Everything hurt.

Every few seconds, when he moved his foot between the brake and gas, his ankle protested.

Keeping a firm, yet loose grip on the wheel made his wrist ache.

His forearm ached from holding his arms in nearly the same position for hours.

Hell, even his head was aching now that the temperature in the car was climbing. The fan blowing air up his back did little to counteract the sheen of sweat that had formed on his skin.

Keeping his breaths shallow so as not to aggravate his ribs made him feel like a dog in a locked car, but it was his own damn fault he’d gotten into this car.

And Tyler was so happy his cheeks hurt from smiling.

From the first purr of the engine, he’d felt like he was back at home. After weeks stuck out on the farm doing nothing, it was fucking heaven.

Fighting his pride had been hard. He’d wanted to fight for a spot in the top 20, just like everyone else. But it hadn’t taken him long to notice Richie deliberately hanging back.

His spotter had thought he was out of his mind when he told him he was going to stay behind Richie for the whole damn race. But, to his credit, he’d listened and directed Tyler accordingly.

“He’s waiting to be overtaken again,” his spotter spoke up, sounding bewildered. “He hates being ahead of you.”

The hardest part had been finding his place behind Richie and following him to the pits and out again without being too obvious about it. The guys in the pit seemed to know the plan by now, and thankfully, they hadn’t asked questions. Not that anyone had time for that.

Just in case he crashed out, he’d made sure to keep a car between himself and Richie. Last thing he needed was anyone thinking he was deliberately taking Richie out as revenge.

“Three to go,” his spotter told him. Exactly what he wanted to hear. He could coast through a finish right in the middle of the pack.

It irritated him to let Richie take more points, but there was a damn good reason. If he had his way, Richie wasn’t going to be keeping those for much longer.

The sweat running down the back of his neck made him shiver, giving him some welcome sensory distraction from the pain burning through him. He was dizzy and not sure his legs would support him afterward, but he could hold on for just three more laps.

Another minute, he promised himself. Not long at all. Just focus.

“He’s making a move. Trying to get in the high line again.”

Goddamn. It was hard to find an excuse and chance to stay behind him, but Tyler poured his attention into it. It was the opposite of his usual skill—staying intentionally slow without endangering anyone was a lot harder than it looked.

Richie was in the high line and slowing. He saw a gap—not much of one, but enough.

Tyler didn’t have a spare brain cell for another thought besides how to get in there now, and keep two cars between him and Richie. No way would Richie have time to make another move before the finish line.

He twitched the wheel, glided into the gap, and let out his breath slowly while his spotter gruffly barked in his ear that they were on the last lap.

“What am I at?”

“About forty.”

Good enough. Not a great finish, but far from the worst. Looked like Richie would make thirty-seven or thirty-eight, something like that.

The next few minutes passed in a blur.

He barely remembered crossing the line, or slowing with everyone else, or shoving his door open with his shoulder. Or the agony that ensued when his whole arm lit on fire.

He only had enough brain power to register the facts: his arm almost wouldn’t move, and he couldn’t get out of the car. He slumped, and there was a medical crew at his side almost right away.

Again. He was getting to make a habit of that.

It was gonna rain. Thank God the weather had held until now.

Tyler closed his eyes, and he grinned, and he curled the fingers of his good hand so tightly they protested, his nails digging into his palm.

He’d glimpsed Richie somewhere between the car and the stretched, and Richie looked pissed.

For today, by today’s definition, he’d won.

* * *

“Hey, you.”

Tyler’s brain was sluggish. He recognized the feeling of an IV in the back of his hand, and the good drugs coursing through his body. His chest was tight, but he wasn’t thirsty.

He did need to pee, though.

Fluids, too, then.

He managed to open his eyes. For a moment, he thought he was seeing double and blinked, but there were two guys in here with him.

Then his brain supplied names, and he smiled: Alec and Josh.

“Glad you guys are getting along,” he mumbled.

Alec and Josh swapped looks, and he couldn’t tell which of them made which snorting noise.

Tyler grinned woozily. “So that went okay. Right?” He was fairly sure it had. The fragments coming back to him told him as much.

“You let Richie beat you.” Josh shook his head. “And good thing. Roger was just in.”

“And?”

“Uh. There’s mixed news.”

Alec scoffed. “Your sponsor doesn’t like that the TV cameras saw me.”

