Page 19 of Your Pace or Mine
Darius laughed. “Does it bother me being called a bigot and told I don’t deserve a spot on the team I’ve spent my whole life working towards?”
“Ok,” Jamie replied with a smirk. “Stupid question.”
The more they ran, the more Darius started to think Jamie was flirting with him. The tone of his soft teasing was made more noticeable by how little the other runners were interacting with Darius at all. By the fourth mile, as the gentle banter continued, he was convinced it was flirtation. The thought of it made him preen a little and ignited some deep-seated desire in him to show off a bit, so he jogged ahead, then turned around, running backwards to maintain the conversation with Jamie, and, well, to check on the other runners, obviously. It was a ridiculous move, something he would’ve thought was impressive in school, but it did make Jamie laugh, so he counted it as a win.
The laughter didn’t last long as Jamie’s face took on a determined set through the fifth mile of the run.
“I’m gonna need you to distract me here, this is proper awful,” he gasped. “Let’s play a game.”
“A game?” Darius countered. “The game is called ‘Running.’”
“Haha, no like,would you rather,“ Jamie grinned, clearly pulling the idea out of thin air at that very moment.
“Ah,” Darius said sagely, “a game for thirteen-year-olds, that tracks.”
In an immense display of emotional maturity, Jamie stuck out his tongue at him.
“OK, I’ll start,” Jamie sighed dramatically. “Run a marathon in high heels or barefoot.”
“Barefoot, easy,” Darius answered. “I’ve never understood how anyone can take even two steps in heels, much less run in them.”
Jamie just grinned in return. “It’s not that hard, if I can dance in them, I’m sure you could run in them,” he laughed.
Well, that was an image Darius didn’t hate at all.
“Ok, your turn,” Jamie prompted.
“No way, I am not a pre-teen. This is ridiculous.”
“God, you’re so pretentious.” Jamie bumped his shoulder as he ran. “Don’t you ever just want to feel like a kid again?”
“No,” Darius deadpanned.
Jamie laughed, the sound light and unguarded. “Wow, you’re a right laugh at parties, aren’t you?”
Darius raised an eyebrow. “Oh, I’m the life of the party. But I prefer adult games.”
Jamie stared at him, and Darius realised how that must sound. “Like… uh, Scrabble.”
Jamie snorted. “Scrabble? That’s your idea of cutting loose? Let me guess, you’re the guy who tries to use all seven letters every turn.”
“Efficient use of resources,” Darius shot back, grinning. “Besides, high-scoring words are objectively sexy.”
Jamie laughed again, shaking his head. “You’re so ridiculous. Okay, Mr Efficiency, what do you do for fun that doesn’t involve intimidating people with your vocabulary?”
Darius hesitated for a second, not expecting the question. He considered deflecting, but Jamie’s curious expression nudged something loose. “Honestly? I don’t have a ton of time for fun. Running has always been my thing, though. Not just for races, but to, you know… clear my head. Find some peace.”
Jamie tilted his head, suddenly serious. “Yeah, I get that. Dance is kind of like that for me. It’s the one time everything else fades away, and I can just… exist.”
Darius nodded, surprised by how much he liked this quieter side of Jamie. “Exactly. It’s like…” he struggled for the right words, “the world narrows down to just the next step. Nothing else matters.”
“Right? And then when you’re done, all the noise comes rushing back, but it doesn’t matter as much.” Jamie’s voice softened, his eyes meeting Darius’s.
The air between them shifted, the banter giving way to something deeper. Darius felt his chest tighten, caught off guard by how easily Jamie had put into words something he’d always felt but never said.
“Do you ever feel like that noise is just… too much sometimes?” Jamie asked, something haunted in his voice.
Darius’s usual defences wavered. He thought about all the times he’d run until his legs burned, trying to outrun the weight of expectations, of always having to be the best. “Yeah,” he admitted, his voice quieter than before. “Sometimes it’s easier to keep moving than to stop and think about it.”
