Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 69352 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 277(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69352 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 277(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
“Thanks,” I muttered.
“All racers, head to the starting line!”
My stomach, which was already in knots, went nuclear.
The nervous ‘I have to pee’ feeling took root, and I made a mad dash toward a porta-potty that was luckily unoccupied.
Artur stayed back and gave me a head nod, allowing me to walk up to the starting line by myself.
When I got there, anger stole over me.
Hazel and her friend, Rayann, just so happened to be directly in front of me at the start line.
Both of them were dressed in pink matching outfits that made me want to gag.
The man beside me shifted from foot to foot, brushing my shoulder with his.
He looked down at me apologetically and said, “I can’t believe I’m having to run this in the snow. It’s freakin’ March.”
“It is,” I agreed. “I’m from Dallas and we’ve had sunny, eighty-five-degree weather for the last month.”
“Oh, I’m from Mansfield.” He smiled down at me, and though he tried to make the smile seem genuine, he didn’t quite accomplish it. Something was off about it, and I couldn’t put my finger on it. “Small world.”
I just offered him a smile and took a half step away from him.
He didn’t comment and neither did I as we all bunched up tight.
“Ready for some fun, racers?” the woman came over the bullhorn in front of us.
Since I couldn’t see her over the crowd, I didn’t bother to look.
Instead, I studied my gloves, picking at a string that was coming loose on my middle finger.
“Racers, let’s run!” the announcer finished.
“Fuckin’ finally.”
A text came through on my watch and I glanced down at it.
Cutter:
You are so fucking cute.
Cutter:
Run safe, Mrs. Clayborne.
The nerves fled my belly as I covered my watch with the sleeve of my shirt and looked up just in time for the crowd to start moving.
The two pink assholes in front of me took off through the arches of the start line and then disappeared around a corner.
I finally got my chance to run through and started to run.
So far, so good.
I never caught up to the pink bitches.
Which was okay.
I mean, I had issues with my depth perception. I was allowed to be careful and cautious.
What I hadn’t expected was how slippery the snow was.
Not only slippery, but cold.
My feet were numb by the thirty-minute mark.
By the hour mark, when the first break in the trees came, I could finally see people again that weren’t the runners.
But, like all the other runners, I kept running and smiled when we hit a water station that was finally out in the open.
I headed for the end of the line like I always did, stopping to get a water from the person holding it out with two hands.
“Thank…” My voice trailed off as I looked up at the man holding the water and gasped.
I threw myself at that man and wrapped my arms around his neck, a keen coming out of my throat when I did.
“Hey, baby.” Cutter circled his arms around me. “Get your water and keep running. I’m freezing my balls off here.”
I giggled and pulled away, then reached for the water that he’d managed to hold steady despite my throwing myself at him.
Taking two quick gulps of both, I winked at him and kept running, my heart so damn full that it felt like it would burst.
Sure, logically, I knew that he needed to be at home taking care of business.
But my mind wasn’t logical.
It was quite illogical, really.
And the fact that he was here…
I kept a smile on my face until the next time I saw him.
And not only him, but my brothers as well.
“Y’all are all here?” I squealed as I waved like a maniac.
This time I couldn’t get close to Cutter or my brothers, but it didn’t matter.
I was freakin’ happy.
It didn’t even dim my spirit when I saw Mark, Gibson and Jacinda standing a little farther down from my family.
My audiobook saved the day, though, when I hit mile twenty.
By that point my head was spinning and pounding with each step of my feet.
Not even seeing Cutter, Dima, Nastya, Shasha, Maven and the rest of their crew could penetrate it.
I was done.
When I saw the six-mile mark ahead of me, I breathed a sigh of relief.
Almost done.
Only six more miles…
I walked. A lot.
But, throughout it all, I was passing more people than I was getting passed by, which I counted as a win.
By the time I saw the finish line, the euphoria that overtook me was unreal.
I didn’t speed up when I saw it, though.
Couldn’t.
The shuffling jog that I used to cross the finish line was my utmost best.
And when I started to go down onto my knees, my head a pounding mess, two strong arms came around me and hauled me up.
I had just enough energy to loop my arms around Cutter’s strong neck and hold on as I started to cry.