“Austria’s my favorite track.” He stretches, rolling out his neck as if he’s getting comfortable. “I’m gonna demolish your time. I need that win too.”
“Why?”
“Reasons.”
I huff a laugh. “So, I spill my guts all over the place, and I getnothingin return? That’s not how this friendship thing works.”
This friendship thing.
Fucking twat thing to say, Mason.
“Maybe next time.” His grin widens. “I mean, you already have the advantage over me.”
I scoff. “How’s that?”
“You’ve seen me puke, plead, and you’ve seen me obsess over my bike and fall flat on my ass.”
I tilt my head, eyeing him. “I’m nobody.” Before I can second-guess it, I reach out, take his hand, and link our fingers.
His lips twitch. “Likewise. So if nobody saw it?”
It takes me a second to pick up what he’s dropping down, but then I do. “Then nobody heard it either. Not a word.”
Nobody.
We share a long, understanding look, and our hands shift slightly, fingers adjusting, while I brush my thumb over the back of his.
It’s nothing.
It’s everything.
Needing no one is how I keep breathing and have stayed upright despite the weight pressing down on my back. I think Mini Crews gets that. Iknowhe does. He’s survived something, too, on his terms, and he’s still here with his wide brown eyes, dirt smudged across his cheek, and that steady, quiet way he meets me without looking away.
My thumb keeps moving, and he squeezes my fingers as he smiles up at me. Something stirs in my chest. A little jolt, barely there, but I feel it.
And I shove it down, fast.
I can’t afford to want something I can’t keep. I’ve been through that, and I don’t have the pieces left to try again. I can’t want more.
But maybeI can wantthis.
Just someone who can also be nobody when the sun goes down.
“You’ll be my nobody, then?” I ask, like an idiot, but I need to know and hear it from him.
“Already am.” Mini Crews rests the side of his head against my shoulder. “And you’ll be mine.”
My heart trips again, a quick, stupid flip that leaves my throat tight.
I roll my eyes, forcing a smirk to cover it. “Don’t get cocky.”
“Too late.”
“Fine.” I shake my head, still brushing my thumb over his hand. “You’re my nobody.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Finn
