Page 36 of Twisted Trails
Fuck.
Taking a shaky breath, I straighten and lift my hand again. My heart is a fucking hammer, and my fingers tremble. I’ve never been this scared in my life, not at the gate, not mid-run, not even that time I hit the ground going sixty-five and woke up not feeling my legs, because this is Alaina.My baby girl.
And if I knock on this door, and she tells me I’m too late, if she looks at me with that same broken look in her eyes, I don’t know what happens to the rest of me.
But if I don’t knock?
Then I’m just proving her right.
So, I pull in one more breath, full of nerves, dread, and the ghost of her mouth on mine, and knock. Once, twice, and wait.
The door swings open, and I’m met with elegance in a silk blouse and perfume that smells just as flowery as the outside of the house.
“Finn Greer, right?” The woman who looks a lot like Delacroix asks, tilting her head with a soft smile. “I’ve seen you on TV.”
I nod, trying not to fidget. “Yes,madame.”
“All the elite riders are such charming boys.” She smiles at me before opening the door more. “You can call me Élise. Come on in.”
I follow her inside, along polished floors and past flower arrangements, and the air smells like fresh coffee and something sweet baking in the oven. It would be welcoming and peacefulif dread weren’t churning inside me.
She leads me to the kitchen, and my bravery almost leaves me again when I find them all sitting at the kitchen table. Piper, perched sideways on a stool with one leg tucked under her. Fisher is next to her, leaning back in his chair, sipping on a protein shake. Dane is on Piper’s other side, coffee in one hand, the other playing with her hair, and Delacroix is planted beside Alaina, one hand on the back of her chair. His eyes flick up the second I step in, but mine go straight toher.
She’s wearing a pink hoodie that swallows her shoulders, hair damp and messy like she just let it air dry after a shower, and turned half away, picking at the rim of a mug. Her casted hand rests on the table, taped fingers curled in loosely.
“We have a guest,”Élise announces with a little flourish.
Dane turns from Piper and grins when he sees me, reaching out with a fist. “Hey, man. You good?”
“Sure.” I nod slowly and bump it, even though I feel anything but good. My gaze slides back to Alaina. “How are you feeling, Al?”
She shrugs without looking at me. “I’m fine.”
But she’s not. Anyone with eyes can see that. She’s paler than she should be, and her voice is flat, not cold, just dulled around the edges.
“Can we talk? Outside?” I swallow.“Please?”
Please let me apologize.
Luc is on his feet in a blink, planting himself between us like a wall. If she told him—hell, judging by the look on his face, she did—I don’t blame him. Not one bit.
But Alaina stands, too, placing her uninjured hand on his shoulder. “It’s fine.”
Luc’s jaw twitches, but he nods once and sits back down again.
Dane leans back in his chair with a sigh. “Yeah, go talk. I’m so over you two being weird.”
Alaina brushes past me, her steps quiet on the tiles, and I follow her out the door with my heart trying to thud out of my chest. We stop beside the rusty Crews’ bus, which stands there all dented, road-worn, and stubborn in the way it keeps surviving, just like her.
She doesn’t speak, and neither do I.
For a long breath, we just stand there in the gravel, silence stretching between us. I draw another breath and hold it, summoning whatever courage I’ve got left.
“I don’t even know where to start, Al.I miss you.”
“I’m as far away as you pushed me.” Her arms fold overher chest, but there’s a flicker of discomfort she tries to hide before she drops her hands to her side again.
Are her fingers bothering her?
