Page 111 of Get Me to the Starting Line

This is a pretty cool race Leah found, and we’re only about five kilometres in. It’s on the outskirts of the city, on a paved road that winds up into canyons and through the desert.

The course is lush with desert vegetation. Joshua trees are probably the only ones I could’ve named myself, but Leah—who grew up in a neighbouring state—names off the pinyon-junipers, mountain rose, and sagebrush.

I can tell she’s trying to distract herself from the fact that we’re slowly moving to the back of the pack.

We all agreed to run our own races. Those of us who wanted to enjoy the course and take our time would run slow, and anyone who wanted to make good time could go on ahead.

No surprise that Adam and Paige took off, racing each other. They’re always competing with each other, with a running tally of who’s won each race they’ve completed. I think Adam is in the lead, so I know Paige is chomping at the bit towin this one.

They won’t beat Mateo. He’s a beast. He’ll probably win the whole course. Liam followed Adam and Paige, trying to keep up with them. Shay, Simon, and Jake set a nice medium pace, wanting to enjoy it but also achieve a decent finish time.

When racers begin to pass us, I hear Leah swear beside me.

It’s been so long since I’ve been able to run with her I barely notice. After months of healing and then months of space, I’ve missed it. Her heavy breathing grows more and more laboured, and I automatically slow us down.

She grumbles but doesn’t resist. She knows she won’t be able to sustain that pace the whole course.

The Mojave Desert opens up around us and the sun starts to beat down, trying to penetrate our layers of protection.

The next water station is at the 7k mark, where Isabel cheers loudly for us, holding a sign that reads “Worst Parade Ever!” I laugh, but Leah fakes a smile as we pass. She’s struggling, I can tell in the way her feet drag. She stops to gulp down the water and take in her electrolytes.

She looks behind us, catching sight of a few runners. She sighs in relief and hurries off to keep going. We’re a third of the way in and she’s barely spoken to me.

The desert around me disappears, and I’m back on that hot and sweaty dance floor last night. It’s an effort to keep all the blood circulating in my body at the memory. It was over for me even before the club, when we met in the lobby of the hotel and Leah came out of the elevator in that dress.

That fucking dress.

Adam noticed my expression—he laughed and declared the boys were taking one limo and the girls could take the other. I had no idea what he was up to until we got in and he started pouring shots.

Just one for each of us since the race was today, and none of us wanted to feel worse. The late night was already going to be bad enough without adding alcohol to the mix.

“Alright, Truth or Dare!” he called out, drawing cackles from the other groomsmen. Even Liam cracked a smile. I didn’t. I had a sick feeling in my stomach. This was a ploy.

The rules were we had to complete the truth or dare or shave a section of hair from our bodies.

As I suspected, we all chose dare on our turn.

Mateo dared Adam to wear a fluorescent pink shirt at the race. Harmless. He wore one of the bridesmaids’ hot pink “Team Bride” tank tops this morning.

Liam dared Simon to chug his free beer in one go as soon as he crossed the finish line. I won’t be there to see it, but I’m sure he’s going to throw it right back up.

Simon dared Mateo to get up on the table at the club and dance. He almost got kicked out, but he did it.

The gleam in Adam’s eye should’ve warned me.

He dared me to keep my hands off Leah all night—I wasn’t allowed to touch her once, with any part of my body.

Bastard. I thought it would be easy. I’ve had months to practise restraint when it comes to Leah.

But in the dark club, with the lights flashing and the music pounding, it got harder and harder to keep my hands clenched intofists so I wouldn’t reach for her. I stayed in the booth, watching Isabel drag her to the dance floor.

My eyes trailed after her, and I wasn’t the only one staring. Men closed in, and though both Isabel and Leah shooed them away, I could see the way they tracked the women. It made my blood boil even though I was doing the same.

Leah seemed nervous at first, her movements contained and a little awkward. But she closed her eyes and everything fell away as she let herself go.

Holy fuck.

The way her body moved—she was a siren, and I couldn’t resist her call. I slammed my water down on the table and stalked after her, ignoring the roars of laughter from the table.

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