I buzzed the window down. “Trying to get hit again?”
She glanced over the shoulder. “Out looking for targets again?”
“Very funny.”
“It’s a nice day, and I needed a run.”
My car temperature gauge indicated it was barely thirty degrees right now. “It’s freezing out. Why are you running on the road?”
“Sidewalk isn’t salted. Still slick.”
“Where are you headed?” I asked, still driving beside her as she ran. Man, she was fast,andshe was talking without sounding out of breath. Impressive.
“To the school. Track cleanup and weight training.”
“Weights? With your hand?”
“There are other muscles I can work on while this thing is healing.” She rolled her eyes at me. Dang, she was dedicated. But it probably wasn’t smart running out on the street—there were still patches of ice out there. I’d hate to see her get hurt…even more than she already was.
“There are still some icy patches out. You could fall. Jump in. I’ll drive you.” I might not like her, but I didn’t want her to bust her ass and hurt her hand even worse than it already was.
She laughed. “Um…hard pass,Cher.”
Then she took off.
Chapter Twelve
Grace
“It was really great to finally meet you, Grace,” Coach Bellingham said, holding out a meaty hand.
“Yes, sir.” I reached across with my good hand and shook it.
“Thanks for your help,” he said.
A few familiar faces filtered in through the open gymnasium doors. I wasn’t great with names, but I recognized a girl named Samantha from my Algebra II class. I hadn’t talked to her much, though, so I didn’t realize she was a runner.
“Happy to help. I love hanging around the track and the gym. It’s kind of like my place of zen, you know?”
“I get that.”
“Some of the others said they were going to run a few laps in here. Is that okay?” My run to school this morning felt good, but I had to keep my speed to a minimum because of the patches of ice. In here, it would be different. I could run as fast as my legs could handle.
And I needed a good, hard run, too. The first two weeks living in Woodhaven had beenrough.Especially after that 1982 prom theme chat we had the other day while serving our community service together. It was weird what triggered my grief over Emmett.
I’d gone to that eighties-themed prom with Alec. As friends. But that was what had started the shift between us. We hadn’t slept together that night, but things had definitely changed. And then a few weeks later, Emmett—
“Sure. Run as much as you want. I heard you’re quite the sprinter.” Coach smiled, revealing a gap between his front two teeth.
Thankful for the interruption of my spiraling thoughts, I said, “I have some experience.”
“Five of our best runners graduated last year, so we have some openings to fill. Now, this isn’t an official practice or anything, but the gym is ours every Saturday morning from eight until ten, including the weight room and pool, so there’s plenty to be working on until practice officially starts.”
“Got it.” My socks squished inside my shoes.Stupid slush.Maybe I should have taken Preach up on his offer for a ride or at least brought a spare pair of socks and shoes to change into.
“It’s really up to each athlete to prepare for the season. Tryouts are a week from Monday.”
“You have enough people trying to run track to hold tryouts?”