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I slam the brakes and jerk the wheel in the same motion, forcing the car into a space that barely exists, squeezing between the truck’s bumper and a parked SUV.

The gap is too tight. It shouldn’t work.

Metal screams somewhere too close, the rush of air against the sides of the car as we pass through, and for a brief moment, it feels like we hang on a single inch of space.

Then the tires catch.

The car holds.

And we’re through.

My grip tightens instinctively around the wheel, my pulse hammering as the road opens again in front of me, the finish line now close enough to feel.

I push the accelerator down once more, the engine responding with ease as the car surges forward, every shift clean.

Behind me, the others try to close the distance, engines roaring harder, pushing for the last stretch, but it’s not enough.

I cross first.

Uncontested. Decisive.

The sound of the city crashes back in all at once—cheers, horns, sirens—but it all feels distant compared to the rush flooding my system.

I ease the car to a stop, my hands still tight on the wheel, my chest rising and falling as the adrenaline slowly begins to settle.

Beside me, Zayn exhales, a shaky laugh slipping out.

“You never lost it,” he says, a grin spreading across his face.

I finally let my body relax, a faint smile pulling at my lips.

The victory is quiet, not explosive, but deep, lingering beneath the surface.

And for a moment, it’s not even about the race.

It’s about the feeling. The freedom. The reminder of who I used to be… and what’s still there.

Then my gaze moves instinctively toward where I know she is.

Now I just need to get to my woman.

SIXTY-EIGHT

Thalia

Ethan: Tonight you and your baggage have to be at my house.

Thalia: Good morning to you too, my love.

Ethan: I’m not fucking joking, Thalia.

His response makes me laugh. I got back to London late last night with the guys and Sierra, and Serena, exhaustion still clinging to my body, though it does nothing to dull the tension already coiling in my chest. Colt and Ethan had returned two days earlier, an urgent matter dragging them back ahead of us.

And I definitely don’t need to revisit how Ethan reacted when I refused to go to sleep alone in his house and chose Theo’s place instead.

Not out of jealousy, I know that. He trusts me, and the guys too.

But Ethan doesn’t do casual. He doesn’t do loose ends. And he made it very clear, in that quiet way of his, that from now on I sleep in his house.