Ride Me, Don’t Love Me

RAINA The noise from the crowd hit me the second I stepped onto the field. I pulled my jacket tighter around me, forcing myself to breathe steadily. I made my way toward the pit area, where Zane and the rest of the team were gathered. He stood near his bike, surrounded by his mechanics and a few officials. I forced my steps forward and held out his gloves and helmet. “Here,” I said quietly. “You forgot these.” He glanced at me, surprised. “Raina, I told you…” “I know,” I cut in softly. “But I’m your coach, remember? I had to make sure you were ready.” He just took the gloves from my hand and gave a short nod. “Thanks.” I shoved my heartbreak aside and slipped into my role- handing off tape, checking pressure, calling out lap targets. On the outside, I was calm, but inside, the image of that pregnancy test kept breaking me. He turned to me one last time before mounting his bike. “Wish me luck.” I managed a small smile. “You don’t need luck. Just focus.” He nodded once, lowe

RAINAI stepped out of that room, slamming the door shut behind me.My chest was rising and falling so fast I thought I’d pass out. I looked down at my wrist, half expecting the green light on my heart monitor to flash… but it didn’t.“This doesn’t make sense,” I whispered, pressing my fingers against the device. After everything that had just happened, my heart should’ve been in full meltdown mode.I let out a low hiss, dragging a hand down my face. “What an arrogant bastard.”I pulled my jacket tighter around me and started walking out of the field, ignoring the noise from the crowd.I opened the Uber app with shaking hands and ordered a ride. The ride pulled up, and I slid into the backseat. When the car stopped in front of my apartment, I paid quickly and got out. I took the stairs two at a time, fumbling with my keys until I pushed open the door. “Zane?” I called softly, my voice echoing through the dim living room. “Zane?” I called again, stepping farther into the apartment.

RAINAI just stared at him.My mouth opened… then closed… then opened again.Nothing came out.I was dumbfounded.Pregnant? Out of every possible lie in the entire universe, that was what he chose? That was the story he thought made sense?“Let’s leave the marriage talk aside for now,” I finally choked out. “How the hell am I supposed to pull off the pregnancy nonsense?”Elias didn’t even blink. “Relax,” he said, like he didn’t just flip my entire life upside down. “You won’t be pregnant for long.”My jaw dropped. “Excuse me!?”He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “I mean… after a while, you’ll just say you had a miscarriage.”I stared at him, horrified.He continued casually, “It makes the story believable. We’ll be married by then anyway.”“Married?” I whispered. “Elias, this morning I didn’t even know you existed.”“Six months,” he interrupted calmly. “That’s all. We get married for six months, make Zane miserable, and walk away. Simple.”Simple??My life had turned into a feve

ELIAS This woman… This impossible, loud-mouthed, stubborn woman was really getting on my nerves. I clenched my jaw once, just once, because if I did it twice, I might actually grab her, pin her to the wall, and silence that sharp little mouth with mine. And not for the noble reasons. She didn’t get it yet. She didn’t understand what she was, what we were or how close she was to snapping the last thread of my patience. But I forced myself to stay calm. I inhaled once, dragged my eyes over her flushed, furious face, and exhaled. She wasn’t ready yet, but she would be. I always got what I wanted eventually. A slow smirk tugged at my lips as I folded my arms. “Alright,” I murmured, my voice dropping to a lazy, taunting rumble. “If you have other options… by all means, Raina. Tell me.” I stepped closer until she had to tilt her chin up to look at me. Her heartbeat faltered, her wolf stirred again, brushing against mine like a spark waiting to catch flame. “And another thing,

ELIASI won’t lie. I was surprised.Not because she said no, women said that all the time, but because she said it with conviction. With her arms crossed, her chin lifted, eyes sharp like she’d already drawn a line in her head and dared me to cross it.Hard to get. I understood the game.Still… it amused me. We didn’t really have the luxury of choices right now, but I wasn’t going to argue. I wanted to see what she thought she had planned, what clever little backup story she believed could outsmart a medical test.So I kept my mouth shut for now.I turned toward my wardrobe, scanning through neatly arranged clothes. My eyes moved over the hangers automatically, already calculating how the fabric would fall on her smaller frame.I pulled out a pair of black trousers and a loosed top and turned, holding them up. “You can wear this.”She stared for half a second, then rolled her eyes. “Oh, wow,” she said dryly. “You should’ve warned me if you wanted all eyes on me while I walk into the