“I like that you saw me.” Tyler grinned, and he found he couldn’t look away from Alec. God, he was pretty. It was surreal to see him in this setting, but then, it wasn’t too far from how they’d first met. Alec looked sexy in a white coat.

“And,” Alec added, “Roger pretty much told them to fuck off. It was kind of cool.”

“Roger’s cool.” Tyler managed a slow thumbs-up, then tried wiggling all his fingers and toes. All working. Good.”

“And they caught Richie’s whole damn team cheating,” Josh burst out with, unable to contain himself a moment longer.

Well, duh. That hadn’t been an accidental threat before the last race he’d been in.

Tyler raised his brows slowly. He could hardly feel his face. These were the really good drugs. “How?”

“Bumper shape. Not conforming to… something about a new car shape,” Alec shook his head. “Roger looked like he wanted to tear someone apart. Kiera and Sally figured it out. Something to do with them wanting your sponsorship. Apparently they’ve been talking to Harry already. It was all set up. He confessed, like, instantly. Richie wouldn’t admit to anything. Cops are involved. The whole nine yards.”

“You know, Alec nearly pulled the doctor card to get in here and see you,” Josh added, grinning. “Roger pretty much told them all they could go to hell.”

Yeah. Roger was good like that. “I wouldn’t suck his dick, but he’s cool,” Tyler murmured.

Alec burst out laughing, and then Tyler became aware of Alec’s hand in his. “I’m glad,” Alec told him.

Tyler tried to tilt his head on the pillow. “That mean you’re not dumping me?”

“I’ve got some yelling to do first,” Alec told him.

“I’m going away now,” Josh muttered in the background. “So you can be all gross and coupley.” He breezed out quickly.

“Thanks.” Tyler glanced back at Alec. “Can we save the yelling? The curtains are pretty thin here.”

Alec scoffed and shook his head, then squeezed his hand. “Of course. There’s more available on request.”

“Good.” Tyler couldn’t come up with a snappy comeback, so he just gazed at Alec for long enough that Alec turned red.

“What?”

“I love you.”

Alec opened his mouth, then closed it again and chuckled. “You’re high on painkillers.” He looked embarrassed.

Tyler didn’t understand why Alec was fidgeting, and he pressed, “But I do. Is it something I did?”

Alec flicked his finger against the back of Tyler’s hand gently. “Yeah. Sneaking off to race against some psycho killer asshole when I love your dumb ass and I just wanted you to be… be safe.” Alec’s eyes glistened.

“That’s the most romantic thing anyone’s ever said. When I quote it to my brothers, can I include the crying?”

Alec’s laugh was rich. He wiped his eyes and let go of Tyler’s hand, flopping into the chair by the bed. “You are such an asshole.”

“Apparently you love assholes,” Tyler said. His laugh was more of a giggle. “Pun not intended but totally awesome. Get it? Because you…”

That set Alec off into a flood of laughter of his own. “I get it. Shut up, before they throw me out.”

“Just tell ’em you’re my doctor,” Tyler grinned broadly at Alec.

Alec groaned. “Don’t. Roger figured it out when he called Doc Gordon. He gave me a hell of a side-eye before we got in here.”

“He won’t get us in trouble,” Tyler stated confidently. He knew Roger well enough to be sure of that.

“We both narrowly escaped trouble,” Alec said, his voice quieter. “Can we just… take it easier now?”

Tyler nodded slightly. “Except I’ll be racing for real next time,” he told Alec. “Can you handle that?”

“If you don’t keep secrets from me again. If you’re gonna do something stupid, don’t you ever sneak off again.”

Tyler drew a breath and let it out. He had plenty of people who cared, but it meant something different coming from Alec. Especially since Alec loved him. “Yeah. I won’t.”

“Good. Even if you’re drugged-up, I’m gonna hold you to that,” Alec told him firmly.

Tyler snorted. “That doesn’t sound strictly…” He squinted, trying to find words. “Legal?”

“I’ll give you illegal,” Alec muttered, shaking his head. “Worrying the crap out of me. And Josh. Vanishing. Fainting when you got out of the car. Jesus Christ.”

Tyler fumbled until he gripped Alec’s hand again. “Thank you.”

Despite his disgruntled words, Alec’s gaze was soft as he gazed at Tyler. “You’re welcome.”

With Alec’s hand in his, Tyler felt like everything was gonna work out just fine.