“And Marcus already put a target on you by sniffing around,” Brian added. “He likes to poke at anything Hank cares about.”
Bree’s gaze swung back to Hank. “Do you?”
“Do I what?” he asked.
“Care,” she said softly.
The question hung there, suspended between engine noise and gull cries and the distant crash of waves.
He didn’t look away. “Yeah. I do.”
Her breath shivered out, a tiny hitch he felt more than heard.
“Okay,” she said. “Then I’ll trust you.”
It wasn’t just about walking through the pits. They both knew that.
Colby cleared his throat. “On that note, we’ve got a riders’ meeting in twenty. Hank, you need to read the updated grid.”
Hank nodded, but his attention stayed on Bree a second longer. “You going back to the hotel?”
Bree glanced toward the hotel. “I probably should. I'll see if Carmen is alright. She loves her sister but hates the drama surrounding her connection with the Red Dragons.”
Bree shifted closer. “You’ll text me later?”
He hadn’t asked for her number yet, but somehow that didn’t surprise him. She reached for his phone, fingers brushing his as she took it, entered her number, and handed it back.
“There,” she said. “Now you can send me the telemetry or dog pictures or whatever it is race guys share.”
He smiled. “Race guys share split times and gear ratios.”
“Thrilling.”
“I’ll throw in a dog picture for you,” he added.
“Now we’re talking.”
On impulse, he reached out and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. She stilled, eyes locked on his. For a second, the pits, the heat, the smell of fuel, all of it fell away.
He could have kissed her. He wanted to. Her mouth parted on a small inhale, like she’d read the thought.
Not here, he told himself. Not with Marcus watching from across the row and rumors ready to flare.
“I’ll see you later,” he said instead.
Her smile told him she’d heard all the words he hadn’t said. “Later,” she agreed.
She turned and headed back toward the path. Heidi was waiting just inside the Red Dragons’ area, arms folded, mouth already moving. Bree listened, then answered calmly, her chin up. Heidi’s eyes flashed; she tossed her hair and sauntered away, hips swinging as she cut a path directly to Marcus.
She stopped in front of him, pressed a hand to his chest, and leaned in to say something that made him laugh. She soaked up the attention like the sun, head tipping back, throat exposed, every inch of her body language screaming Look at me, not at her.
Marcus obliged, his gaze sliding to Bree once Heidi had his attention, a smirk touching his mouth.
Einstein never looked up.
He stayed crouched by the bike, hands working under the seat, focus locked on whatever he was wiring or adjusting. Only when one of the other crew members walked too close did he lift his head, eyes sharp and cold as he said something that made the guy change direction fast.
Hank filed that away.
