Clarissa nodded. “I know, right? I never would have guessed that about her. She’s really humble about how good she is. The 4x100 team is going to be unstoppable this year with her here.”
I wondered if she knew this fancy coach was here. Track was important to her, but not as much as getting into the Air Force. My stomach twisted into a knot.
“Dude!” Oliver said. “Earth to Preach.”
“Oh, sorry, huh?” I shook my head, re-centering my focus on Oliver and his maroon-and-silver-striped mohawk. “What’d I miss?”
“Come on, let’s do some warm-up laps.” He slapped my chest and nodded at Clarissa. “See ya.”
“Oh. Yeah.” I stepped toward him, my stomach settling, then looked at Clarissa. “Hey, um, thanks. Good luck out there today.”
“Sure. And hey, Preach.” She reached out for my hand. “After we win today’s meet, we should, um, go out together.”
Oh crap. Did she just ask me out?
“Like all of us,” she quickly added.
“Ah, sure, all of us,” I managed to sputter out.
She gave a smile and a little wave before trotting away.
Once she was far enough away, James shoved me onto the track to start a few laps. “First of all, no.”
“No, what?” I asked.
“Clarissa,” Oliver said. “I’minto her.”
“You’re into everyone,” Mateo said.
“And I’m not into Clarissa, so no worries there,” I added.
“Logically, let’s look at this whole situation,” James said.
“No. No logic, Mr. Poly Sci guy.” Oliver pulled James’ shorts down slightly, then sprinted ahead, out of reach of our tall third legger.
I rounded the bend by Grace, and she looked up. I gave her a nod, and she broke away from the group.
“Hey,” she said, striding next to me.
“You all set?” I asked as I glanced by her to Dravin. He watched us for a few seconds, then trotted back to his group.
“Yup. All good. Kinda feel like puking. You know, like it’s my first track meet.”
“You’re going to do great.” I nudged her. “So, you know Dravin?”
“Who?” She glanced around.
“The guy you were talking to?”
“Oh.” She grinned. “I actually ran against his sister, like three years ago. It was an invitational in Chicago. I didn’t even recognize him.”
I chuckled, totally relieved he wasn’t actually hitting on her or something. Then again, he could have been hitting on her. Actually, he probablywashitting on her.
Crap.
“You all right?”
“Good. Yeah. I’m good. Yes.” I cleared my throat, my face totally steaming. “Good.”