Using every piece of intel he has on me like it’s a cheat code is plain unfair.
My stomach growls again, and I shrug. Going to therapy deserves a damn treat. Peeling back the paper, I sink my teeth into the cornetto and groan as chocolate floods my tongue.
God, it’s perfect.
A metallic clinking from the other side of the bus draws my attention, and I carefully slip the wildflower back into the bag and hang it on the door to grab later. Stepping toward the sound, I find Finn and Jim bent over the engine compartment. Finn is dressed differently today, wearing ablue T-shirt and shorts, with a black cap pulled backward on his head. It feels strange, almostwrong, not seeing him in his usual red. The bruises blooming around his eyes are darkening to ugly shades of purple and green, and there’s still tape stretched across the bridge of his nose.
Why the hell am I even noticing?
I chew harder, watching Jim hand Finn a tool. It’s not my damn problem if he gets kicked off his team for skipping mandatory shit just because he’s got it in his head to fix this goddamn bus.
Exceptugh.I can’t let that happen. I can’t feel guilty over yet another thing Finn Greer.
“Morning.”
Finn jerks upright, eyes wide like I just startled him awake, and Jim smiles. “Morning.”
Finn clears his throat. “Morning.”
“We’ve got track walk in a few.” I tilt my chin toward the gondola station. “You coming?”
“Uh.” Finn’s eyes meet mine, and he looks baffled by my implied invitation.
Same.
“Go on,” Jim says, gently nudging his shoulder and handing him a cloth to wipe his hands on. “I’ll finish up here while you’re gone.”
“Thanks.” Finn drags a hand through his messy blond hair, shoving his cap back into place as he steps toward me.
I take a step back. He’s too close, and he smells sweet, maple syrupy, and my chest does that stupid flutter it always does around him. But before I can take another step away, I get caught in the pull of those goddamn blue eyes.
“Al.” His voice is a whisper wrapped in a smirk, but it’s softer than usual. Sadder, almost. His gaze drops to my mouth, and my lungs forget how to work. “You?—”
“What?”
He reaches toward me, brushing the corner of my lips with his thumb. I hold my breath until his thumb slips away, but he doesn’t pull back. Instead, Finn brings that thumb to his mouth, eyes locked on mine as he slides it past his lips.
“Chocolate.”
I fucking hiccup.
He smiles with a shrug. “It’s all gone now.”
My heart thunders so loudly in my ears it’s deafening, and a shiver skitters down my spine.
My messy eating will be the death of me if I keep hanging out with pro riders.
“Let’s go,” Finn says as he strides past me, leaving me standing there like an idiot.
Behind me, Jim clears his throat, but it sounds suspiciously like laughter, and my cheeks flame.
I curse under my breath, which only makes Jim laugh outright, the rich sound following me as I hurry after Finn with my heart pounding, and a taste of sweet nostalgia lingering on my lips.
I catch up to him quickly, our footsteps crunching over gravel and dust. When we finally get to the gondola, Mason and Luc are already standing there, waiting in line alongside Otis, Dane, and Piper.
Dane’s stupidly happy grin is a good distraction as he wraps his arm around Piper’s waist. She smiles up at him, looking disgustingly adorable.
He spent the night in the bus again, but I sent him away for my session earlier. Seems like they missed each other.
