Page 87 of Blitz

The starting gun fires and then they’re off, chasing down the two hundred meters to the finish line. Mason is in the middle of the pack, keeping pace. As she nears the end, she kicks into high gear and pushes past Fred. She motors past the girls from UNH. She crosses the finish line half a breath before the next girl.

Micah lets out a heavy sigh. He rubs his hands on his pants a few times.

Mason is all smiles now. Fred pats her on the back, and she shakes hands with the girls from UNH. A race well fought.

She has a bit of a break before her third race. She takes a drink of water and stretches her arms before she turns back to us. Her elation is written all over her face.

There’s no time for her to come over to us. She hooks her fingers into a heart and holds it up to me. I meet her eye and clap a hand over my chest, over my heart. Her face melts into a smile.

Barrett and Amir snigger beside me. Barrett swoons, sagging against me, and I shove him away.

Micah laughs outright. “Man, she is so fucking gone for you.”

“I love her.” There’s a lump in my throat the size of Rhode Island. “She’s it for me, man. She’s the one.”

He turns to me, incredulous. “You’re twenty years old. How the fuck do you—”

“When you know, you know. I’m positive. She’s the one.”

My mom knew within six months that Mama was the one for her. It took Mama a little bit longer to put it all together.

Whatever momentary awkwardness Mason and I are dealing with is just that—momentary. It’s a blip. In the grand scheme of our future together, we can work through her weird hangups with sex and her drinking. We’ll make this work.

Or we won’t, and I’ll have to let her go for good.

Chapter thirty-six

Tucker

After the meet, Mason jogs over to the stands. I rush down the stairs to get to her. Micah follows a step behind me. She wraps her arms around me and draws me into a kiss. She’s hot and sweaty. I don’t care. I pull her into me, pull her close.

“You did great, baby,” I tell her, smoothing a strand of her sweaty hair out of her face. “I’m so proud of you.”

First in two races, second in the other two. Not a bad showing.

She beams at me for a few beats. Something heavy passes in the air between us.

I love her. I love her. I don’t want to live my life without her in it. If we can’t make this work, I might not survive it again, and that terrifies me.

Micah elbows me aside and wraps his sister in a hug. He tugs on her ponytail. “Good job, sunshine.”

I frown. That’s my nickname for her.

“Let me go shower and get changed,” she says. “We’ll grab something to eat, yeah? I’ll meet you guys at the ASC in forty-five minutes.”

“Sounds like a plan,” he says.

I head back towards my friends. Greg is packing all of our trash into his trusty backpack. Wes puts away his book. Miles and Sam have already left. Barrett and Amir linger awkwardly in the stands.

“You guys have plans?”

“Going to grab food.”

Amir waggles his eyebrows. “Is her hot friend going to be there?”

“Yeah, I think so?”

“Count me in.”