He shrugged. “I would’ve said your… I would’ve said Boy Riley on principle, but…”
“Yeah, he was looking a little rough out there on the obstacle course this morning. Unfocused. I think it’s probably jet lag, or honestly, lack of training for this specific race.”
“Phoenix can handle anything thrown his way. And his training at any given point is better and tougher than most of these athletes’ hardest week.”
She shook her head. “Yeah, but did you see him today? He was making some pretty basic mistakes.”
Zac raised an eyebrow at her. “I saw him. I’m not saying he wasn’t struggling. I’m saying it wasn’t a physical problem. He had…other things on his mind.”
Her. She was the other things.
She pretended to rub off a speck of dirt on her pants. “He’s going to have to get focused. No matter what he’s got on his mind.”
So was she.
It wasn’t Riley who made it into the camp as the first-day winner. It was Bo.
She swallowed her disappointment. There was absolutely no reason to be disappointed. First, because this was day one. There were still five more days to go, and it was the combined finishing times that mattered.
Second, she did not care how Riley Harrison did in this race. She. Did. Not. Care.
She glanced over to find Zac watching her.
“Yeah, honestly, I also thought even after his rough start it would be Riley coming in first.”
She gave him a one-shouldered shrug. “I don’t have an opinion. I’m just here to make sure everybody is fit to continue the race.”
Zac nodded, but she caught his smile as he turned away.
Damn it.
She was going to have to find a better poker face when it came to what she was feeling. Or better yet, figure out how to turn these feelings off altogether.
The race volunteers—it took about two dozen to successfully put on a race this size—cheered for Bo as he made it across the camp finish line. He stopped to talk to a few of them as he walked to the tent area. The athletes got to choose which tent they stayed in—some were in better locations than others, closer to the bathrooms or the water. It was one of the perks of being one of the early finishers.
“I’m going back to the RV to get ready. They’ll be arriving regularly now.”
“I’ll send Bo over to you after I talk to him.”
Her fingers were starting to get a little tingly. And she was tired.
Those had been some of her first warning signs that anything was wrong, back six months ago. She’d ignored them, blaming the odd feelings on a dozen different other things.
It was only after Anne had finally talked her into seeing a neurologist in Reddington City that Riley had finally gotten her answers.
Although, she definitely hadn’t gotten the ones she wanted.
She walked inside and sat down at the small desk that held everyone’s files. Sitting felt good.
She reminded herself that being a little tired and having tingly fingers didn’t necessarily mean anything. Sitting had always felt good. She was on her feet all the damn time as a nurse.
But discouragement weighed on her. The hardest thing for her right now was figuring out what was MS and what was just everyday life. MS affected every person differently. She was constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop to see how it affected her.
There was a knock on the door a couple of seconds before it opened. Riley turned around to face Bo.
He grinned at her. “I’ll bet you didn’t expect to see me in here first.”
She gestured for him to sit in the patient chair near the back of the RV. She washed her hands, then walked over to him.
“I’m neutral.” But her smile was tight. “My only concern is making sure everybody makes it through this race with the fewest injuries possible.”
“Come on, surely you wish it were your boyfriend in here first.”
Bo and Boy Riley had been in a lot of competitions against each other, so she’d gotten to know the man in the past couple years. She didn’t dislike him but didn’t plan on becoming chummy with him either.
“Honestly, neutral. And Riley and I are no longer together, so doubly neutral.”
Damn it, why couldn’t Boy Riley have just stayed away? She rubbed her fingers as they began tingling again. Dealing with the MS was enough without a constant reminder of him too.
“I’d heard something of the sort, but I wasn’t sure if it was true. I’m sorry.” Bo nodded at her.
“Thanks. So, first day is over. How are you feeling? Any injuries?”
“Nope. The only thing I’m feeling is that this is going to be my year.”
She had no idea what to say about that. If Riley continued the way he had today, this very well could be Bo’s year.
She marked down the abrasions and cuts in Bo’s file, then sent him on his way. Iceland was the next to show up, also with no injuries to talk about but an interesting story about Bo leaving them during the team event.
Riley wasn’t surprised. These guys could be cutthroat in their competitiveness. But technically Bo hadn’t been cheating, so it was something the others had to deal with.
All was fair in love and WAR.
Her stream of patients was pretty solid for the next few hours. Everyone had to be signed off each day by her, or Anne when she was here, as okay to continue. Most of the time, that just meant a few seconds of conversation, especially today, since there’d been nothing too tough. It would get progressively more difficult on the athletes going forward: blisters, sprains, cuts, and bruises. Hopefully nothing much more serious than that.
During a lull, she walked back outside, continuing to talk to racers. It was midafternoon and nearly everyone had made it in for the day. There had been no major injuries, and no one had decided to quit after just one day. That had happened in the past.
Everyone seemed in relatively good spirits as they ate and rested, talking about the obstacle course and its brutality. She wandered around, listening and smiling. There were a few more people she wanted to examine more thoroughly, mostly those who’d listed the Wild Wyoming as their first foray into adventure racing. For anyone else left, she’d just do a cursory check and observation.
Including Boy Riley. She’d heard the announcement when he’d arrived in fourth place, just after Iceland and Damon, but she’d refused to come out immediately and check on him.
Of course, her intentions didn’t matter. Her eyes found him now, automatically sizing him up to see how he was doing.
He seemed fine as he talked to the two middle-aged women who were the last to come in for the day. No stiffness that would suggest injury or undue pain.
He looked up and caught her studying him, and she let out a curse before looking away. They were just too damn aware of each other.
She wandered more, talking to different participants, looking for anyone who might be struggling. So far, everyone seemed ready to tackle day two.
She was on the opposite side of the camp when the first spasm in her leg hit.
“Fuck.” She sucked in a breath and let it out slowly, willing herself to relax. Sometimes the spasm lasted just for a moment.
Her leg jerked again.
Damn it, there was no way she was going to make it back to the RV without someone noticing something was wrong. But she wasn’t going to stand here and just flop around for everyone to see.