Dead Running (16 page)

“Okay, oh glorious Race Coach.”

Damon smirked at me. “Okay, my little smart-aleck.”

Ooh. He’d referred to me as
his
. Happy morning to Cassidy.

Raquel finally convinced me that running a few local races this summer would help prepare me for the marathon. Because of my first and only race experience, I was a bit leery. But I’m willing to try anything that will help me make it through this marathon. At least she let me out of my promise to run in Princess Leia braids.

A tall, exotic-looking woman appeared a few runners away. She caught my gaze then turned to her friend. “
That’s
the girl who tried to sell the entry into St. George.”

I sucked in a quick breath.
Her
again. Race Organizer Lady. I ducked behind Damon. Several seconds passed without Race Lady coming to scream at me. I peeked around Damon’s chest. She gave me a glare then started marching in place and chatting with her friend. At least she didn’t have a megaphone strapped onto her running shorts.

Damon peered down at me. “You okay?”

I flung my head from side to side and shook my shoulders. “Just stretching. Getting warm, you know?”

He laughed. “Uh-huh.”

“So I take it you’re not staying by my side during this race?” Not that I really wanted him to. I had no desire to prove to him once again how pathetic I was. I kept praying I could cross the distance without passing out. We didn’t need a replay of the canyon run two weeks ago.
 

Damon pulled one of his legs behind him for a quad stretch, looking over the smattering of racers. “Um, I wasn’t planning on it. Do you want me to stay by you?”

“Absolutely not. I don’t think you could keep up with me.”

He grinned and switched legs. “That’s what I like about you.”

“The only thing?” I asked, licking my lips so they would glisten.

“Oh, no, there’s a long, long list.” He leaned closer. How did he smell so good this early in the morning?

“Hello, Damon,” a syrupy voice came from his right.

Damon straightened and turned. I silently cursed whoever had interrupted us.

“Hi, Elizabeth. How are you?” he asked.

Hot Redhead. I cursed not only her, but her ancestors and her descendants. I hope none of her descendants are shared with Damon. My stomach turned. That was a sickening thought.

“Fabulous,” she said. “I’m so excited about this race. Are you all ready to go?”

“We’re ready,” he said, giving me a smile and a quick squeeze of the hand. “Looks like a great morning for a race.”

We’re
. I loved that Damon gave my nemesis plenty of reasons to be jealous.

“Any race is great if you’re in it,” Elizabeth said.

Hot Redhead hadn’t looked my direction, apparently we aren’t on speaking terms. Not that I missed out on any stimulating conversation.

I stuck out my tongue and shimmied my head. “Blah, blah, blah,” I muttered.

Damon tossed me a grin. I felt a tap on my elbow. Who was going to interrupt us now? Rolling my eyes, I turned to face . . .

“Jesse?” I tried to straighten my eyeballs and gave him my loveliest smile.

“Good morning, Cassidy.”

“How’s you?” I tripped over my own tongue.
How’s you
?

“I’m fine. Thank you for asking.” He glanced over my shoulder, his smile faltering as he met Damon’s gaze.

His formal speech contradicted with the image that screamed, “Don’t bring this one home to Dad.” Luckily for me I didn’t have a dad to worry about. But there was Nana. And the fact that I was dating Damon, who was currently crowding into my space. Why couldn’t Elizabeth distract him when I needed her to? I couldn’t drag my eyes from Jesse’s tanned face.

A race organizer ladydifferent one from last race and minus the megaphone, thank heavensmoved to the front of the group of runners and started yelling. I forced myself to ignore Damon and Jesse, tuned out the race lady and pumped myself up. Singing my Rocky theme song, I knew I was ready for this race. Well, at least I was more ready than I had been for the Health Days Race. My stomach kart-wheeled and I felt the sudden urge to go to the bathroom.

Concentrate, Cassie
. I glanced over at Hot Redhead. She looked directly at me and tilted her head towards Damon.
He’s mine
, she mouthed.

I rolled my eyes. The woman not only had the rear-end of a teenager but the mentality. I shouldn’t get pulled into her little games, but . . . “Keep dreaming,” I said aloud.

Damon looked down at me. “Dreaming about what?”

“You.” I winked obnoxiously.

Damon grinned.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes.

Jesse’s mouth tightened.

I reddened.

A shot rang out. Runners surged around me. I looked on in surprise as Damon, Elizabeth, and Jesse sailed away in a flurry of legs and pumping arms. Forcing my feet into action, I took up a desperate pursuit. I didn’t need to play games, but I still wasn’t going to allow Hot Redhead solitary access to my man.

The first couple of miles went by in a blur as I played catch up. I forgot everything Damon had told me about finding a comfortable pace and waiting until my muscles were warm to increase my leg turnover. All I could think about was defending him from the psycho chick running by his side.

Dodging through clumps of runners, who also seemed intent on keeping up with Damon and Elizabeth, I hardly noticed when we passed the three-mile mark. I gave it everything I had and heard somebody call out “Mile Four,” as I pulled parallel with Damon. I could see Jesse’s striated calves a hundred yards ahead of me. Did he really have a cluster of tattoos down there as well? Everything about the man confused me.

“Hey,” I gasped to get Damon’s attention.

Damon’s head jerked towards me. “Cassie? You okay?”

I held up an okay symbol rather than waste the oxygen to reply.

“Maybe you should slow down. I don’t think you’ve trained to sustain this pace.”

“I’m good,” I muttered. How did he know what I’d trained? So he’d seen me run and it wasn’t a great performance, but I proved I could conquer mind over body. How many people can claim they’ve pushed so hard they’ve passed out? Those were bragging rights.

