Across seven seasons of Virgin River shenanigans, Brady (Ben Hollingsworth) has survived a stabbing, a town-wide apocalyptic wildfire, hordes of flirtatious glances as he slung drinks at Jack’s Bar, and even fornication on a public pool table (!!!). But the actor behind the character tells Entertainment Weekly he met his match in more ways than one while coupled up on a motorcycle in one of the romantic drama’s best sex scenes yet.

Things revved up atop Brady’s bike (not even figuratively, as he chokes one of the handles moments before the scene in question) at the end of the new season’s ninth episode, just before his on-again, off-again lover, Brie (Zibby Allen), barges into his soon-to-be workshop.

After an intense confession of love following nearly two seasons spent fueling fans’ will-they-or-won’t-they speculation, Brie finally pleads with Brady: “Be with me.” And, uh, they both take the phrase literally.

The pair have sex on top of Brady’s motorcycle, with Brie straddling Brady as he lies back on the bike moments before she rips open his shirt with both hands.

“There’s an abandon with Brady and Brie that’s raw sexy, unlike Mel [Alexandra Breckenridge] and Jack [Martin Henderson] or other couples on the show,” Hollingsworth tells EW. “The spontaneity is also representational of their relationship. It was spontaneous on day one, and it didn’t add up or make sense on paper. It just works. That scene encapsulates that, because we had the pool table in season 6, and that was a pretty epic moment, and the way it was pitched to me was, ‘This scene would make the pool table blush.’”

It also made him wince in pain. “The human body is not meant to have sex on a motorcycle,” he says. “My back hurt for weeks. I was arching my back over that thing. Talk about an ab workout … It might’ve translated as pleasure or lust on screen, but Ben Hollingsworth was in pain!”

But the star, who first appeared on Virgin River‘s inaugural season in 2019, thinks the struggle was worth it.

“I knew it was coming, but I didn’t know it wouldn’t be until episode 9. It felt earned that way,” he says. “Emotionally, when you earn something, it does kind of set the mood for the audience because they feel fulfilled.”

He finishes on a personal note. “I know, personally, when I please my wife emotionally, it translates into something really great,” the father of three says with a laugh.

Hollingsworth also addresses Brady’s ambiguous fate after season 7 ended on a cliffhanger in which the fan-favorite character slid off his motorcycle (yes, the very one that he and Brie used the night before) in a brutal crash in the finale’s closing moments.

When asked if he knows whether Brady lives or dies, Hollingsworth replies, “I do — but I can’t tell anyone!”

“I couldn’t believe it. At first I was like, ‘Is Brady done on the show?’” Hollingsworth recalls of reading the script for the first time. “The moment you read it, it does send a little chill down your back and make you think, ‘Is this the end?’”

Virgin River season 7 is streaming now on Netflix.