Page 110 of Tailwind

‘I think that’s what your problem is, by the way.’

I rubbed at my face. At least she’d come to the same conclusion as I had. The last thing I wanted was for her to assume it was feelings.

‘You’re frustrated. As far as I know you’ve not hooked up with anyone since you started racing. You need to let off some steam. Everything building up inside of you needs an outlet.’

‘I haven’t, no, but I’ve been taking care of myself. I’ve not exactly had the time to find someone between racing, keeping and pretending to be two people.’

‘Doing it yourself and having someone else do it for you has a very different effect.’

I grimaced. ‘You’re not going to give me the statistics for this, are you?’

‘No … I don’t have them to hand. I will say though that there’s a reason I call on Jas for some fun during the race season. If you’re getting all weak-kneed over Theo, then do something about it.’

‘I’m not going to fuck Theo.’ I sat up straight for the first time during the lesson, serious.

Josie’s sigh gave the impression of a thousand years of suffering as she pinched the bridge of her nose. ‘I’m telling you to find someone else, Lena. Get your needs taken care of and you shouldn’t lose your head – or otherwise – when he flirts with you.’

‘Oh.’ I relaxed back against the chair. ‘Yeah, that’s what I was going to say too.’

‘Although …’ Josie neatened my note papers, squaring the corners. ‘Having one night to get it out of your system could also work. Given how competitive you two are it could get interesting.’

I took the statistics sheets from her and held them up to my face. ‘What were you saying about lap deltas?’

She laughed, her voice ringing pleasantly in the open-aired room while I stared at the numbers, hoping any of them would replace the involuntary images appearing in my brain. What could have happened in the steam room, towels long forgotten in the corner as we tested each other’s stamina …

Yes, I definitely needed to find someone else to deal with my problem.

I stepped off the train on to the platform. The sun was hot, the heat bounced off the ground and back up into my already sweaty body. The air was clear, at least, and I could hear the happy cries of children and drakes alike echoing up from the track we’d just arrived at.

‘I’m not complaining, not one bit – but you do remember I asked you to help me with the popularity stuff, not racing, right?’

I leaned on the railing separating the station from the racetrack, my skin tingling against the hot metal. The last time I’d been here I’d had to climb one of the rungs to see over the top. Down below I could see the goofy silhouettes of the drakes – wingless relatives of dragons with strong wide legs and a long thick tail for excellent balance. The talons on the lesser cousins were fierce, able to grip and climb any surface, all while hauling around a human on their back.

They were racing around a shallow basin, with dirt tracks cut into it, all overlapping one another. It was chaos. It was where it all started.

Theo joined me, his bronze arms flexing as he leaned on the railing. ‘You’ve got to think like a politician,’ he said. ‘Kiss a few babies, you know?’

I frowned. ‘What?’

He rolled his eyes, pushing his curls out of his face in case I missed it. ‘We’re here to give back. Spend some time with kids who dream of flying.’

‘That’s actually a really good idea.’ My heart warmed. Getting to train with Bach as an adult was exciting enough – I would have exploded if I’d met him as a kid.

‘I know.’ He batted my arm. ‘Let’s go.’

As we entered the track headquarters I couldn’t help but notice it had been through a few upgrades in the past decade. Everything was more sleek, though it hadn’t sacrificed its charm. The floors were still wood – the same blonde wood as in the Vaspre house – but it was fresher and smoother. The windows were bigger, letting in more natural light to the massive space, wrapping all the way around to the viewing platform that jutted out over the edge of the basin.

There was a lot more purple as part of the decor. Robust purple sofas in the waiting area. Purple under lighting at the edges of the ceiling.

‘Is this a Bring your Friend to Work Day? Why is everything screaming Ballenir?’

Theo’s brows curved upwards, looking touched. He did his best to put the same feeling into his words. ‘You think we’re friends?’

I punched his arm.

He chuckled. ‘They set up a sponsorship with the track. We scout for juniors here to join the trainee programme.’

‘Oh.’ That was surprisingly generous for a Volitant team.