleared this special mission with Jennifer, the card would get a free upgrade.

Max, as usual, sat on the bike while wearing his helmet, the routine flowing naturally. His legs did their job while his hands did theirs, one foot pushing the ground lightly to roll the bike back, the other stabilizing the weight, fingers tightening the strap under his chin, then guiding the handle straight and taking the bike into position where he could get out of the parking lot ramp smoothly without needing to adjust again.

*BRRRRRRM*

The dry clutch roared alive inside the enclosed parking lot, the sharp metallic rattle echoing off the concrete walls and pillars, turning the whole place into an amplifier. Max cracked his neck once, rolled his shoulders, then twisted the throttle hard.

Slow mode on. Inside the parking lot you needed to be careful, pillars, cars, blind corners everywhere, but there was no speed limit, so he often did that. The whole world slowed down for him, movements stretching, reflections clearer, distances easier to read, every shadow and tire mark visible like a map.

He slipped through the ramp within a second, weight shifting naturally with the bike, clutch feathered, brake controlled, exiting smooth without jerks. Outside, the valet who helped him park earlier looked over, surprised by how fast he came out.

Max didn’t stop fully, just rolled near him, handed the man a €50 tip with two fingers, then turned the bike toward his apartment. He would just drop the helmet there and head straight for the highway exit.

It took him ten minutes with city traffic and restrictions to pass his apartment. Red lights, pedestrians, slow cars, everything forcing him to ride clean and patient inside the streets.

He stopped once near the small grocery near his building, dropped the extra helmet there like he planned, and the grocery lady was kind enough and recognized him as she called him ’Tall Handsome guy’. Max just smiled faintly, nodded once, didn’t talk much, then rolled the bike back out to the road.

The night lights were cool, neon signs reflecting off the wet asphalt, street lamps stretching long shadows behind him, but once he reached the Autobahn exit the air changed. The city noise disappeared.

The road opened wide and empty, cold wind brushing against his jacket. He pulled over to the side for a second and chained up the jacket zipper properly, tightened his gloves, checked the straps, then looked ahead at the long black road fading into darkness.

The Autobahn had restrictions in some places, but there were long sections with almost nothing, and he could go all out for about sixty kilometers of his one hundred forty-five kilometer journey.

Let’s see if I can cross the BMW test stretch of 60 kilometers in 15 minutes.

He lowered his visor slowly, the world narrowing to the road ahead, the glass tint cutting off everything else until only the black ribbon of highway remained in front of him.

He guessed the backpack on his back would decrease his speed a little, the extra drag catching more wind at high velocity, so he was not counting on pulling the maximum speed this machine could reach, which was 322 KPH, but even then, more than enough for tonight.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep