Page 264 of Rogue Riders Duet

I laugh. “It’s not like that.”

“Oh, it is like that,” she teases. “That boy gets everything he wants, and honestly, I get it. It’s hard to say no to him. Like, why am I his pet-sitter again?”

I glance at her sleeve, and sure enough, a tiny gray head is peeking out of it.

“Can I have him?” I ask, grinning.

“Sure.” Piper looks at me like I’ve lost the plot, and given how I reacted last time she held Toulouse out to me, I get it.

Still, she reaches into her sleeve, gently scoops him out, and places the warm, squirming ball of fur into my hands.

I stroke his fuzzy head and coo, “Mason’s right. You’re cute as fuck. Just don’t show me your tail, okay?” Toulouse squeaks like he’s offended and immediately tries to scurry up my shoulder. “Nope,” I tell him. “We’re not quite there in this relationship, buddy.”

Instead, I open the cuff of my hoodie sleeve and let him crawl into the tunnel of fabric. He settles somewhere near my elbow, warm, twitchy, and weirdly comforting.

We wander down the garden path, the tall grass brushing our legs, the sun warm on our shoulders, and for a while it’s quiet, comfortable even. Then Piper, totally unfiltered like always, asks, “So, what was that drama with Greer? And him taking your virginity in the gondola? Because, honestly, if he forced himself on you, I’m gonna⁠—”

“No!” I interrupt quickly, heart kicking up. “No, he didn’t. It was more like I forced him.”

She stops in her tracks. “Have you seen Finn Greer? Tall as fuck and freaking built. And you…” she gestures to me, “… don’t even reach his nipples. I don’t think you could’ve forced him to do anything.”

I shrug. “I still did.”

Piper stares at me, processing that, then falls into step again. “And now you’re feeling bad for it?”

“Well,” I chew the inside of my cheek. “He said it was a mistake right after.”

“Fuck.” Piper’s voice softens. “That must’ve hurt. Dane said you’ve had a crush on Greer for a long time.”

Thanks, brother.

“Yeah. I did.”

Still do.

“Don’t tell Dane, but I thought what he did was pretty romantic.”

I snort. “You think losing your V-card in a gondola before a race is romantic?”

She scrunches up her nose. “No, but showing up to apologize, knowing that he will get his ass kicked for it? He said he loves you, Alaina.”

“First of all, I’m mad at him for airing my business to everybody like that. And I don’t think it was real,” I murmur. “I think he just said it to take responsibility. He feels guilty. That’s what he does. He ruined his friendship with Dane because of guilt. He said he loved me because of guilt. He made it worse because that’s what guilt does to him.”

What I did to him.

Piper sighs. “Okay, so what are we going to do with that?”

“I don’t know, nothing probably. It’s already fucked enough.”

“What does Luc say to that? Since he’s your boyfriend now. Or, you know, one of them.”

I smile a little. “He is my only boyfriend. And he’s surprisingly okay with it.”

Piper rolls her eyes. “I mean, of course he is. If he wants to have Mason and you, how could he not be okay with you maybe wanting someone else? Would be pretty hypocritical of him.”

“True,” I say, biting my lip. Should I be worried about that? “But it’s never going to happen, anyway.”

“Why?”