“Phoenix can handle anything thrown his way. And his training at any given point is better and tougher than most of these athletes’ hardest week.”
She shook her head. “Yeah, but did you see him today? He was making some pretty basic mistakes.”
Zac raised an eyebrow at her. “I saw him. I’m not saying he wasn’t struggling. I’m saying it wasn’t a physical problem. He had…other things on his mind.”
Her. She was the other things.
She pretended to rub off a speck of dirt on her pants. “He’s going to have to get focused. No matter what he’s got on his mind.”
So was she.
It wasn’t Riley who made it into the camp as the first-day winner. It was Bo.
She swallowed her disappointment. There was absolutely no reason to be disappointed. First, because this was day one. There were still five more days to go, and it was the combined finishing times that mattered.
Second, she did not care how Riley Harrison did in this race. She. Did. Not. Care.
She glanced over to find Zac watching her.
“Yeah, honestly, I also thought even after his rough start it would be Riley coming in first.”
She gave him a one-shouldered shrug. “I don’t have an opinion. I’m just here to make sure everybody is fit to continue the race.”
Zac nodded, but she caught his smile as he turned away.
Damn it.
She was going to have to find a better poker face when it came to what she was feeling. Or better yet, figure out how to turn these feelings off altogether.
The race volunteers—it took about two dozen to successfully put on a race this size—cheered for Bo as he made it across the camp finish line. He stopped to talk to a few of them as he walked to the tent area. The athletes got to choose which tent they stayed in—some were in better locations than others, closer to the bathrooms or the water. It was one of the perks of being one of the early finishers.
“I’m going back to the RV to get ready. They’ll be arriving regularly now.”
“I’ll send Bo over to you after I talk to him.”
Her fingers were starting to get a little tingly. And she was tired.
Those had been some of her first warning signs that anything was wrong, back six months ago. She’d ignored them, blaming the odd feelings on a dozen different other things.
It was only after Anne had finally talked her into seeing a neurologist in Reddington City that Riley had finally gotten her answers.
Although, she definitely hadn’t gotten the ones she wanted.
She walked inside and sat down at the small desk that held everyone’s files. Sitting felt good.
She reminded herself that being a little tired and having tingly fingers didn’t necessarily mean anything. Sitting had always felt good. She was on her feet all the damn time as a nurse.
But discouragement weighed on her. The hardest thing for her right now was figuring out what was MS and what was just everyday life. MS affected every person differently. She was constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop to see how it affected her.
There was a knock on the door a couple of seconds before it opened. Riley turned around to face Bo.
He grinned at her. “I’ll bet you didn’t expect to see me in here first.”
She gestured for him to sit in the patient chair near the back of the RV. She washed her hands, then walked over to him.
“I’m neutral.” But her smile was tight. “My only concern is making sure everybody makes it through this race with the fewest injuries possible.”
“Come on, surely you wish it were your boyfriend in here first.”
Bo and Boy Riley had been in a lot of competitions against each other, so she’d gotten to know the man in the past couple years. She didn’t dislike him but didn’t plan on becoming chummy with him either.
“Honestly, neutral. And Riley and I are no longer together, so doubly neutral.”
Damn it, why couldn’t Boy Riley have just stayed away? She rubbed her fingers as they began tingling again. Dealing with the MS was enough without a constant reminder of him too.
“I’d heard something of the sort, but I wasn’t sure if it was true. I’m sorry.” Bo nodded at her.
“Thanks. So, first day is over. How are you feeling? Any injuries?”
“Nope. The only thing I’m feeling is that this is going to be my year.”
She had no idea what to say about that. If Riley continued the way he had today, this very well could be Bo’s year.
She marked down the abrasions and cuts in Bo’s file, then sent him on his way. Iceland was the next to show up, also with no injuries to talk about but an interesting story about Bo leaving them during the team event.
Riley wasn’t surprised. These guys could be cutthroat in their competitiveness. But technically Bo hadn’t been cheating, so it was something the others had to deal with.
All was fair in love and WAR.
Her stream of patients was pretty solid for the next few hours. Everyone had to be signed off each day by her, or Anne when she was here, as okay to continue. Most of the time, that just meant a few seconds of conversation, especially today, since there’d been nothing too tough. It would get progressively more difficult on the athletes going forward: blisters, sprains, cuts, and bruises. Hopefully nothing much more serious than that.
During a lull, she walked back outside, continuing to talk to racers. It was midafternoon and nearly everyone had made it in for the day. There had been no major injuries, and no one had decided to quit after just one day. That had happened in the past.
Everyone seemed in relatively good spirits as they ate and rested, talking about the obstacle course and its brutality. She wandered around, listening and smiling. There were a few more people she wanted to examine more thoroughly, mostly those who’d listed the Wild Wyoming as their first foray into adventure racing. For anyone else left, she’d just do a cursory check and observation.
Including Boy Riley. She’d heard the announcement when he’d arrived in fourth place, just after Iceland and Damon, but she’d refused to come out immediately and check on him.
