Page 308 of Rogue Riders Duet

And fuck, I know he means it.

“Let’s go, guys,” Otis calls. “We’re up.”

As we head to the gondola, I adjust my glove, flexing my fingers to test the tension. When we get there, I freeze, whipping around to scan the area when I realize Finn is not with us anymore.

Frowning, I hang my bike on the side of the gondola—only now realizing the flaw in the plan to tape myself to my bike at the bottom of the mountain—and step into it after Luc, Mason, and Otis. As soon as the doors slide shut, I sit down next to Luc. “Why isn’t he coming?”

“No idea.” Luc shrugs. “But if he’s not qualifying, he won’t race tomorrow.”

My breath catches in my throat. He might not start because of me.

He gave up a race in his last season so I could ride.

I stare out the gondola window, but I don’t see the view. I see him—sacrificing the thing he loves most, just to hand me a shot at staying in this fight.

That’s not just loyalty, history, or guilt.

That’s love in the kind of language only Finn Greer knows how to speak.

I don’t know what to do with it.

We unload quickly at the top. Everything is faster for qualifying, no warm-up on top or delays, just rider after rider dropping in.

“Don’t crash this time, okay? I kinda like you.” Otis laughs before he fist bumps my good hand when we make our way to the start. “See you at the bottom.” Then he’s gone, tires spitting gravel as he drops into the course.

Mason steps up beside me. “You ready?” he asks, glancing down at my left hand. “Think you can do it with that?”

“Yeah,” I breathe out. “Gotta thank your dad big time for this.”

Mason’s brow arches slightly. “Pretty sure that gratitude should land on Greer.”

I nod, but my emotions are too tangled to make sense of them right now.

He leans in so only I can hear him. “Don’t ride to prove anything today. You’re riding because you love it. So do that. Forget everything else. Keep the wheels down.”

His fingers squeeze my forearm once before he gives me a soft smile, puts on his helmet, and rolls up to the start gate, leaving Luc and me behind as he drops in.

I can feel Luc’s eyes on me before he speaks. “Do you think you could forgive Greer?”

“I…” I glance over my shoulder. “I don’t know.”

Luc taps the hot pink helmet tucked under his arm. “Still feeling hurt when you see him?”

I think about that. I think about how the pain isn’t sharp anymore. It’s not betrayal. It’s not heartbreak. It’s an ache.

“Not in the same way.”

“You’re allowed not to forgive him, you know. But you’re also allowed to.”

I don’t know what to say to that, so I put on my helmet, just as the marshal waves me forward.

“Whatever it is, think about it when you’re safe at the finish. Just enjoy how he made you feel right now. Focus on what you love.” Luc leans in and taps the top of my head. “Send it, Petite.”

I take some deep breaths as I roll up to the start, and then I do.

My tires hit the trail, and the world narrows. The pain in my hand flares the second I hit the first root section. Every jolt, every shift makes the fractures burn. It’s different from my hip. My hip is old pain. Familiar pain. I’ve gotten used to feeling it while riding.

This is new.