She watches me as I straddle my bike, favoring my leg. Her gaze is full of concern, but she doesn’t say anything.
“It’s fine,” I say, in reply to her unasked question. “Grateful for a day of rest tomorrow.”
Her expression turns thoughtful. “Do you have any plans?”
I pause in the act of pulling on my helmet and gloves. “Not really. You?”
“I was thinking of taking a ride. Maybe one of the canyon roads.”
“Sounds good.” Frankly, I’d be happy to do anything with her.
“But then, that’s not resting your leg, is it?”
“No, but… I could manage an hour or two on the bikes.”
“Maybe we should lounge around at home, watch old movies, and stuff ourselves with pizza.”
It’s a nice suggestion, but she doesn’t sound like her heart’s in it. “Maybe we should head up to Franco’s, grab some lunch, and have a rematch on our game of pool.”
Her grin is a thing of beauty, and her eyes sparkle. “You’re on, Romeo. But you’re going down. I’m better than you.”
“Better than me at pool?”
“You betcha.”
“And riding?”
“Better believe it.”
I nod sagely. “And parachute jumping?”
“Uh-huh,” she says slowly, catching on.
“So youarejust good at everything.”
She narrows her eyes. “Don’t put me on a pedestal, Declan.”
“Put you across my knee.”
“Yeah.” She nods. “Do that, instead.”
Then she slaps her visor closed and rides off.
I grin, kick my bike into gear, and chase her.
“Two days left,”Cole tells us in the chopper on Thursday morning, his voice crackling through my headset.“We’re focusing on speed and accuracy. Fifteen-hundred feet is the jump height, immediate deployment.And Cammy’s set a ring target for us to land in.”
Raven adjusts her mic.“Prizes for closest to the bull?”
I grin at her competitiveness, my own rising to meet it.
“Ten jumps today,”Dario drawls.“Hundred bucks on the closest? Who’s in?”
“Sure,” I agree. It’s cheaper to blow a hundred bucks than it is to back out and lose face, and Dario knows it. Besides, he won’t be the one to beat.
“I’m in.”Raven doesn’t hesitate.
Renner gestures with a hand to signal his agreement, eyes closed as usual, and Cole smiles.“Fine. I don’t mind getting paid for my time.”
