Dang, she was tough. I hated how much I noticed that.Andhow sexy it was.
“You’re a good runner,Preach. I bet you could walk on somewhere and get on a team. Maybe even get a scholarship at a smaller school! Do you know how lucky you are?”
“Lucky,” I huffed. She didn’t have a clue.
“Yeah, you are lucky, you asshat. You’re good attwosports. Not many people have that.” She shook her head.
“You don’t know shit.” I went to step around her, but she blocked me.
“No,youdon’t know shit.”
“You’ve been here five minutes, Grace. You think you got this town and everyone in it figured out? Well, you don’t! Not even close! You have no idea what it’s like to have everyone know everything about you. What you’re doing, who you’re dating. What’s going on with your parents…” Heat stormed through my chest. “I’ve losteverything. A full ride, college money,everythingis gone.”
“You don’t know shit aboutloss. Or what it takes to survive devastating, soul-sucking loss!” She shoved me again. Tears lined her eyes, and her nostrils flared. “My brother isdead! All he wanted to do was serve his country, and instead, he died during training!”
It felt like someone knocked the wind out of me.
“He was my best friend, Preach. And his plane crashed in a freak fucking accident and he died! But I’m still here. I’m still functioning. Surviving. So don’t come to me with your world ending because you lost your scholarship.”
Her brother was dead? The breath sucked out of my lungs, and it felt like I got one of Brodie’s slapshots to the stomach. No pads.
The tear streaking down her face broke me.
Holy shit, her brother… I couldn’t even finish the thought. What she must be going through.
Her jaw tensed, and she gave me one more hard glare.
Then she turned and ran.
She was right. Ididn’tknow shit.
Chapter Fourteen
Grace
The wind tearing through my hair, thethunkof my feet hitting the pavement, and the burn in my lungs… This was my refuge. Running.
The docs hadn’t cleared me for running yet, but I needed it. So badly. When I woke up this morning, my mind was whirling. I’d dreamed of Emmett again.
Tears streamed down my face as his image flashed. He liked to run his anger away, too. We’d often run together, him pushing me to catch him. He was probably the reason I got so fast.
The cool air bit at my cheeks, but I welcomed it. The fury still burned hot from my confrontation with Preach outside Taste of Rome. I’d yelled at him, big time. Called him out for pouting over his situation.
It was like I was on autopilot or something. But after about five miles out here, running, I’d figured out why I’d done it.
I was kind of jealous.
After Emmett’s unexpected and tragic death, I wanted to dissolve into nothing. Abandon everything I’d been working for. Hell, I’d even considered not going into the Air Force for a minute there.
But my younger siblings needed me. Mom and Dad needed me. I had to stay strong. I had to honor Emmett’s memory and honor my family’s dedication to serving.
And here Preach was, lashing out, rebelling. I understood major losses, but the bottom line was that his behavior wasn’t necessary.
In fact, it’d really ticked me off. For two reasons. One, I didn’t get to do that. Two, he was better than that. Blessed to be good in two sports. Having a second option when one was taken away.
Instead, he was acting out and running from everything and everyone.
Then again, maybe I was running, too.