Page 82 of Running
“What do you both want to drink? I have seltzer, soda, beer…” Carter asks.
“Seltzer,” we both say at the same time. And once again, I blush.Dang it.
Johnson looks at me, clearly amused. “Great minds…”
Carter looks slightly confused again, but the expression clears quickly from his face. He leaves the room, presumably to grab our drinks from the kitchen.
Jessica moves to an armchair. “Come sit on the couch, you two.”
We head to the light gray chenille couch. I sit down first on the corner section nearest Jessica, and Johnson sits next to me, in the middle part. We’re less than a foot away—by his choice, based on where he sat.Pushing our limits,I think.
The match is starting, and Carter returns with the drinks, so we all quiet down as if we’re at Flushing Meadows itself, like Landon. Rori’s opponent is a top player named Hanna, who I’ve heard about for years on sports news shows but never watched play.
After Rori takes a quick lead, we all begin to relax and chat amongst ourselves during the commercial breaks. Carter is also a music lover, so our conversation heads in that direction. Jessica starts teasing him about how she wants Sabrina Carpenter tickets, and he looks aghast—but not for the reason I think.
“Like I would deprive you of seeing her, she puts on a hell of a show.” He winks. “But maybe wait for your birthday next month.”
“Hint, hint,” I joke.
In the meantime, Rori is owning this match. She wins the first set pretty easily, and only forty-five minutes have passed.
“I’m surprised. Hanna is the number one player right now,” Carter, the biggest tennis fan among us, observes.
“That’s because Rori is coming to claim it,” Jessica says, andall three of us athletes in the room make sounds in agreement, as if our own competitive juices kicked in.
Carter stands up and starts walking back towards the hallway. “Do you guys want some food? I’ll grab some cheese and crackers Jess bought earlier.”
“I could eat,” Johnson says.
“You boys and your appetites,” Jessica teases. “Carter, I’ll come help.”
They both head into the kitchen, out of sight.
Johnson watches them leave and then turns towards me. He has a gentle look in his eye, and rests his left palm over the top of my right hand, which is only a few inches away.
“You hungry?” he asks me quietly, shifting closer.
“Nevermind, he doesn’t need me after all,” says Jessica, bursting into the room.
Her eyes go big. Johnson hasn’t had time to move his hand off mine before she sees it, and he’s leaning toward me in a way that’s more intimate than typical for a casual friendship.
“Um, yeah, I’ll have some snacks,” I say with a deliberately loud voice. Johnson snaps his hand back to his lap and a second later, reaches for his seltzer.
I peek over at Jessica, and yup, she’s staring at me. As soon as she sees me looking at her, she throws in an eyebrow raise. Oh no, she’s definitely suspicious.
But then it gets worse. She mouths “dark,” “beard,” and “leader” in succession, counting off the three words on her fingers. I shake my head “no,” but she looks skeptical. “Girl,” she mouths next.
“Grace, can I show you something in my room?” she says in a normal voice. “Just for a few minutes, we won’t miss much.”
“O–okay.” Oh shoot.Think fast, I tell myself. Except I’m panicking too much to think at all.
She leads me to the opposite side of their house, into their master bedroom. Only a few steps in, she turns around and faces me. “Grace Battle, start talking.”
“Um…” I really don’t know where to even begin or what to say. “About what?”
“C’mon, my friend. Is Johnson your new guy? Hello, he fits your description to a T.”
“Jessica…ugh, this is so bad.” My hands come up to my face. “No one is supposed to know.”
