Rebel just shrugged and donned his helmet too. “Oops.”
“I do not believe youroops,” Kit said before he closed his visor.
With that, we were off, Rebel in the lead, snow flying around us as we took off. Wide trails meant we were never in any danger from the branches of the trees that bordered them. Someone probably spent a great deal of time out here just making sure there were no threats to riders.
When we shot into a clearing, Rebel did a series of donuts before racing towards the trail on the other side, leading us on a wild ride filled with well-marked curves that kept us from losing track of where we were supposed to be riding.
He took a left halfway up the side of the mountain trail, slowing his speed, so I did too, waiting to see where he was leading us now. I’d already lost track of how long we’d been out here in the whirlwind of motion and snow, but the lingering tension from last night’s concert and Rebel’s encounter with Knightly had finally bled away.
Having to stay at my post through it all, unable to text, not knowing if the altercation had been resolved, had weight heavily on me the whole time I was escorting Jagger away from themerch booth and onto Blissfully Immune’s bus.
Still, I’d done my job, never hesitated, and earned Sully’s respect and praise in the process, as well as the morning off when Rebel said he wanted to go riding as soon as it was light enough out to be safe.
I’d wondered, when we’d first set off at breakneck speeds, if he was trying to outrun his demons and the memory of what had taken place the night before, but when I saw the shimmering ice on the half-frozen waterfall, I realized that he’d been eager to get somewhere specific.
Here.
Parking at the base, he pulled off his helmet, shook off his hair, and grinned when Kit nearly forgot to kill the engine in his haste to get off and get a closer look. It was only when he accidentally gunned the throttle that he realized his error, one leg on the seat, the sudden jerk nearly sending him into a snowdrift.
“Holy shit!” he sputtered once he’d finally dismounted properly and yanked his helmet off.
“You were about to be a song lyric,” Rebel threatened.
“Yeah, yeah,” Kit muttered as he stared up at the falls, in awe of the deep, frozen blue hues and the slow-flowing water that ran out beneath it.
“It’s amazing, isn’t it?” Rebel said as I withdrew a thermos of hot cocoa from the backpack I carried.
“That’s an understatement,” I said as I passed him a cup.
He passed it to Kit instead of drinking it, so I passed him another and stood beside him as we stared up at the waterfall.
“I guess you could say it’s my thoughtful spot,” Rebel admitted. “Up here, anyway. Leave me anywhere long enough and I always ferret out a new one.”
“Good to know,” Steel said. “Will make it easier to find you when you wonder off brooding.”
“I do not brood.”
“Dude, you have brooding down to an art form. You get this whole scrunchy face thing going, right about here,” Kit said, walking over to stand in front of Rebel and run his finger fromRebel’s forehead down to the middle of his eyebrows. “Lots of wrinkles and a great big pout.”
“I’ll show you a pout,” Rebel said, but the fake puppy-dog eyes he attempted to give just made us both laugh.
“Not bad,” Kit replied, snickering, “but nowhere near your best.”
“Meh.”
“Seriously though,” Kit said, pressing in close so we had Rebel sandwiched between us. “How are you doing after last night?”
I was glad he’d asked the question that I was dying to ask, because being apart from them last night had gutted me. Because I’d been on duty, the only message I’d received from Rebel was a short and sweet one telling me he was okay. From my vantage point, I’d seen things nearly come to blows, then the crowd shifting to let Sully, Kit, and Rebel through as he’d escorted them away from the situation. Jett, Vale, and a couple of roadies had escorted Knightly from the venue, and things had been a bit tense and uncomfortable backstage after that.
When everyone had loaded onto the buses, I’d been too far away from Rebel to see if there were any marks on him, but I’d sure as hell checked at breakfast, even with him grumbling and batting at my hands.
“He never touched me, and for the record, I can hold my own,” Rebel had muttered beneath his breath when I’d been fussing over him.
I didn’t doubt that, but he should never have to, especially not with a friend. That Knightly had escalated from words to attempting to put his hands on Rebel had resulted in Draven issuing a persona non grata edict, baring Knightly from future events. The email had arrived not long after we’d boarded the buses last night for the drive here, accompanied by a picture of Knightly so everyone would be able to identify him.
“Numb,” Rebel finally replied. “I’m not even pissed at him anymore; I just want him to stay the fuck out of my life.”
“Why the hell did you ever let him stick around this long?”Kit asked, beating me to the punch.