Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 100873 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100873 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
“Here’s the good news,” Sailor said, leaning forward. “If you’re going to play technical rugby, we can come up with multiple moves you can add to your repertoire that will look like magic on the field. We keep doing that until we get to the bottom of this.”
Danny rubbed his face. “I seriously don’t know if I’ll get a chance to play. Coach really hasn’t been happy with me recently.”
“Then we prep for the day when you do get called up.” Gabe echoed Sailor’s position. “And Dan, you know you can talk to any of us, right?”
“Yeah, of course.”
But when his brothers left an hour later, having made plans to meet with him early that evening to go over a number of new plays that might bridge his rough patch, it was Catie he called.
“Oh hello, Mr. Chicken Poop,” she said sweetly. “You turned off your phone.”
“Maybe I had a hot date and didn’t want to be interrupted.”
Her snort made him grin. “We should probably go out and be seen,” he said, his gut tense with how much he wanted that. “I dunno, post another photo or something.”
“I was going for a run on the track. Need to stretch out for a bit. You wanna come with?”
The tension vanished like magic. “Yeah.”
They’d decided to meet at the outdoor track, and Catie beat him there. She was warming up when he arrived, her blades sleek curves of silver. A lot of sprinters preferred black, but Catie was Catie. Her previous blades had been cheetah print. There was a reason she had all those endorsement deals. The best thing about it all was that Catie hadn’t calculated that response—she’d just wanted cheetah blades, and now blades of lightning silver.
Other than that, she wore simple black running tights and a cropped athletic top in black with pink detailing along the bottom. He could see goose bumps on her shoulders and arms but knew they’d warm up soon enough.
“Don’t leave me in your dust,” he said as he limbered up.
She buffed her hot-pink nails on one breast. “I’ll think about it.”
Face flushing, he bent to check his perfectly laced-up shoes. He could not be thinking about Catie’s breasts. Ever. Even if they were round and firm and made his mouth water.
Oh, fuck, fuck, Fuck.
“You ready?”
Coughing, he rose. “Yeah, let’s do it.”
They weren’t the only ones on the track—the odd person shot a fascinated glance toward Catie’s blades, but most of the regulars just grinned when they saw the two of them together.
One had the audacity to yell, “I fucking Knew it!”
When Danny gave him the finger, he just laughed and ran on.
As did Catie, with Danny at her side. He lagged deliberately behind now and then just so he could watch her move. She was pure grace on her blades, her body fluid with muscle designed for speed. When she challenged him to sprints with a glint in her eye, he groaned.
“I am not up for public humiliation. I’ll time you if you want to do some speed tests.”
She laughed and let him off the hook on the race, but took him up on the offer of timing her sprints. Though she’d kept to the rules of the track and chosen the otherwise empty outside lane for her sprint, everyone stopped to watch her run. He swore he felt the slap of a powerful wind when she snapped past him on the finish line.
“Holy hell, Catie!” he yelled. “You’re hitting above your personal best! Faster than the time with which you won silver!”
That was insane when she wasn’t currently on a full training schedule. As with most athletes, she took down time in order to allow her body to recover. Of course she was still running—she just wasn’t doing it with the same focused concentration as when building up to a meet.
She jogged back to him, face beaming. “Seriously?”
He showed her the competition-grade stopwatch he’d borrowed from one of the other runners. The numbers were crystal clear.
“Paralympic gold,” she huffed, hands on her thighs. “Here I come.”
“I’m going to watch you win it.” It was a vow.
She glanced up at that instant, a goddess in the sun, and he knew he’d blown it. He wasn’t good at faking stuff, and right that instant, he was looking at her with all the admiration and need he felt inside.
Her pupils dilated. A glance down before she straightened to her full height.
Mouth dry, he was fighting to find the words to dig himself out of this uncomfortable hole when she said, “That’s enough running for today. Let’s cool down; then we’re going to my apartment to talk.”
Oh no, the dreaded Talk.
But since he’d been the one to screw things up, he didn’t argue, and they got on with it. Though they also had to pause several times for Catie’s admirers to come and gush over her. Grinning despite the fact his guts were in knots, Danny watched on.