Of course, her intentions didn’t matter. Her eyes found him now, automatically sizing him up to see how he was doing.
He seemed fine as he talked to the two middle-aged women who were the last to come in for the day. No stiffness that would suggest injury or undue pain.
He looked up and caught her studying him, and she let out a curse before looking away. They were just too damn aware of each other.
She wandered more, talking to different participants, looking for anyone who might be struggling. So far, everyone seemed ready to tackle day two.
She was on the opposite side of the camp when the first spasm in her leg hit.
“Fuck.” She sucked in a breath and let it out slowly, willing herself to relax. Sometimes the spasm lasted just for a moment.
Her leg jerked again.
Damn it, there was no way she was going to make it back to the RV without someone noticing something was wrong. But she wasn’t going to stand here and just flop around for everyone to see.
She turned away from the camp and began walking toward the lake just a hundred feet away. The spasms probably wouldn’t last long. She’d just sit by the lake in the cover of the trees. Once she had control of her muscles again, she’d go back to camp.
Generally speaking, relaxing tended to be the best thing she could do for any minor MS flare-ups right now. Relaxing would be much easier if she didn’t have to worry about fifty people watching her.
She walked steadily toward the lake, feeling better and better as her muscles loosened as she moved. She was already relaxing. Maybe she’d overreacted. Maybe the spasm back at camp had just been a one-time thing. That happened too.
She made it to the large rock by the lake and just stood, feeling herself become more and more calm as she stared at the water. False alarm. Crisis averted. Everything was going to be—
/> A surprise gasp fell from her lips as the muscles in her legs and lower back seized up once again. There was nothing she could do but curse herself for getting so close to the water as she flopped in face-first.
Chapter 7
“Glad you finally decided to join us, Harrison. Thought maybe you’d already thrown in the towel.”
Riley had arrived at camp in fourth place. He’d said earlier that he wasn’t trying to win WAR, but he was used to watching everyone else come in behind him, not having the earlier finishers wave to him with a smug smile.
Yeah. Fourth place didn’t sit well with him.
“Some of us don’t cheat, Bo, so it takes a little longer.”
Bo chewed the bite of food in his mouth and grinned at Riley. “Spare me the lecture. You’re just pissed because you weren’t in first place the whole day. If it hadn’t been for that team obstacle, I would’ve left you all in the dust a lot earlier.”
Riley gritted his teeth. He couldn’t deny the truth in the other man’s words. He had been off today. He knew why, but that didn’t change it. The fact that he didn’t know how to fix it made it even worse. “It was still a bitch move, Gonzales.”
“Whatever. I’m not here to make friends; I’m here to win.” Bo got up and threw his empty meal package into the trash bag. “And I’ll tell you what I’d tell anyone who looked like you did out there today.”
“Yeah? What’s that?”
“If you can’t give the race the concentration and respect it deserves, you have no business being out on the course. You’ll get yourself killed. One wrong move on a course like this can result in a broken bone or much worse.”
Damn it, Bo still wasn’t wrong. “I’ll take that under advisement.”
Bo gave him a cocky little grin. “Maybe you need to face that your time as the best is over. You’ve risen for the last time, Phoenix. If you can’t hack it anymore, you should just sit this one out. I’d hate to see you get hurt. Especially since I hear you don’t have a nurse girlfriend to coax you back to health anymore.”
“He’s egging you on,” Damon whispered as he and Iceland walked up behind Riley. “He didn’t technically break any rules by leaving us behind, but if you start a fight, you will be. That’ll be a time penalty against you.”
“Ignore him,” Iceland said.
Riley nodded. There was nothing he’d like more than to get into it with Bo, but his energy was better used elsewhere.
WAR was a long race, and this was just day one. It was the overall combined time that counted at the end, not who made it to camp first today.
Bo didn’t know it, but he’d just made a legitimate competitor out of Riley. Now the race wasn’t going to be just about Wildfire.
He was going to win this thing.
Damon slapped him on his back. “Let’s make dinner and get off our feet. It’s going to be a long-ass day tomorrow.”
He nodded and unzipped the door to a large eight-man tent. He changed out of his running clothes and into his camp clothes, which were basically the same thing, just a little warmer. In order to keep the packs as small and light as possible, all the athletes traveled with just two sets of clothes. Basically, the sweaty set and the non-sweaty set—one to wear during the day and one at night.
Neither set would smell very good by the time the week was over.
He walked down to the lake to rinse out his muddy clothes, not needing a reminder that he hadn’t even been able to make it over a balance beam without falling, then took them back to hang out to dry near the tent. Hopefully they’d be fully dry by tomorrow—putting on damp clothes in the chilly dawn air completely sucked.
He grabbed one of his meal pouches and headed out to get the hot water to make it edible. Nothing about these MREs was very appetizing, but they were calorie and nutrient dense, so all the athletes forced them down. Between the events each day and multiple miles carrying a fifteen- to twenty-pound backpack, they were burning a shit ton of calories.
