Page 27 of The Royal Flame
“Maddy!” Worry laces River’s tone. “You have to stop or you’re going to injure yourself.”
The awareness that he’s right lingers in the back of my mind, but I only pick up my speed, veering around the final corner. As the finish line comes into view, I move my legs faster, my muscles screaming at me to slow down. But I tell them to shut the hell up, and I push hard, only slowing down when I cross the finish line. I’m not sure what my time is and I don’t really care.
I can barely breathe, exhaustion aches through my muscles, and I have to lean over as the ability to hold myself upright becomes complicated.
“What the hell was that, Maddison?” River asks as he storms toward me.
I brace my hands on my knee, vomit burning at the back of my throat. “Did you just call me Maddison?” I breathe out as I struggle to catch my breath.
“Don’t change the subject.” He stops beside me. “You know you shouldn’t have pushed yourself that hard.”
“Maybe,” I agree. “But it got my stupid brain to turn off for a while.”
He pauses for a beat. “I know you’re going through some really messed up stuff right now, but baby, you can’t push yourself that hard. It’ll revert your training. Not help it.” He places a hand on my back. “Come on. Let’s go back to my room, and I’ll give you a massage.”
“Is that code for making out?” I joke, way too uncomfortable at the moment.
Most of my life I’ve spent dealing with my problems on my own, but River wants to help me. And he notices when something’s wrong. It’s odd to have that, and part me doesn’t know what to with it.
“No… I mean, we can if you want to, but I really do want to massage you—your muscles…” He’s rambling, probably a bit flustered by my making out joke.
I stand up, causing his hand to drift off my back. “I’m just teasing you. Although, we can make out too, if you want.” I smile, but it’s totally forced, and he can tell.
“You don’t have to pretend with me.” Strands of his dark hair fall across his forehead. He’s wearing shorts, a tank top, and his running sneakers. His full lips are dipped into a frown and his beautiful eyes are overflowing with worry.
He’s the most gorgeous guy I’ve ever seen.
“I’m not pretending, I’m deflecting,” I say then sigh. “I know I’m avoiding, but I’m just tired of thinking about where Ellie and you mom could be. And I think about that stupid text I got. Andwhen I try to stop thinking about it, I feel guilty.” I point at the track. “Running helps turn off my racing mind.
“It does for me too, but I don’t want you to get hurt.” He brushes a strand of my hair that’s fallen out of my ponytail from out of my face. “You still want to make the cross-country team, right?”
“Yes,” I reply, ignore the flutters in my stomach from his touch.
“Then let’s focus on that. Tryouts are in less than a week. You definitely don’t want to get injured before then so let’s go take care of your legs.” He takes my hand and steers me toward the gate.
“You wanna take care of my legs?” I tease, playfully nudging him with my shoulder as we walk.
The corners of his lips quirk. “Why do I get the feeling you get off on teasing me?”
I smile cheekily. “Because it’s fun.”
He shakes his head, but then his eyes glint with a drop of mischief. “Well, if you want me to take care of your legs, I guess you could always just wrap them around me.”
I miss a step but quickly recover. “Is that your way of teasing me back?”
“You tell me.” He flicks me an amused glance as we cross the grassy quad, heading for the front entrance.
It’s early enough that hardly anyone is up yet, and the sky is still grey with only whisper of the sun rising. The air smells like crisp leaves and fresh air and I breathe it in, basking in the lack of population stank that plagues north side.
“I’d wrap my legs around you, River Everson.” I try to be all smooth and wink at him, but a fleck of dusts whacks me in the eyeball. “Ow,” I gripe, rubbing at my eye. “A pierce dirt hit me in the eye.”
“Here, let me see.” He touches the corner of my eye and leans in.
My eye is watering, and I keep blinking as he examines it. Eventually, though, the burning subsides.
“It feels better now,” I tell him softly, his nearness sending flutters through my stomach.
He pauses then quietly whispers, “You want to wrap your legs around me now?”
