Page 181 of Twisted Trails
“One nice comment in what, twenty shitty ones?” I huff, dragging a hand through my hair.
I never let myself think too long about what would happen when the truth came out. I figured there’d be noise.
Outrage.
Maybeawe.
But I never planned to stick around long enough to care what the world had to say.
“Why aren’t they monitoring their fucking comments?” Mason growls, slipping fully into protective mode, which, honestly, ishot.
Not the time, Alaina.
Luc scoffs. “Because this sport lives for the fucking drama.They love it. They eat it.Bleed it.They won’t shut it down if it gets clicks.”
“But they’re losing face too,” Finn counters. “The UCI. This makes them look incompetent. They’re trying to bury it in clean language, but people aren’t stupid.”
“I don’t know,” Luc mutters. “Maybe the UCI is indeed stupid. It’s late. You think anybody is still in that office, checking the thread?”
Mason comes to sit beside me on the edge of the bed, hand sliding down, and curling beneath my jaw as he tips my face up to his. “We’ve got you,” he murmurs, brushing a kiss to my lips. “No matter what happens next, you’re not alone.”
“Damn right,” Luc agrees, stepping in to press a kiss to the other side of my mouth. “Fuck everybody but us.”
Finn reaches out to grab my hand. “We’re a team.”
I close my eyes and let their voices hold me up.
This social media fallout is a shitstorm wrapped in a nuclear apocalypse.
What the fuck did I do?
“How are you feeling?” Finn asks after a beat of silence, stroking his thumb over the back of my hand.
“I don’t know,” I whisper. “I was so damn happy yesterday, and now I fucked everything up, and I can’t even blame anyone else for it.”
“Oh, I can blame Raine,” Mason mutters beside me, deadpan.
A snort slips out before I can stop it. “We can, but it’s not right. It was my doing. My fist and my fucking mouth.”
Mason’s hand slides down to stroke the edge of my jaw again. “But your form was pretty good. Just like I showed you.”
I glance up at him with a grin. “Liar.”
“Okay, maybe more like a baby deer.” He smirks, and I narrow my eyes at him.
Luc, who’s back to spinning slowly again in my chair, perks up. “Wait, what? You guys did fun stuff without me?”
“We did. Becauseyouwere the reason I needed to learn how to throw said punch in the first place.”
Luc stops spinning. “What?”
Mason doesn’t even look at him. “That slap over the helmet she gave you? I couldn’t watch that shit twice.”
“She slapped him?” Finn straightens, brows lifting. “Since when are you that violent, baby girl?”
“Oh, it wasn’t violent, it was pathetic.” Mason laughs, making me outright glare at him now.
“Huh.” Luc shrugs, unbothered. “I didn’t even notice there was a slap.”
