Page 283 of Rogue Riders Duet

I can’t have him ruin his reputation for me.

“What?” the guy says, like Luc just betrayed some sacred code. “Delacroix, come on. This is the game. You know how to play it.”

Luc folds his tattooed arms across his chest, and Jesus, if they don’t call me by my government name.

“You were rude to my friends. So I’m rude to you. Leave.”

The guy blinks. “Your friends?”

He can’t compute that Luc, the star of the circuit, is standing up for his so-called rivals—a rookie and a scandal-stained has-been, who are both privateers.

“Yeah. My friends. Problem with that?” Luc asks, close to snapping.

“Luc,” I whisper, hoping to calm him because holy shit.

“Not a good look, Delacroix,” the social media guy mutters, retreating. “Not a good look.”

“How about you make a story about how the UCI plays favorites?” Luc calls after the guy, his voice cool as hell.

“Goddammit, Luc,” Mason mutters, grabbing his forearm. He’s probably bracing to hold Luc back in case the dude says one more wrong thing and gets himself flattened, but Luc doesn’t even twitch toward him. He just watches the guy walk off like he’s already deleted him from existence.

When the coast is clear, Luc glances at us and shrugs when he sees how we’re both gaping at him. “What?”

“What?” I echo. “You just went full hitman in front of the entire paddock.”

“I’m done with people fucking with you guys.” He looks between us. “You’re mine. I protect what’s mine.”

A bolt of pure desire shoots through my spine at his fierce expression, his protective words. Judging by the way Mason goes pink? Yeah, that line didn’t just go straight to only my private parts.

My gaze travels down Mason’s body, and yup, definitely some growth happening in the shorts department.

If my socks were real, they’d be doing the same thing.

I choke on a laugh, and Luc raises a brow. “Quoi? What’s funny?”

He follows my gaze to Mason’s crotch and lets out a low, delighted laugh. “Ah. Speaking of cocks…”

“Luc,” Mason hisses, eyes wide as he checks if anyone overheard. No one is close, which only makes me laugh harder.

Luc’s grin turns wicked. “Let’s go to my hotel room. I’ve got a present for Petite.” He takes my wrist and starts tugging me along.

Mason groans. “If that’s just your dick and you’re calling it a present, Delacroix, I swear…”

Luc smirks over his shoulder. “Idée incroyable, but no. Not this time.”

“Can you even just leave pit setup like that?” I ask, letting myself be pulled because, well, it’s Luc.

“Did you not just see?” He glances back at the chaos behind us and flashes that arrogant grin. “I can do anything.”

Mason groans again, muttering something under his breath that sounds an awful lot like bloody maniac.

Seems like whatever the hell this ‘present’ is, I’m about to find out. And even if it’s just his dick. Um, honestly?

I’m kinda all in.

TWENTY

The door to Luc’s hotel room closes behind us with a final, decisive snap.