Page 57 of Rogue Riders Duet

“I don’t⁠—”

“Relax,” she cuts me off gently as the door clicks shut behind us but doesn’t let go of me until I’ve stopped moving. “I’ve been doing this a long time. Studied the body inside and out. I know my way around anatomy.”

Fuck.

My breath stutters in my throat. I can’t seem to pull in a full one.

“Don’t worry. Karl was too distracted by the bruising and those scars,” she continues, like she didn’t just figure out my secret.

Shit. Shit.

Panic claws up the inside of my ribs like it’s trying to dig out. Stepping back automatically, my legs brush the edge of the massage table.

I feel exposed, cornered, and caught, and my body screams at me to run.

Piper just watches with her arms crossed, not crowding me, only waiting for me to settle myself.

“I’ll keep your secret.”

I blink. “W-why?”

She shrugs, casual but not careless. “I’m just… interested. You would easily be the best female rider on the circuit, but you’re riding with the guys. And you’re good.” She lets that sit, then tilts her head. “So what’s the angle, Crews? Why does it feel like no one else knows what I do?”

“I can’t tell you.”

“But there is an angle.”

I nod. Barely.

“Someone in particular?”

Another nod.

“Delacroix?”

I shake my head so fast it’s almost a reflex.

“Good,” she mutters. “I like the idiot.”

It’s so unexpected, I let out a half-laugh.

Yeah, I guess I do too.

She grins and turns to prep the table, lowering it and laying out fresh towels. “Get undressed. I’m gonna work your hip and back. And I’m making room for you in my schedule from now on. We’ll have to do it in the evenings, though, I’m pretty booked.” I just stare at her when she glances back over her shoulder. “If you want to kick the male riders’ asses, you’ll need a physio,” she says. “And I’m guessing you can’t exactly have anyone else doing your sessions without blowing your cover.”

“Why… why are you doing this?”

She pauses.

Then, with a little smile. “Honestly? This is my last season with the circuit. I’m bored. And you?” She raises an eyebrow. “You’re the most interesting thing I’ve seen in the last five years.” Something in my chest unknots just a little. “Maybe someday you’ll tell me,” she adds, smile deepening. “Or maybe I’ll just wait and see.”

I can’t help it, I grin a real one.

Dane is going to kill me for this. If he finds out, but the truth is, she already knows. And somehow, she’s not looking at me like I’m crazy or broken. She’s simply… curious.

There’s nothing left to do now but trust this sharp-eyed stranger who caught me mid-fall and didn’t flinch.

So I take a breath and pull off the hoodie.