Fuck that.
Fuckallof it.
“Sure.” I tip my head, pulse buzzing, and lean in just a little. “Remember how I won Leogang this season? How I was faster than every man who’severraced that course?”
Luc barks a laugh. “Pretty unforgettable.”
“Legendary,” Mason adds from beside him.
“Cool.” I smirk. “Just wanted you all to know I did that on my period.Day one.”
Finn chuckles, and Mason presses a fist to his mouth like it’s the only thing holding back a full laugh, but it’s Luc who cackles loudly as he spins the camera back to himself, beaming.
“You hear that,boys? She’s better than all of us,even while she’s bleeding.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Finn
Even though the windows are cracked, the van Alaina’s dad rented for us still smells of mud, chain grease, and too much adrenaline.
We’ve been driving in silence for at least ten minutes. Not awkward silence, but the kind that comes after qualifying, when your brain is still catching up with your body and you’re trying to figure out whether the run felt good because itwasgood or you’re just lying to yourself to keep from spiraling. Even though I didn’t race today, I still know that feeling.
Luc props his boots on the dash like he owns the place and breaks the quiet first by shit-talking Mason.
“You’re awfully smug for someone who was only three-tenths ahead of me.”
I grip the steering wheel and glance over to spy Mason and Luc, who are squished together on the passenger bench thanks to the bikes stuffed in the back.
“Three-tenthsisahead,” Mason says dryly, not even looking away from his protein bar.
“Barely. That’s like a long blink.”
“Still in front.”
“You know qualifying doesn’t mean shit, right? Tomorrow is what counts.”
Mason grins at Luc. “Or I just have the better lines, and you should have paid attention on the track walk.”
Luc groans like he’s in pain. “Did you just hit me with the grandpa logic? That’s Greer’s job.”
“Shut it,” I mutter. My voice comes out a little flatter than I mean it to, but neither of them comments on it.
Otis stayed behind with Jim to grab food after qualifying, but the rest of us just wanted to go home. Not even to rest.
To see her.
Even though I know she’s fine, Dane and Piper are there. She’s safe. But my chest has been tight since we left this morning, like something is off. I should’ve insisted she come with us, even though we all agreed she shouldn’t.
Even if I was the one who helped talk her out of it.
Shewantedto come. Said she didn’t care what the crowds or the UCI threw at her, that she’d already bled for this place, so what’s a few glares and headlines? But it wasn’t true, not all the way. I know what the pressure does to her. How she pretends it doesn’t get in while it eats her alive under the skin. I’ve seen it.
The only thing that got through—reallygot through—was Dane. He gently laid it out for her, saying that if she showed up today, she’d pull all the spotlight from what Mason and Luc are trying to build.
So, she stayed home, and I told myself that was enough, that she’d be okay, that she had people with her, but fuck if my head wasn’t still stuck on her the entire day.
Alaina and the Raines. Alaina and the UCI. Alaina andeverything.
