Page 56 of Green Flag
“I’ve enjoyed seeing the press interact with you,” she said with a light laugh. “Got them scared of you, but all I’ve seen has been really positive. The public’s reaction to Ciclati has been tumultuous the last few years… and I know yours has been up and down. I feel like this could be great for both you and the team.”
“With the song, it seems like it might be.”
She beamed and gestured at me with a shake of her head. “Sorry, I was so keen to tell you. Anyway, I obviously stopped you while you were on the move.”
“Uh, yeah.” Shit, what could I say? My pyjamas were hardly corridor-appropriate, and I had no shoes on. “I ran out of tea bags in my room.”
She nodded as if that was a reasonable excuse. “The hotel ones are never the same as home. I’ve got some in my suitcase. English breakfast tea. I can grab you some?”
“That would be great, thank you.”
She dashed off and I breathed a sigh of relief. I hadn’t been caught snooping. Nor screwing Luca.
He sat on my bed, leaning back on his palms, trying to stifle a laugh. “Congratulations, Everly.”
“That was a whirlwind,” I said, pressing my back against the door.
“You’re on the team, though,” he said with an impressed grin. “And you’ll get royalties for a song you wrote in the space of a night.”
“That you helped me with,” I told him.
“Isupportedyou with. You did it all on your own.”
“So…” I started, gazing at the floor as I stepped forward, unsure how to bring up all the emotions roaring quietly inside before Livie returned with her tea bags.
“So,” he repeated awkwardly, lips pursed in thought. “I don’t think—”
“It’s not a good idea—”
He nodded. “Yeah. I know what you mean. I, er, with everything going on with Alv… my mind is too busy for anything. Even fuck buddies.”
Because Bella was right. He wouldn’t commit, and I’d stir my own little pot of drama by falling in love with him too.
“Yeah,” I agreed.
“But we are friends, Everly,” he said and stood, grabbing his jacket from the chair by the desk. “Even though it will be a struggle, I’ll try not to flirt with you at every opportunity.”
“You can flirt with me,” I said because I loved his sense of humour. His honesty. His view on the world. He made me feel seen. “I wouldn’t want to see you struggle.”
He chuckled. “Good. Well, I’ll see you next week.”
I agreed with a mumble.
He leaned down to kiss my forehead. “Enjoy your tea,friend.”
12
Chapter 12
Luca
Four weeks later
I refused to be out. Dislocated shoulder? I could race. Fractured wrist? I’d taped worse. But when the Ciclati medics said no — and StormSprint’s chief medic did too — it was game over. Cris put his foot down and threatened to bench me for the next race as well.
With Nix beating everyone by miles, they didn’t need me to pick up an insane amount of points for Ciclati to still dominate the scoreboard.
He had my best interests at heart, but if another team were going to pick me up to race for them… I had to race—and race bloody well.
