While Juniper was no pushover,pared to a scheming, older man like Shanley, she was bound to get hurt. That''s right. He was so much older than her. What was her brother thinking, throwing her to the wolves like that?


    "Rx," Juniper said, sidestepping the question of her feelings with a cool, confident tone. "No one takes advantage of me. Not even Shanley."


    Seeing she was runningte, Juniper quickly ended the call before Lue could work herself into a frenzy and fly over to confront her. She hung up just as she reached a red light.


    Suddenly, the deafening roar of an engine shattered the quiet, and Juniper nced back to see a man d in ck leather on a ridiculously expensive motorcycle speeding toward her. He screeched to a halt right beside her, the powerful engine kicking up a cloud of dust.


    Juniper coughed, waving the grit from her face as she shot him a cold re.


    The man ignored her, still on his phone. "What do you mean, notpeting? Did you make the terms clear?"


    She brushed the dust from her jacket, her annoyance growing. What a jerk!


    "Is J scared topete, or has J just gotten rusty and doesn''t want to be embarrassed?" he grumbled into the phone. After a pause, he punched the handlebars in frustration. "I''m just dying to know what this legendary racer ''J'' even looks like."


    At the mention of ''J'', Juniper''s brow furrowed and her fingers tightened on the grips.


    "Shows up right before the race, leaves without the trophy...?" the man chuckled. "Based on the driving style, it''s gotta be a man."


    Juniper remained silent.


    ?


    "Alright, keep trying," the man said, flipping his visor down. "If it doesn''t work, handle it. Money talks, and if that fails, we''ll just drag to the u track."


    Drag her? Juniper''s lips curved into a contemptuous smirk as she studied his face.


    "Gotta go. I''mte for my grandma''s birthday party."


    The light turned green. The man shoved his phone in his pocket and lifted his visor, his eyesnding on Juniper.


    "Hey, littledy, how about I go first?" he said with a patronizing grin. "This bike''s got


    a lot of kick. Wouldn''t want you to get blown over."


    The girl looked like a strong gust of wind could knock her down.


    Without a word, Juniper twisted the throttle. Her scooter shot forward, the back wheel kicking up a precis spray of dust directly into the man''s face.


    AUMS


    He coughed violently, and by the time he recovered, the girl was already a speck in the distance. Well


    now. She had some nerve! But no one, absolutely no one, was faster thank him on the road The man grinned, revving his engine. It was time to teach the littledy a lesson. His high-end machine versus her little e-scooter? This would be fun.