Page 54 of Tailwind

He deflated. He was still half a foot taller than me even sitting down and slumping.

I fought the urge to gently pat his shoulder. ‘I’m sorry.’

I wasn’t entirely sure where he thought we’d met before because I’d have remembered an over six foot gangly big-eyed teen—

‘You were tiny!’ It came back to me. The only thing that hadn’t changed were his big sad eyes.

The last time I’d seen him he was half the size he was now. When he’d been hired by Prevere at the end of the last season the media had made a fuss over him turning eighteen right before the first race, which made him five years younger than me.

‘We flew together in the Wyvern Cup. You were a rookie then too, right?’

His entire demeanour changed. He sat up straight, smiled and was practically puffing out his chest. ‘Yes! Ah, I’m so glad you remember! We missed one another in Junior Drake because I was too young still, but I remember watching you, Theo and Quinn race even when I was a kid. Then when I got to the Wyvern class you and Theo were still there. Once, I was queuing for the bathroom before the race when you walked past … and you said hi!’

Colly beamed at me. I got the impression that was the start and end of any interactions we’d had, but it was important all the same.

‘Well, yeah of course!’ I may not have remembered that exact moment, but now the rest of that race season was coming into focus. I’d been preoccupied with competing with Theo, but Colly had been there making an impression in his rookie year. A little kid almost too small for his saddle who still managed to score within the top five.

‘Oh, hey!’ He was yelling again, this time back down the hill. He turned to me and thankfully lowered his voice before speaking. ‘It’s Quinn. I told him I’d be out here.’

I sighed. My peaceful dinner was well and truly over. I leaned past Colly’s waving arm and spied Quinn walking up the hill, far more dressed than last time I’d seen him. I was grateful.

Theo was with him. I was far less grateful. I ducked back behind my new giant friend and braced myself. I’d managed to avoid him for the remainder of the train journey, but here I was running into him again.

For the year and a half I’d worked as a keeper I’d managed to be alone, getting by with keeping my head down. Yet the moment I had put on a helmet and raced he’d managed to wriggle back into my life. I’d avoided thinking about contacting his parents, but that was going to get harder when he joined us for dinner.

‘Hey guys, pull up some turf!’ Colly gestured to the grass around us and chuckled at his own joke.

I couldn’t help but smile too.

The two newcomers spotted me as they arrived. Theo’s brows rose into his curls and a wary smirk played at the corners of his mouth. My own smile flattened into something far more neutral.

‘Hey.’ Quinn sat down opposite me, one leg hooked under the other. His greeting was quiet but not cold.

‘Hi, good to see you.’ I hoped Quinn and Colly would assume I was addressing Theo too, despite me avoiding eye contact at all costs.

‘Look at the four of us! Back together again!’ Colly beamed at the rest of us. ‘Although, I guess we didn’t all fly at the same time, did we? We nearly did though!’ There was no filter between his mind and his mouth. The entire thought process was laid bare for us all.

From the knowing smiles on Theo and Quinn’s faces, they were used to it.

A strange feeling came over me, suddenly protective of Colly. I’d seen the Bolls laughing at him without him realizing. If these two were doing the same I was going to shove their heads up their assholes.

‘Has Colly been reminding you of our glory days, Paldon?’ Theo tucked into his meal, conveniently not looking up as he spoke of our shared history.

‘I don’t think I’d go so far to call them glory days,’ I replied.

‘What?’

I leaned back from the wave of shock that came from Colly.

‘You’re kidding, right? You and Theo were incredible! The way you pulled off that one-two move on Retan in seventy-two was insane! I tried to do it myself when I started, but my teammate wouldn’t do it.’ He kept going, listing very specific moves from very specific races during the Wyvern Cup, particularly the years Theo and I had been teammates.

My mouth hung open as I listened to him. On instinct I glanced at Theo, checking if this was real.

He grinned. ‘You’re his Bach.’

I scowled. ‘Hilarious. We’re only a few years apart, plus,’ – I jabbed in Colly’s direction. – ‘He’s better than me.’

That interrupted Colly’s flow. ‘Huh? No way. You’re way better.’