Page 29 of One Last Run

Pete rubbed at her eyes, her eyebrows drawing together in sleepy confusion. "Sorry, yeah, you're right." She pushed at her dark curls that were falling over her face and sticking in a million directions, like a charming yet freshly electrocuted baby bird. She shifted back away from Danica, swallowing and rubbing at her face.

Footsteps drew her attention, and Danica glanced up just in time to see Kiera walk into the great room toward the kitchen. Kiera was probably on a mission to get coffee, and maybe if Danica was lucky, or if the universe was finally on her side for once, Kiera would walk right back to her room without glancing toward the couch where Pete's face was still only inches from her own. From how they were struggling to pull apart their sore limbs and smooth their clothes and hair, she could only guess what it looked like they'd been doing.

"You guys want coffee?" Kiera called quietly from the kitchen.

Danica cleared her throat. "Uh, yeah. Coffee sounds good. Didn't get much sleep."

Pete choked on a sudden laugh, the sound abruptly cut short by a death-glare from Danica that made her hastily clear her throat. "Yeah, we fell asleep watching TV."

Maggie walked into the room, showered, completely clothed and ready for the day, her arm still in its navy-blue sling. Cheerfully, she wished them both good morning without a moment's hesitation or a judgmental look. She sat down on a chair next to the couch, reaching for the remote to change the channel from Bravo to MSNBC.

"Not the news," Pete groaned, and Danica found herself agreeing. "It's like 4 a.m., you monster."

"It's 7 a.m. and I've been up for an hour. I've been waiting for you little cuddle bugs to wake up so I can catch up on last night's Maddow," Maggie said.

A wave of mortification washed over Danica as she ducked her head, not meeting anyone’s eye.

"Coffee for the cuddle bugs," Kiera said with over-the-top sweetness as she brought two mugs of coffee and set them on the table next to where Pete’s feet rested.

"Oh my god, are they finally awake?" Izzy groaned, walking into the living room, still in her pajamas, to sit down on the couch on Pete's other side. Pete threw a casual arm around Izzy's shoulders and Danica stifled the flare of... was that jealousy? Or possessiveness? Either way, she made herself look away, and picked up her steaming mug of coffee.

"You know, you could have just woken us up," Danica said, looking around the room at her friends who were doing their best impressions people who were trying very hard not to see them.

Maggie waved her free hand. "You two were the picture of cozy. Who was I to ruin that?"

Kiera settled on the floor near Danica's feet, glancing at Danica's cross stitch project discarded on the floor near her. "Dan, does this really sayYou Bet Giraffe I'm Cute?"

"It's for a baby!" Danica said quickly.

"I should hope so," Kiera said, shaking her head and grinning. She leaned back against the couch next to Danica's legs. "Aunt Jade needs a sectional. I can't believe she only has one three-seater couch and a chair."

"And she also needs more blankets," Danica added, stretching and realizing just how sore she really was. Snowboarding had made her use muscles she hadn’t thought about since med school.

"Well, Maggie's off the slopes today. What should the rest of us do?" Danica asked, glancing around the room. "I think I need a day off, too."

"We could walk around town," Kiera offered.

"We could walk around townandfind a spa," Maggie said, and Danica nodded excitedly.

"I want to get as much boarding in as possible," Izzy said.

"I'll go with you," Pete offered, and Izzy smiled at her in response.

Again, Danica stared down into her coffee, forcing herself to take a larger, burning sip, just to replace one uncomfortable feeling with another as the liquid scalded over her tongue. What was going on with her? Maybe it would be nice to have some space to think about what she was feeling, and why. Maybe Kiera and Maggie could help her wrap her head around all of the events of the past 12 hours.

"Alright, well, that settles it. I'll book us massages at a spa and we can walk around town until it’s time for our appointments," Danica said.

"And facials!" Kiera added.

"And pedicures," Maggie joined.

"Wow, that really escalated," Danica remarked, glancing toward Pete and Izzy. "You sure you don't want to join in on this self-care party?"

"Nope. Today's the day I'm going to get through Little Rose without fear," Pete said. "You up for the challenge, Iz?"

Izzy nodded. "You bet. And then Millions and Dynamo after and we’ll see how we feel at the bottom?"

"Aren't those expert runs? Like expert-expert?" Kiera asked.

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