Hot Redhead glowered at me, but there was nothing, short of tripping me, that she could do to displace me from Damon’s side. We flew on, my legs churning up the distance like champs. Well-maintained houses with chipped wood in their flowerbeds streamed past us. I’d never been so proud of myself. We passed mile marker five. I let out a breath of relief. One more mile. I could handle one more mile.

But that mile started to handle me. My head spun as I forced my legs to keep rotating and hold even with Damon and Elizabeth. I have no clue how Elizabeth ran so effortlessly. She had half the stride length of Damon and she not only kept up, she also made cute comments and laughed at everything he said. If I didn’t dislike her so much I would have been impressed.

Damon worried over me. He asked me how I was doing so many times that I almost told him to shut up again, but I was grateful to be by his side so I kept my mouth closed. I sensed he wasn’t giving this race his all but I didn’t care. I was staying with him and Elizabeth and that was all that mattered.

I suddenly felt extremely uncomfortable in the nether regions. I ran harder and prayed the urge would go away. We had half a mile left and I pumped my arms and lifted my legs in full sprinter’s mode. Elizabeth glanced over at me and upped her pace. Damon and I kept time with her quick strides.

The dizziness was stronger now and the urge to lose my bladder close to unbearable. I focused on one thing. Beating Elizabeth.

I saw the finish line looming ahead. I dug deep. My poor legs groaned through the pain and responded to my brain’s commands to go faster. Raquel was right. I did have horse legs. I guess all that strength training must be good for something. I kept moving, but the lactic acid accumulated at sonic speed. My muscles burned like they would never be oxygenated again.

Twenty yards to the finish line and suddenly I felt wetness running down my legs.

Holy schnikies! I kept running, but the shock of urinating on myself stole my thunder. Damon sprinted ahead, Elizabeth right behind him. I crossed the finish line trailing both of them.

I should’ve been proud of my time: forty-two minutes for a 10K. I never would’ve believed that was possible a month ago. But all I could think about was the fact that I had disgusting wetness pooling in my shoes. I had peed on myself. How gross was that?

I slowed to a walk, pondering my options. I could stick with Damon and Elizabeth and risk them smelling my misfortune. Or I could run and hide. Then I saw the perfect alternativean irrigation ditch.

Damon circled around and came back to me. Elizabeth trailed him. He squeezed my shoulder. “You did great, Cassie. Man, you are tough. I didn’t think you were ready for that kind of speed.”

I shifted uncomfortably, watching him inhale and imagining that he could smell my stink and would soon run away. “Thanks,” I said. “Um, excuse me for a minute, I’m really hot.”

Damon and Elizabeth’s faces registered confusion. Sure, we’d worked up a sweat, but it was still an early summer morning in Northern Utah. The temperature couldn’t have been above sixty-five.

I walked away from them, bent down to untie and slip off my shoes and socks, and plunged into the irrigation ditch. The cold water rinsed me off. I’ve never felt so relieved.
 

A tanned hand extended from the grassy bank. “Cassidy?” Jesse questioned.

I grasped his hand and let him pull me out of the water. “Thanks!” I beamed, loving the way his deep-brown hair curled around his temples.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“I am now.” I winked, loving each chance I had to be near this man. “Great race.”

“Thanks.” He grinned at me. “You did well.”

I looked up to see Damon and Elizabeth at the edge of the ditch, staring at me like I was insane. “Cassie?” Damon said. “You okay?”

I smiled at Jesse, clung to his hand, and waddled up the bank. Damon’s focus on our clasped fingers forced me to release my grip on Jesse. Dangit.

I punched Elizabeth in the shoulder. “Good race.”

“Ouch.” She shifted away from me. “What was that for?”

“It’s what friends do when they kick it hard together. You’re an amazing runner. Great job.”

She looked at me like I was insane. Good heavens, I’d given the woman a compliment. “Would you prefer I slapped your butt?” I asked.

Jesse’s cheek twitched as he hid a grin.

Elizabeth glanced at Damon. “Did you see what she did?”

Damon shook his head. “I’m staying out of this one.”

“She punched me.” Elizabeth rubbed her shoulder. “Thinks she’s going to slap my butt,” she muttered in disgust.

I stuffed my socks into my shoes. Water dripped down my legs. My feet were accumulating dust. I didn’t care. The semi-clean water had cleaned me off enough so I didn’t stink. I could deal with the rest later.

“Hey, Cassie,” Damon said, acting like Jesse didn’t exist. “Walk with me. We’d better get some food in you before you dive into any more dirty water.”

I had a hard time prying my eyes from Jesse. “I’ll see you later,” I murmured, almost wishing he’d demand I go with him instead of Damon.

Jesse nodded once and stalked off into the crowd. I debated going after him, but I still had some pride. Damon obviously wanted me around. Jesse was still an unknown. “Lead the way. Do you want me to smack you too?”

Damon’s eyes flickered after Jesse before he turned to me with a smile. “Maybe later.” He winked at Elizabeth. “Great race, Elizabeth. See you around.”

We walked away from Hot Redhead. I glanced back to see if she pouted. Her scowl looked more like intense concentration. She’d probably never lost a man to a lesser specimen than herself and was planning how to remedy the problem. I didn’t let it bother me. Actually nothing could bother me right now. I’d rocked in that racewell, minus the peeing down my legand I’d gotten the guy. I searched the crowd for Jesse, wondering if I’d succeeded in obtaining the wrong guy.