Page 106 of The Aster Valley Collection, Vol. 2

FINN

The following weekend found us back at the trailhead, my wrist still lightly wrapped but my determination stronger than ever.

I'd spent the week at school regaling my drama students with the tale of my mountain biking disaster, which they'd found hilarious.

Solo, in particular, had been delighted by my misfortune.

"You looked like a scarecrow that got run over by a tractor," he'd said, because teenagers are nothing if not brutally honest.

But he'd also let me use the stationary bikes in the school gym after drama club meetings, so I could practice without risking another face-plant.

"Remember," Declan said as we prepared to set off, "keep your?—"

"Weight centered, look where I want to go, not at obstacles, and use my body to steer," I recited dutifully. "I've got it, Dec. Besides, I've been practicing."

"Practicing? How?"

"Solo let me use the school's stationary bikes after drama club. I've been working on my form."

Declan shook his head, but his expression was warm. "Of course you have."

"What? I'm a professional. Professionals practice." I adjusted my helmet, which I'd finally managed to get to stay in place thanks to a YouTube tutorial specifically for people with "oddly shaped heads." I was choosing not to be offended by that categorization.

"I didn't say it was a bad thing," Dec replied, checking the tires on both our bikes one last time. "I just said 'of course.' Because that's who you are. You commit."

"Damn right I do," I said, clipping into my pedals with a confidence I didn't entirely feel. "I am a mountain biking god in training."

"A god with bruised sit bones," Declan teased, and I couldn't even argue because, despite the padded shorts and a week of recovery, my ass still felt like it had been used as a punching bag.

"Silence, mortal," I commanded, pushing off onto the trail. "Watch and be amazed."

As we pedaled side by side into the golden light of another autumn morning, I glanced over at Declan—his strong profile, the slight smile playing at the corners of his mouth, the way the sun caught in his hair.

This man, this place, this life I'd stumbled into.

.. it was nothing like what I had planned.

It was so much better.

"Hey, Dec?" I called as we rounded a bend in the trail.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for showing me this," I said, gesturing to the trail, the mountains, the entire world around us. "All of it."

He didn't respond right away, but when we pulled to a stop at a vista point overlooking the valley, he came up beside me, his expression serious.

"Thank you for staying," he said quietly.

I leaned over and kissed him, tasting coffee and mint and promise.

"Wild horses couldn't drag me away," I said against his lips. "Though these bike shorts might."

His laugh echoed across the mountainside, and I thought, not for the first time, that I'd trade all the fame and fortune in the world for this—for him, for Aster Valley, for the life we were building together.

Even if it meant occasionally flying over my handlebars and eating dirt in the process.

Some things were just worth the risk.