Page 113 of Broken Breath
Fuck, this is new, and it’s not good.
It’s not the familiar throb but a twisting, grinding pull that radiates heat down through my thighs and up my spine until my vision pulses at the edges.
“Alaina,” Dane says again, but softer now, and somehow that’s worse.
“I’m fine, okay?” My voice is thin, tight, and clearlynotfine.
“I can’t hear it anymore.‘I’m fine. I’m fine.’You’re not.”
He’s right, but if I say it out loud, if I admit it, then I can’t keep pushing through and pretending the plan is still working, thatI’mstill working.
So I squeeze my eyes shut, keeping my back to him, trying to hold myself together with sheer force of will.
Another slice of pain hits, squeezing until I’m dizzy. I double over slightly, pressing my palm against my abdomen, biting down on the inside of my cheek so hard I taste copper.
What the hell is this?
Appendicitis?
Every inch of me is fire, pressure, and nausea, andthrough it all, I hear Dane’s bunk creak as he starts to rise, coughing hard again.
“Don’t. Just… don’t get up. I said I’m fine.”
He doesn’t respond right away, and I know he’s watching me, probably seeing every tremor and twitch I can’t hide. I try to straighten up, but another jolt of pain knifes through me, and I let out an involuntary gasp, quiet, but not quiet enough.
“Alaina.” Dane’s voice is full of that big-brother panic I can’t handle right now.
But I still don’t turn around. If he sees my face, he’ll see everything. “I’m gonna go to Piper, okay? Maybe she can help.”
A huff followed by, “Fine.” Just that. One word bitten off.
We haven’t talked about the fight or the fact that I didn’t sleep here the other night. I didn’t even come close to spilling that I kissed Finn, snuggled with Luc, or that I’m falling apart in every direction. Maybe he’s just happy I came back and wants to pretend the rest doesn’t exist for another week or two, until he can hold his own in an emotional fight against me.
Not that I’m in any state to have said fight either.
Fuck.
I head out without another word because if I stay, I might break. If I break, I don’t get to race.
And if I don’t race, none of this means anything.
The pain kicks in harder with every step toward the pits, and by the time I hit the edge of Luc’s, every muscle from my hip to my abdomen is in full-blown rebellion. The pills I took earlier might as well have been Tic Tacs.
I’m second-guessing the plan to see Piper and not just drive to the nearest hospital when Luc steps out from thepit tent, laughing over his shoulder at something his mechanic says.
And just like that, the pain pauses.
Or maybe I forget it exists because Luc looks like he walked off the cover ofReckless Idiots Monthly. His shirt has ridden up his waist, exposing his V-lines. His hair is tousled, sunglasses pushed up into his mess of curls. He’s sun-drenched and smiling, and it’s offensive how hot he looks when I feel like a drowned rat.
Luc turns, sees me, and his whole face lights up like someone flipped a switch, making my heart do a stupid flip.
“Petit!” he calls out, already striding toward me. “Was just about to come looking for you.”
I clench my fists at my sides, unsure what to do with my hands. “You were?”
“Yeah.” He grins, slowing as he gets close, reaching out to stroke my cheek with the knuckles of his hand. “Thought maybe you wanted to go out and eat a Kaiserschmarrn. Ever had one? I could bathe in them.”
I laugh. “You could what?”
