Chapter
Six
Shaw tried to ignore the laser-focused stare Rivers was shooting his way as the two women walked off. He slipped his aviators back on and let his eyes follow Jamez/Taryn the college professor as she walked off with her friend, but he couldn’t fully enjoy the sight of her curvy body and those strong, smooth legs. He frowned.
She looked so different from Friday night when he’d first seen her onstage. She’d obviously been intimidated that night, not used to being onstage, but she’d also been alive with an almost raw energy and a passion that had infused every lyric. Today, none of that energy had been there, and she’d seemed like a different person. He recognized today’s look because he’d been there. Not just tired but hollowed out. Running on empty.
He’d almost told her to sit down, relax, and watch the race with them, but he couldn’t do that. He’d walked away for a reason Friday night, and that reason hadn’t changed. But damn, he’d wanted to reach out, pull her aside, and ask her why she looked so utterly exhausted.
“You went to a bar on Friday night and met a woman?” Rivers asked, incredulity dripping from his words. “Who the hell are you and what have you done with my friend? No, I don’t care. Leave him wherever you’ve chained him up. This new guy is an improvement.”
Shaw sniffed derisively and casually flipped Rivers the bird. “It’s not what you’re thinking. I had a beer. She lost her shoe near my table. I helped her find it. End of story.”
“So you saved her in her time of need and now you may be training her? This is breaking news, dude.”
Shaw sent him a sharp look, though it was probably lost behind the aviators. “I will not be training her. She said herself that she doesn’t have time. And…Friday night, she looked at me like she might’ve recognized something about me. I can’t risk her figuring out who I am. Even if she did come to the gym, I couldn’t be her trainer.”
Rivers groaned. “You’re being paranoid. She was sneaking glances at you the whole time they were standing here. Ever thought that maybe she was looking at you funny because she likes what she sees?”
Shaw couldn’t let his mind go there. He couldn’t let himself take a step down that path. Couldn’t let himself picture asking the pretty woman with the guitar out for a drink and some conversation. It would be a game of lies. Tell me about your family. Where’d you grow up? Have any siblings? What’d you do for a living before the gym? He gathered a stack of flyers and shoved his chair back. “The race is about to start. Let’s go stand on the sidelines and watch.”
“Shaw—”
“It’s Lucas,” he said firmly. “Let’s go.”
Rivers grunted but shifted his chair back, almost flipping it over into the grass, and followed Shaw toward the racecourse. They handed out flyers along the way as they ventured closer to the middle section where ropes lined the path. The organizers had laid out obstacles and hosed down areas to make them muddy. There were low walls for people to climb over, large metal tubes for tunnels, a shallow pond, and various natural hills that would make the run a fun, albeit messy, challenge. Shaw almost wished he’d signed up to run, but he’d rather be working to get people interested in the gym. This really was an ideal crowd to advertise to—people who liked a little adventure with their exercise.
Plus, he couldn’t do the run and risk being on camera. One of the local news stations had been lurking around all morning, interviewing people and taking shots of the course. They’d now set up near the finish line, so he made sure to find a spot far from that area.
“This looks like that zombie run we saw on TV,” he said when Rivers stopped next to him at the ropes.
“Yeah, but no zombies at this one. Or anything scary.”
Shaw glanced his way. “No?”
Rivers didn’t look at him, but his jaw flexed. “Yeah. It’s a charity run to benefit victims of violent crimes. Costumes that could trigger stress or anxiety are banned.”
Shaw’s stomach wrenched. “This is for crime victims?”
Rivers’s throat bobbed, revealing that he knew exactly how Shaw would feel about that. “Yeah. Great cause.”
Of course it was. It was a fantastic cause. One Shaw would have happily given money to—anonymously—and then stayed the hell away from, had he known. He was ready to bail right now. They’d done what they’d come to do. But before he could step back, the starting countdown for the runners sounded over a loudspeaker, and the people behind him surged forward, crowding him against the ropes to get a view. There was no starter pistol, but when the word go was announced, the crowd erupted in cheers.
Shaw was trapped where he was for the moment and gritted his teeth, turning back to the race. In the distance, the crowd of uncostumed runners had started racing down the course. They’d get a head start before the chasers were released. Jamez/Taryn was somewhere in that crowd, and Shaw found himself looking for her. It was too hard to tel
l from that distance, but after a few minutes, the runners were getting closer and he caught sight of her pink bandanna and glasses. She was moving pretty fast and looked to be right behind the first set of runners. Mud puddles splashed around her as she charged forward.
Another announcement was made, and the costumed group was released. The crowd cheered again, and the runners started looking over their shoulders, which meant a few tripped and landed in the mud. Taryn was still running hard, her white shirt already splattered with dirt. A few yards behind her, a guy dressed like a Super Mario brother was hot on her trail. Shaw found himself yelling for her to run faster, to watch out behind her, to lose him at the pond. But if she heard Shaw, she didn’t look his way. As she got closer, he could see determination on her face, legs pumping forward, and her chest heaving with breaths. The woman was on a mission.
He murmured Come on, come on, come on under his breath as she created a little distance between her and her pursuer. She’d made some progress, but when she got to the edge of the muddy pond, she put one foot in the shallow water and then fell to her knees hard.
Shaw flinched as if he’d been the one who’d fallen, and gripped the rope in front of him. “Come on, Taryn, get up. You’re okay.”
But she wasn’t. She didn’t get up. One of her hands plunged into the water to brace herself and the other went to her chest. Super Mario snapped off one of her flags, which were now floating in the water, and kept running. But Taryn didn’t move. Her shoulders were heaving too hard, and Shaw’s stomach dropped.
“Something’s wrong,” he said over the noise of the crowd.
“What?” Rivers asked, his attention on a different part of the course.