Page 154 of Broken Breath
A new shadow steps into the beam cast from my discarded flashlight, followed by two more. Looking up slowly, I find Luc, Piper, and Otis looming above me, but my gaze is only drawn to one of them. Luc has that grin, the one that spells trouble, and means I’m not getting out of whatever this is.
“Petit.” Luc has his hands on his hips, head cocked to the side. “Why are you not ready?”
I frown. “Ready for what?”
“Told you, we’re going out to celebrate. Get up, pull on something that isn’t grease-smeared. I mean, you’re hot…” he pauses, making a show of looking me over “… but this isn’t the look for the club.”
“Thewhat?” I ignore the flip of my stomach as I sit up straighter, grimacing against my tight muscles and the pain that spikes through me at the movement. “Where are we going?”
Luc narrows his eyes at me like he sees my pain but thankfully doesn’t address it. “My favorite club inBonneville,” he says instead. “Best music, best drinks, best night out you’ll get around here.”
I glance at the mountain of a bus behind me. “How are we even getting there?”
“Paul hooked us up.” Otis bounces on the balls of his feet. “Driver and a van for the night. Birthday gift.”
“Paul?” I lift an eyebrow. “Your team manager helps you go clubbing?”
“He wants us to do some social media content,” Piper cuts in, shrugging like it’s no big deal. “You know, make downhill biking look like it’s not all just sweat, dirt, and focus, and we actually have fun sometimes. Luc’s the main attraction. Our followings have doubled since we’ve had the dickhead on the team.”
Luc smirks. “Idoknow how to have fun.”
He reaches out, fingers curling around mine, and pulls me to my feet in one smooth motion. I stumble and end up almost chest-to-chest with him. His eyes lock onto mine, dilating with unmistakable heat that tightens my stomach.
Acting on my early wish, I lean up and whisper, “Happy birthday,” before pressing a soft kiss to his cheek.
His breath hitches, then he exhales slowly. “Thank you,bébé.”
I let go of him and scoot the bike off the ground. Then I wheel it to the back of the bus and lock it up with stiff fingers.
From the side, Piper clears her throat. “Hey, uh… could you ask Dane if he wants to come?”
I glance at her as I walk past, smirking at the pink flush on her cheeks. “Sure. Will do.”
Luc’s hand smacks against my ass, a sharp sting that makes me whirl around, scowling.
“Birthday privileges.” He shrugs, giving me a lopsided grin.
I flip him off, but a smile is already tugging at the corners of my mouth.
Damn French menace.
The second I step inside the bus, Dane looks up from the tiny table where he and Finn are seated across from each other, their conversation coming to an abrupt halt.
“Hey.” Dane eyes me. “You wanna go to bed?”
I ignore him as I tug open the overhead cabinet, my fingers brushing past grease-streaked jerseys and race pants until I pull out a clean black hoodie, oversized enough to swallow me whole, and a pair of jeans that might pass for club appropriate if you squint.
Peeling off my current hoodie, I toss it toward the bunk. The white tee underneath clings to me more than I’d like, but the binder is so not happening tonight. My ribs are already sore from wearing it so often, and I’ve had enough of that particular kind of suffocation for the week.
“Al…” Dane says hesitantly as I get dressed in the new hoodie.
Feeling some kind of way, I kick off my boots, hook my thumbs in my waistband, and shove my shorts down, leaving me standing there in my sock-filled boxers.
Dane hisses. “Alaina!”
I catch Finn’s head snapping away, eyes shooting up to the ceiling as if the stained panels there have suddenly becomeveryinteresting.
I shrug at my brother. It’s not like either of them hasn’t seen worse, Finn especially. Hell, heknowsalmost every inch of me, scars, bruises, the whole damn map of who I am, and if he’s going to spend the whole night pretending I’m invisible, I can pretend he is too.
