Sam giggled and swatted at him. Dravin reached out and tugged Grace’s ponytail. She smiled and looked away.
Oh, hell no.I went to charge over there and break up the flirty warm-up that was about to take place but then checked myself. I had no right to say anything. Grace and I weren’t a couple. She could talk or flirt with whomever she wanted.
Why did it hurt so much, though?
Ridiculous question—of course I knew why it hurt. After only knowing her a month, we had some serious history. She’d finally let me drive her to school again, and we’d been talking some these past few days, and I liked it.
I was beginning to likeher.
“She’s fraternizing with the enemy!” Oliver slapped my butt. “Go get your woman.”
My woman.I yanked him away and started walking the other direction. “Don’t say crap like that, man. It’s not cool.”
“I didn’t mean anything bad by it. I’m just saying that you better step up and go after her, or someone from Twin River is going to ask her out. It’s obvious you like her.”
Now was not the time to be thinking about this, no matter how much of what Oliver said was true.
“Come on. Warm-up time. We need to stay focused.” I waved my team in.
“Track before mack.” Oliver held his hand up for me to high five. “I respect it.”
“I can’t believe we’re friends.” I shook my head and stopped at the edge of the grass to shake out my legs. “You’re so crass. It’s no wonder you’re single.”
“There’s not a chick out there who can handle all of this.” He pointed to himself and grinned.
“Or one who wouldwantto handle all of that—especially when you go around calling women chicks!” I couldn’t help but laugh. He was a good teammate. While I wasn’t on the ice with my hockey family, this was pretty freaking awesome in itself. Good friends. Outside. Lots of laughs. This rocked, and I was grateful for it.
Right now, it didn’t matter that I had no idea what I was going to do after graduation. It didn’t matter Mom and Dad had lied to me about her gambling problems. The only thing that mattered right now was that I was about to show Twin River who exactly was in charge this track season.
“Hey, Preach!” Clarissa said.
The cute, junior star hurdler pranced toward us, her red, curly hair bouncing with each step. The sun shone over her, lighting up her electric-green eyes.
“Hey, Clarissa,” I said, facing her. Over her shoulder I saw Grace in the distance, still talking to Dravin, but I pried my attention back to Clarissa. “What’s up?”
“You’re gonna do great today!” She offered me a high five. “I just know it.”
“Thanks,” I said while looking over her shoulder at Dravin, who was obviously flirting with Grace. That jerk.
She patted my chest. “I’m just glad you’re back. I thought you might not join the team there for a second.”
“You and me both.” I inched away so I could kick out my leg to start warming it up. My hamstring had been acting up at my sudden return to running. I needed to make sure it was loose before I jumped into some warm-up laps.
“Just in time, too, because look.” She leaned in and pointed over my shoulder. “Coach Johns is in the stands.”
“What?” I immediately whirled around.
Clarissa grabbed my shoulders. “No. Don’t look. Jeez!”
I froze and slowly looked at Clarissa instead. “He’s here, really?”
This wasn’t good. I wasn’t prepared enough. Crap. What if—
“Relax, man.” Oliver slapped my shoulder, then pushed me away. “We’ve got this.”
“He’s here scoping Grace out,” Clarissa said.
“Grace?” Mateo came up beside me. “I’m not surprised. She’s lightning-fast.”