CHAPTER ONE
Alaina
Hiccup.
Fuck.
Laughter rings out behind me, slicing through the low murmur of the people gathered around. My helmet does nothing to mask the noise.
“What’s the matter, Crews? Acting all tough but getting nervous hiccups?” Isla Raine’s voice drips with amusement.
My nemesis. The girl who’s been breathing down my neck for years, waiting for me to slip. If she had a hobby outside of mountain biking and being insufferable, it would be manifesting my downfall.
My jaw tightens, and my gloved fingers clench around my grips.
Of all times, my body picks now to betray me. I’m standing at the top of the biggest race of my life, the last of this year’s Junior Women’s World Cup in downhill mountain bike racing. The air crackles with adrenaline, thick with the scent of dirt and sweat. Every muscle in my body is primed, coiled, and ready to launch, and my goddamndiaphragm has decided to sabotage me as it always does when I’m nervous.
Isla laughs again behind me, and I glance back just long enough to catch her glaring through her lightly tinted goggles, then snap my gaze forward.I’m second to last in line for the start, with only her behind me, but it doesn’t matter. I always leave everything for the race, not the qualifying runs.
I try to calm down and breathe through my nose, but before I can stop it…
Hiccup.
More laughter. This time, it’s deeper, smugger, and belongs to Isaac Raine. Walking ego, king of unsolicited opinions, and Isla’s older brother.
“Sounds like she’s about to choke,” Isaac taunts. His words are mocking, but there is real loathing in his gaze when I glance back another time. “Maybe you should just call it quits,Hiccups.Make it easier on yourself.”
Asshole.I hate that nickname.
This isn’t just about today’s race. It’s about years of him coming in second, never first. Always losing to my brother and always living in someone else’s shadow.Now, I’m the one casting shadows over his sister.
Something tugs at my helmet, and a gloved hand hooks around my chin guard to pull my head to my left.
Finn.
He makes me meet his eyes. Steady blues that cut through the chaos swirling inside me. “Don’t let them get in your head, baby girl. Actions speak louder than words.”
My chest tingles with butterflies, another annoying reaction I haven’t been able to train out of my body. I need to get my pulse under control, need to focus, but it’s impossible to ignore the fact that Finn Greer, my brother’s best friend, ten years older than me, and the guy I’ve had a stupid crush on since forever, is standing right here, supporting me, eventhough he’s probably just sticking around because Dane is here.
But with Finn’s fingers curled around my helmet and those blue eyes locked on mine, it’s easy to pretend otherwise.
I bite my lip as his gloved thumb brushes the edge of my chin guard, grazing the bare skin beneath. It’s nothing, a tiny touch, but it’s enough to send a shiver down my spine.
Oh, fuck you, hormones. Now is not the time.
I let out another breath, but it’s shaky, and this time when I hiccup, I’m not sure whether it’s because of the race or him.
Finn’s full lips tug into a slow, knowing smirk, his eyes gleaming with amusement, like he knows exactly what he’s doing to me.Then he lets go of my helmet but catches the end of my braid, giving it a light tug before letting it casually slip through his hand, as if it means nothing, and didn’t send my heart into a traitorous flip.
Heat floods my cheeks.
Nope, nope, nope.
Isaac laughs again, snapping me back to reality.“Better hope that isn’t a sign you’re about to blow it, Crews. Would be a shame if you crashed today.”
Finn turns, his shoulders squaring. “Fuck off, Raine.”
I’m still ogling his profile and the way his blond hair curls slightly where it escapes his red baseball cap, when my helmet gets jerked to the right.
