Page 63 of Forsaken Oath

She sits back, her eyes narrowing. “Your competition? What do you mean? Like he’s in another crew?”

I sigh, pushing my sunglasses up to rest on top of my head. “If you consider the Alley a crew.”

She stares at me, hard enough that I almost wonder if she’s trying to communicate telepathically. “Who is he?”

I exhale, my stomach twisting a little. “Beau Carter.”

“Carter. Like the Carter brothers? Like the guy who won the last two Gauntlets?”

My gaze snaps to hers. “How do you know that?”

She waves her hand in the air, brushing my question away. “I know lots of things. What I need to know is how the hell you ended up canoodling Beau freaking Carter?!”

I roll my eyes. “Who says canoodling anyway?”

“It’s my word of the week. Don’t dodge the question,” she replies quickly.

I roll my head from side to side, stretching out the tension in my neck. “Yeah, well, none of it really matters because Beau’s racing the Gauntlet. I saw him at that second pre-qualifier, you know. And he’s so fucking talented. There’s no way he won’t be invited to run the Gauntlet this year.”

There’s a beat of silence, and then she says, “Is that it?”

“What?”

“So you’re going to run the Gauntlet together? What does that have to do with you eye-fucking or for real?—”

“Watch it,” I interrupt her.

She throws her hands up, letting them fall to her legs with a slap. “What? We can’t talk about sex now? I thought you told me I can always come to you if I have questions.”

“You can.”

“Great, because I have questions. About you and Beau freaking Carter. And was he as good as everyone says?”

Jealousy pricks underneath my skin, like a persistent, sharp itch. I shift a little, trying to find a cooler spot on the lounger.

“Not questions about my sex life.”

“Ah,” she says, snapping her fingers. “So youdohave a sex life with him.”

I recline and throw my arm over my eyes, hoping she’ll drop it. “You know, if I’d have known that having little sisters meant this kind of interrogation, I might’ve reconsidered the whole thing,” I grumble half-heartedly.

Margot huffs, leaning back on her hands. “Fine, fine. Be all mysterious. All I’m going to say is that you should go for it.”

I peek at her from under my arm, the corner of my mouth quirking up. “Explain.”

Margot leans forward, her eyes intent. “Look, Louie. I’ve seen you sacrifice so much for me and Vivie. You put your whole life on hold to take care of us. And I love you for that, more than you know. But you deserve something for yourself too. Something that makes you happy.”

Her words settle heavy in my chest, a lump forming in my throat. “I don’t even know him.”

“Sogetto know him.”

I swallow hard, blinking up at the sky. “It’s not that simple, Margot.”

“Why not? Because he’s your competition? So what? That just makes it hotter. It’s all forbidden and rivalries and street racing. This is the kind of stuff people make movies about. You could be living your very own romcom life, sis,” she says, her hands moving around the more she gets animated.

“Romcom?” I arch a brow.

She rolls her shoulders back and presses a hand to her chest. “I’m the comedy in your romcom, obviously.”

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