He wanted to talk to Wildfire but knew that interrupting her now when she was in the middle of talking to racers about potential injuries was a bad idea.
But he kept an eye on her—always aware of where she was and what she was doing. Of course, that had always been true.
He could almost feel her eyes a moment later looking up and down his body, which he might’ve taken as a sexual invite if he didn’t know the truth. She was looking for injuries, looking to see if he was hiding any pain or stiffness in his movements. He’d seen her do it dozens of times over the years as he’d finished a stunt or a trip.
When she realized he was watching her in return, she immediately looked away, then turned to talk to some other people.
He filled his MRE pouch with water and zipped it shut so it could take the ten minutes to rehydrate. He stopped to talk to various people—careful to stay out of Wildfire’s way—and applauded with the others as the last of the racers came in for the day—two middle-aged women smiling and covered in mud. The race attracted all types, from serious contenders to people who only planned to ever try this sort of thing once in their lifetime.
When he saw Amber sitting by herself, he walked over. “Mind if I join you?”
She shrugged, barely looking up from her food. “Sure.”
“Are you doing okay?”
She took another bite of her food. “That’s a tricky question to answer.”
He waited, but she didn’t say anything else. Her brother had died only seven months ago, four months after his skiing accident. The fact that she was here at all was amazing in and of itself.
“I just want to say that I think Felix would have been really proud of you today. The way you powered through and got Damon up that wall? It was impressive.”
“I hope so.”
“It’s obvious that you’re athletic too. Must run in your family.”
“Maybe. He and I were both really active in sports, growing up. I feel like I…” she shrugged, trailing off.
“Feel like what?”
“Like since Felix’s death, I haven’t done enough. I feel like I’ve been in a holding pattern but now it’s time for me to move forward. To put the past to rights.”
“I really hope this race can do that for you.” Maybe competing in her brother’s place would give her a sense of closure.
She stood up, giving him a little nod. “It will. It has to.”
She gave him another nod and walked off to throw her meal package away. Damon smiled at her as they crossed paths, but she didn’t really look at him.
“She’s a tough nut to crack.” Damon made a sour face and slid down beside him.
“Please do not tell me you are going to try to put the moves on Felix’s sister. That’s just wrong.”
Damon put a hand over his heart as if he were mortally offended. “Of course not. At least, not while we’re on the race.”
Riley shook his head, stirring the food pouch that was almost ready to eat. “I don’t remember Felix very well. But he had no business being on that slope that day. I should’ve tried to talk him out of it.”
“Hey, Felix was an adult. Everybody has to know their own boundaries. You can’t walk around with a checklist. Plus, like you said, we didn’t really know the guy.”
“The man broke his back, then committed suicide. We should’ve tried harder.” He ran a hand through his hair, then rubbed the back of his neck. “Done something. If not then, then afterward. Maybe we could’ve made a difference.”
Just because he hadn’t known Felix well didn’t mean Riley couldn’t have stopped by the hospital or his house a few times to chat. Maybe it wouldn’t have changed anything, but maybe it would’ve. Now Amber and her family were paying the price.
“Leave Amber alone,” Riley said to Damon. “She needs friends, not…whatever you are to women.”
Damon began to wax poetic about how he could be both the best friend a woman ever have and the best lover, but Riley was only half listening.
Som
ething had just happened with Wildfire across the camp. She’d stiffened and a look of panic had fallen over her features.
No one was around her, so he had no idea what was making her look so grim. She glanced over at the RV across the camp, then slowly stepped back into the trees behind her.
What the hell?
He waited to see if she would come back into camp, but she didn’t.
Leave her alone.
Just like he’d just told Damon about Amber, Riley needed to leave Wildfire alone. Chasing her wasn’t the way to handle this. He knew it, but that didn’t stop him from setting down his barely touched meal pouch and telling Damon he’d catch him later.
Then Riley faded back into the tree line himself.
What the hell was she doing? What the hell was he doing?
Maybe Wildfire just wanted some time for herself.
Jesus, maybe she was meeting someone out here for some sort of rendezvous.
Maybe he was just losing his damn mind.
It didn’t take long for him to make it around to where he’d last seen her and pick up her trail from there. She was going to the lake. That was the only thing in this direction and Riley had always loved water. He spotted her as she stopped at a rock at the water’s edge.
He was an idiot. She just wanted a minute alone and he was following her like some pervert.
This was not the way to win her back.
He was just turning and walking back to camp when Riley’s body did some sort of weird flailing thing, propelling her into the water.
“Riley!”
Chapter 8
He bolted for the water’s edge. It was way too cold for her to have jumped willingly. Had she tripped and fallen? Passed out?
By the time he reached the water, she’d turned and clasped the rock.
He was just happy she was conscious.
“What are you doing?” she yelled, teeth already chattering from her submersion.
“What am I doing? What the hell are you doing?”
Phoenix Page 6
