Page 108 of Sing Me Home
I smiled for her. “Thanks, Mom!”
“Yay Cash!” Addie yelled, a kid’s race medal bouncing against her chest. “Will you take me to Dairy Queen on the way home, now that you’re rich?”
“Me too!” Bronco bellowed.
Cash reached over the wall and scruffed them both on the head. “You bet.”
“Yes!” They pumped their fists.
Liam, still grim-faced, offered us a fist bump. “I could’ve smoked all y’all.”
Normally, Cash would’ve made some sarcastic comment, but I could tell he still felt the heaviness of what we’d left back on the trail. “It would’ve been fun to race with you.” He cuffed Liam on the shoulder. “We’ll do all the races when you retire from football.”
“Yeah,” Liam grumbled.
“We gotta grab our medals and T-shirts and hose off real quick,” Cash said. “We’ll meet you by the exit in five.”
We jogged toward the fire jump. Just before we got there, he took my hand and nodded at the camera guy in front of us, waiting to capture the moment. “Let’s make it a good picture?” We sped up, flinging ourselves over the wall of fire, our joined hands thrown up in victory.
Finally, we walked. My feet and calves ached. I couldn’t wait to take off my shoes. But first, we stopped in front of the Spartan Race backdrop and, arms around each other, smiled for the camera. We grabbed our medals, finisher tees, and the free hydration drink they were handing out. Then we headed for the sea of hoses set up in the grass.
Mud still glued my hair to my scalp even after Cash helped rinse me off. It would take a real shower and half a bottle of shampoo to get these locks clean. I helped him, too, though it was ineffective and we mostly ended up laughing.
As planned, Liam waited for us by the exit—smiling now, chatting up a woman still wearing her finisher's medal. He handed her his phone and she started typing her number in.
“He’s going to run out of storage on his phone, always collecting numbers,” Cash muttered with a shake of his head.
“Like father, like son,” I said with a laugh. Apparently, Uncle Holden had been a ladies’ man before he met Aunt Christy.
As we approached, the woman gave back his phone. He tossed her a cool goodbye nod, and she walked away... only to glance over her shoulder and check him out like he was dessert.
“Good grief,” I said. “Ever get tired of being shamelessly objectified?”
Liam grinned. “Not even a little.”
Just then, Maggie hurried by alone, not even seeing us. Her medal hung around her neck, but she was wiping her nose with her race tee, tears canceling out any victory she’d earned. “Way to ruin everything,” she hissed at herself.
“Maggie, hey,” I said in a calming tone.
She glanced over, eyes pain-filled. “Well. That’s that,” she said, voice quavering. “It was nice knowing you guys. Have a nice life, I guess.” Her face twisted up, trying not to let any more tears fall.
“Oh, no. Hey, don’t say that.” I took a step toward her, arms open.
But she waved me off and fled the scene, crying even harder.
Cash breathed out a cuss word.
“What the—” Liam started, so confused.
But then Bowen charged past, using his shirt to blot his bleeding lip. His right eye was a mess—already swollen and angry. He checked the blood and hissed a string of swear words interspersed with ‘stupid girls,’ ‘freaking lunatic,’ ‘can’t help it if I’m hotter.’ Then he hauled off and kicked an empty water bottle someone had littered on the ground. It pinged through the air, almost taking out a grandma and grandpa exiting the race. But he didn’t even notice. Just thundered away in the opposite direction from Maggie.
“Great,” Cash said. “I get to drive him home. That’s gonna be a fun trip.”
Gramps hurried out, eyes searching and full of concern. We pointed to where Bowen was marching toward Cash’s car. He followed after him.
Griffin came pacing by next, fists clenched, dried blood under his nose. His eyes redder than his hair, the tear tracks on his cheeks said that he hadn’t bothered with the rolling mud or the dunk wall. Come to think of it, it looked like Bowen and Maggie had skipped it as well. Aunt Lemon and Uncle Silas were right behind Griff, probably to make sure he didn’t go after Bowen again.
“Is Sophie okay?” Cash called.
