Chapter 129
When I’d arrived, the race was already starting Sam had walked toward me mediately, pointing toward the track with obvious excitement.
“That’s her. The rider I want to sign and take international.”
I’d followed his gesture and then stopped dead in my tracks, my blood turning to ice in my veins.
There, on the starting line wearing a black mask that covered everything but her eyes, was a figure I would have recognized anywhere,
Athena..
My Athena was racing? When had she started? How had she learned?
This was something I’d never known she could do, something she’d been hiding from me for weeks. From Orion too, I was
either.
31
re of this
My blood began to boil as the reality of what I was seeing hit me. This was dangerous.
Racing came with so many risks – I knew because I lived with them every day. I knew how many times I’d been injured, how many close calls I’d had, how easily everything could go wrong in a split second.
She could get hurt. She could lose her life.
I couldn’t let her do this. Not when I’d just realized my feelings, not when I’d just admitted to myself that I loved her. I couldn’t lose the person I loved again. I didn’t think I’d be able to survive it.
But as I stood there watching the race begin, as I watched her lean into that first turn with perfect form, as I saw the natural grace and fearless determination that made her shine even among experienced riders, I’d felt my heart swell with pride and love and absolute terror all at once.
She was magnificent. She was brave. She was everything I’d always known she could be.
For a moment, despite my fear, I was proud of her. I was rooting for her.
She moved through the pack like she’d been born on a bike, taking calculated risks that paid off, making split–second decisions that kept her ahead of riders with years more experience. She was a natural, and it was beautiful and terrifying to watch.
When she crossed the finish line first, I found myself yelling and jumping happily despite the fact that I was furious with her for putting herself in
danger.
I was so proud of how she’d held her ground, how she’d proven herself against tough competition. But we definitely needed to talk about this.
Then my eyes caught sight of her bike as she pulled off her helmet, smiling and waving at the cheering crowd. It looked familiar – exactly like the one I’d given to Derek because his girlfriend had wanted to learn
Wait. If this was that bike, then…
I slowly took a step toward her, confusion and realization dawning at the same time.
But then I watched as she smiled and ran toward someone specific in the crowd. I watched her throw her arms around Derek, as he spins her around like she belonged to him, like she’d always belonged to him.
watched them smile at each other like they shared some private joke.
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30-34 Thu danh
Chapter 129
Watched when he sand something that made her laugh, that wright, gemine hd fatten in love with.
Ewatched when he lifted her mask a little off her face, no her month. And Han he kissed her. The Vissed her.
At that moment, everything inside me died.
It didn’t hurt this much when I’d found less cold and lifeless on our dining room floor. This was different. This was worse.
This was a pain I couldn’t name, couldnt understand, couldn’t hear. It felt like someone had reached into my nest and torn out everything that mattered, leaving nothing but a gaping hole where my heart used to be.
My steps faltered and I stumbled backward, unable to process what I was seg.
The woman I’d just confessed to myself of loving, the woman I’d been ready to fight for, to make everything right, was in
This was all my fault.
I’d lost her before I had the chance to make her mine. I’d lost her.
Only one word could come out of my lips, broken and barely audible.
“Athena.”
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