Page 171 of The Route to You

He was tempted to glance back and look for Sloan again, but he needed to stop thinking about her absence before it rattled around in his mind too much. That might mess him up more than he needed right now.

As they neared the starting point, the weight of the pack settled more fully onto Kyle’s shoulders, the straps biting in, the familiar pressure tugging at his repaired shoulder in a way that wasn’t pain so much as a constant, pointed reminder. He adjusted the fit without breaking stride.

“You okay?” Dean asked, clocking the movement.

“Fine,” he said with a grunt. “If I can’t last longer than the first ten minutes, I give you permission to push me off the closest cliff.”

“I do that, and I may as well jump too. Your family would make me pay for it.”

Kyle flashed a smile, then turned his gaze away. Around him, all he heard was the jostling of bodies, gear, and the clatter of feet. That would fall away quickly enough once the race started, and then he would feel swallowed by nature.

Even here on the mountains, the peaks of the Tetons rose ahead in stark, jagged lines, their scale impossible to ignore no matter how many times he’d seen them.

Breathtakingly beautiful.

Impossibly dangerous.

He tried to lighten his spirits and glanced at Dean. “We should probably talk or this will be some boring-ass footage.”

Dean laughed. “True. About what?”

“The terrain. The way this altitude’s air makes your lung hurt. Whatever.”

“Remember that time you nearly wrecked my brand-new snowmobile?”

Kyle made a cut sign against his neck. “Yeah, not that. I don’t need you giving away all my secrets.”

“Dude, if you wanted someone who won’t tell the public everything you don’t want them to know, you should have put that in the application.” Dean grinned at him.

“Kyle!”

Kyle froze for a moment, his heart thudding as he turned back to look.

Sloan ran toward him, pink jacket standing out among the racers, the pouf on her beanie bouncing with each step.

A grin broke out on his face. Thank the good Lord.

“Hey gorgeous,” he said as she reached him. He bent as she threw her arms around his neck, almost knocking him over with the forcefulness of her embrace. “Whoa.”

“Sorry.” She laughed, her cheeks pink. She kissed him, hard, then stepped back. “I didn’t want you to go before I had a chance to talk to you.”

He straightened, shrugging to balance his gear better. “Don’t worry, I wasn’t beginning to think you wouldn’t show,” he said in a joking tone that betrayed his insecurity.

She rolled her eyes and set her hands on her hips. “Listen here, mister, I had something important to do.” She produced her phone from her pocket. “First of all, I want you to take a look at this⁠—”

She logged into a bank account and showed it to him. “This is yours. I auctioned off everything from my mom’s storage unit . . . everything of value that I didn’t want. Then Quinn helped me set up a company, and this is what we have so far. I also took out a loan, using my trust as collateral. Between this and the loan, we should have enough to make a good offer to Helixnet for the IP of Pathways. ”

What?

Kyle blinked at her.

“Sloan—”

“No.” She shook her head. “I know what you’re going to say and listen, I’m not asking my dad for money. And I know you’re not asking your family for money. But you’re my partner. It’s not the same for me to help you.”

“But your mom’s stuff . . .”

She shrugged. “It’s just stuff. People are more important than things, silly goose. Trust me, I know that better than ever. I almost lost my dad over this stuff.” She gave him an encouraging smile. “Don’t worry. I kept my favorite things.”