Page 46 of Don't Brake My Heart
‘You want to beat the others?’
He chuckled. ‘No, I want to prove people wrong.’ That sounded like the Colin I knew. I wanted to ask who he wanted to prove himself to, but I had a strong suspicion and the team would never want me to splash the truth of his relationship with his father across the internet.
‘There are easier ways to do that,’ I commented.
‘Maybe,’ he agreed with a smile. ‘But winning is the best way. You know the feeling.’
The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I bet he could tell. Denying it would be pointless, so I ignored him instead. ‘What about the team? How do you feel when Derek’s out in front of you, pushing to his limits to protect you?’
His playfulness disappeared in an instant. ‘You know, sometimes the scrappy fight is easier than the smart game. The end of a stage, you’re alone and you go on instinct and give it whatever you have left. But at the beginning you have to hold back. I’m not good at holding back. The guys protect me from myself sometimes too.’
‘That’s insightful.’
He glanced at me with a hint of surprise – and doubt. ‘Cycling is all about knowing your limits – and how and when to push them. I fight for the win for myself, but I’m disciplined for the team, because their hard work only gets recognised through mine. It’s not… a choice really.’
He might not have thought he could produce ‘motivational crap’, but this stuff would be amazing as a voice over for action footage. Maybe I wouldn’t show the grimace of discomfort that accompanied his words, as though he’d be more comfortable if the team weren’t behind him.
‘Can you win the Tour?’
He scowled at me, too sharp not to realise I’d thrown him in at the deep end with that question. ‘How am I supposed to answer that?’
‘With the truth?’ I suggested with mock innocence.
Leaning forward, he held his hand over the camera. ‘To be perfectly honest, for you and not for this sponsor, no, I don’t think I can win the Tour.’
That shocked me into silence. Colin talked such big talk, I’d never expected him to admit to weakness.
He chuckled. ‘You told me to tell the truth.’
‘Yeah, but I didn’t think youwould!’
‘Lees, I don’t want to lie to you. Maybeyou’rethe one who should have been worried about this interview.’
‘Oh, Iwasworried about this interview.’
‘I’m trying to behave.’
Goosebumps rose on my skin. If the client’s followers reacted to him the way I did, this stuff would be gold.
‘Anything’s possible,’ he commented, slowly and clearly for the cameras.
‘Even Colin Gallagher growing up,’ I added in a mumble.
‘Maybe not that.’
Morgan’s insistence that I needed to get a romantic angle in this interview hung over me. I already felt tingly, as though I was digging too deep and might hit an old unexploded bomb that would take me out, but I forced myself to ask.
‘What about your personal life?’
‘What personal life?’ he responded with a wink, not missing a beat. ‘I eat, sleep, train and race.’
Instead of responding, I just lifted my brow and gave him a prompting look.
He surprised me by bursting out laughing. ‘Yeah, that’s what I tell Dad.’
‘Wouldn’t your dad want you to settle down with a nice girl?’ I couldn’t help the cynicism that crept into my voice.
‘I don’t like nice girls.’
