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“Nope. What should I do? Bust down her door and make her deal with me? What would that solve?”

“River needs to deal with what’s between you and her before she gets on the track next weekend.”

“Mmmhmm.”

They saw River walking in with Mal and Dan. It was like she had two bodyguards, and Riot was the villain. Even with them on his side, they were still loyal to River. That should give him comfort, but it didn’t. He knew that no matter what he did, they would always be in her ear fighting him back.

He noticed she looked great; she always did in his eyes. He hated that she wouldn’t let her walls down and talk to him. Riot wouldn’t push. If he listened to Ben, he would be pushing her to hell and back, forcing her to deal with the obvious. “Ben, I’ll be up top watching.” Riot waved to the trio as he headed upstairs. At least up top he could make some calls. Line some things out.

It wasn’t like she thought he would stay and hang out with them to discuss the bikes, but he could have apologized for standing her up. For fuck’s sake, would it have killed him to at least call her to tell her he couldn’t make it? As she eased up next to Ben, she was shocked when he told her to get off her high horse and fix things with Riot. “Ben, he knows the deal.”

“What’s the deal, River? Do you even know anymore?”

Huffing out a breath, she told him the truth. “No.”

“Go talk to him before we test the bikes. Remember every time…”

“We get on the track could be our last,” she finished the statement. “Fine. I’m going.”

Climbing the stairs, she could hear him barking into his phone and sounding miffed. She stopped before reaching the top and heard Riot say, “I’m at the track with River. Don’t worry about the bikes, I took care of them… River will never know.”

So many things had been happening on the track, and they were having constant problems with the bikes. Her heart dropped at the thought that Riot had been trying to get close to sabotage her. Taking the last steps two at a time, she rounded on him as she stepped fully into the room. “Let me call you back,” was all he got out before she punched him in the face.

She gave him time to recover before she swung the second time. He was ready for it, saw it coming this time, and stopped the blow by bringing up his forearm. Her wrist collided with it, causing shooting pain to run through her arm. “You son of a bitch! All this time you’ve been playing me. I’m such a fool to believe you cared about me at all.”

She turned away and headed for the stairs. Everything in her hurt. Her mind told her what her heart wouldn’t believe. Riot had betrayed her.

When she hit the pit area, Ben hollered for her to get dressed. They only had a few hours of track time. She wanted to say no because her head wasn’t in it, but like always she stemmed her emotions for the time being and focused on the one thing that had never let her down.Racing.

Riot knew better than to go after her. He hadn’t wanted to tell her what he had been doing behind her back. River was proud, sometimes too damn proud. But the jig was up. She needed to know what the phone conversation was about. Everyone needed to know. Signaling to Ben, he followed River into the dressing room.

Her eyes were lit with fury as she watched him walk in. “Get out.”

Riot wiped the blood from his lip and fought against spanking her bratty ass. “No, not this time, River. You’re always so sure that people are out to get you. What I don’t understand is why you think that. That phone call wasn’t about me sabotaging you. It was about new bikes I procured for you as a surprise. They were supposed to be here a week ago, but they won’t be here for two weeks.”

Dumbfounded, she stood there, half in her leathers half out with no idea what to say.

“You could say thank you at least.”

“Thank you,” she croaked out. “Why would you do something like that for me… after how I’ve been?”

“You mean ‘a bitch’? Because whether you want to believe it or not, I love you. Always have. Always will.” Riot left her standing there wide-eyed, feeling like a complete fucker—which served her right.

River thought about going after him and fighting it out. What good would that do? Sitting down on a bench, she thought about Riot. Really thought about him. Shit had been going wrong with the bikes for months before she decided to put together a team. Why would he sabotage her when he had helped get her sponsors? Not just any sponsors. Big name ones. Companies that were sponsoring her with gear, equipment, bike parts, and products. “You’re such a bitch.”

Even if she wanted to fix it, she wouldn’t even know where to start. What was she supposed to do, waltz right up to him and say, “Sorry, wanna screw?” Most men would take the apology and the invitation. Unfortunately, Riot didn’t work that way. He meant it when he said he loved her. River had been a fool to think she could go to bed with him and then brush him off. Pull him in and push him away, using the excuse of needing a team manager. Everyone knew Ben ran the show. Damn, Riot had been putting up with some serious bullshit from her. And he took it. Every sideway glance, every shitty whisper that had been said within earshot. He never flinched, never walked away from her or the team she had put together.

She needed to make it right. River finished dressing and headed out to the track for a few laps while she still had track time, thinking about how she could make it all right for everyone.Game face time.

Mal broke her concentration as she walked past her out onto the track.

“I swear, River, if I wasn’t so into the dick, I’d be all over you.”

River sent her a kiss as she handed her sunglasses to Ben. Shoving on her helmet, she listened to Dan tell her what adjustments had been made. Ben grabbed her by the helmet, tugging her to look at him.

“Do not think. Just ride.”

“Got it.”

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