Page 31 of Tainted Rose

Scarlett

I’m never drinking again. Holy shit, this hangover is gonna kill me. And if it doesn’t kill me, Coach Lance might. From the way he’s run beside me at different points of the cross-country 5K course at the meet this morning, his face red and blustering, I assume he’s pissed as hell at me. I’ve never seen him coach like this in the last five weeks, so this is either his meet-day face or I’ve royally fucked myself over. I may have put my scholarship in jeopardy all to get back at Xander, the asshat. I never could have done what I did last night while sober though, so it is what it is.

Shoving all thoughts of Xander out of my head, I focus on running my race. I feel mostly like crap, a little pukey, and a whole lot dehydrated. A mile and a half in, I finally start to feel better, opening up my stride and relaxing into a faster pace. I pass no fewer than ten runners along the way, both male and female, including Kari. I can sense the finish line isn’t far out—about a quarter mile, if I’m not mistaken—and turn up my speed, powering toward it. My breathing actually steadies, knowing I’m almost done. Two guys from our team are out in front of me, and I chase them down, knowing their times are usually pretty competitive.

They give little sputters of dismay when I fly past them. There’s some cheering from the crowd gathered at the finish line, and I smile, looking up to see if I can find Max and Daphne or my aunt and uncle.

All four are standing together waving at me, so I wave back with a tired grin.

That grins drops right off my face when I see Xander, Beau, and Micah. I don’t know why they are here, but surely it can’t be for me, not after I told Xander off last night. The look on his face had been priceless. Like, What?

I pace around for a minute or so, hands on my hips, and Coach Lance brings me a bottle of water. “Don’t drink this too fast.”

I nod, swallow some, and dump a bunch over my head. I shake it like a wet dog. “What was my time?”

“Appears you figured things out once you got going. You kind of looked like shit the first half.” He chuckles. “You still managed a first-place finish for the girls and third overall. Seventeen minutes, forty-five seconds. And I know you could have done better.”

I nod. “I can. I will next time.”

The other runners come in over the next few minutes. Once everyone is accounted for, the coaches review and compare times recorded for each runner, and then they hand out some medals to the top three male runners and top three female runners. I’m pleased with how I did, all things considered, but know I’ll do far better next time.

I stop back by Coach Lance again when he waves me over. “Good job. Now, go hit the showers. Looks like you have a bunch of fans waiting for you.”

Biting my lip, I glance back to where everyone is standing. Xander seems fine but Uncle David is shooting daggers at him and Aunt Liz doesn’t look super happy, either. Yikes. Okay, I’d better hurry before they come to blows.

I drink the rest of my water on the way back to the locker room. I’d seen a lot of the other female runners circled up talking, so I have the place to myself for a little bit. I grab a towel and toss it over my shower stall as I’m now prone to do. I turn the valve, wait for it to warm, then step under the spray and groan out my pleasure. The hot water feels good on my tired, aching muscles. I wash and condition my hair, then soap up quickly. The door to the locker room slams open. I think nothing of it until a cold shiver zips down my spine. I blink open my eyes to find someone standing outside my shower stall.

This time, I’m more pissed than scared and my jaw goes rigid. “Whoever you are, you totally suck, you creeper. You’re not supposed to be in here, so get the hell out.” This is like déjà vu. My heart pounds. Only, this is not déjà vu because this is not the same short, light-haired person as before. This person, this man, is well over six feet tall, and I can make out his dark hair and broad shoulders through the textured glass. I suck in a breath, waiting for whatever he will do next. Because once again, I’m trapped in here unless I want to go out in a towel. Speaking of…

Right in front of my eyes, my towel starts to slide over the stall door. I make a grab at it, holding on tight. I grit my teeth and wrench it in my direction as hard as I can while shouting, “Give me my towel!” My voice echoes off the walls of the locker room, and whoever is standing there hurries away.

I wrap my towel around my wet body as quickly as I can and burst out of my shower stall just in time to see Kari and a few other girls walk into the locker room and go directly to their lockers. Gasping for air, I ask, “Did you see someone run out of here?”

They exchange confused glances, and Kari responds, “No. Are you okay? You look flustered.”

I huff. “I’d be better if people would stop messing with me. Some jackass tried to steal my towel from over the shower door.

One of the other girls whispers, “Well, that’s not freaky at all.”

“I know. You’ve been warned. Someone obviously thinks it’s funny to scare people. I swear to you there was a dude in here just now. I hold my hand up to the height. “About this tall, dark-haired.”

They all shrug and make a pact not to shower alone. Awesome. These are the days I wish I had more friends. Shaking my head, I open my locker, pull out my clothes, and quickly dress.

Back outside, I hurry over to my friends and family … and Xander, Beau, and Micah. I still have no fucking clue what they are doing here, but apparently, they are waiting for me. I stop first in front of Aunt Liz and Uncle David with a bright smile.

They wrap me up in a three-person hug. “Great job, sweetie. You sure are fast. I don’t know where you get that from. Your mom and I always used to joke that we needed someone to run in front of us with a bar of chocolate to get us to move.”

I scoff good-naturedly at her joke. “You were a lot alike, that’s for sure.”

“She’d have been proud of what you did today, Scarlett.” A faint smile crosses her lips, as her eyes drift toward the building. “She’s probably here somewhere watching you run like the wind.”

I nod at the thought, my eyes a little misty. If I didn’t get my running abilities from my mom or aunt, they must have come from the other half of my gene pool. I can’t help but wonder about what kind of athlete Sebastian was in high school. Because my speed had to come from somewhere. I know he played football, but that’s about it. I’ll have to see if I can find out. I swallow down my curiosity and turn to Uncle David. “What’s for dinner tonight?”

He pats my shoulder. “Spaghetti and meatballs. Are you coming straight home now?” His gaze slides over to where Daphne and Max appear to be talking to Beau and Micah. My heart thumps as Xander’s eyes connect with Uncle David’s and an uncomfortable alpha male moment passes between them. Definitely a Watch it or I’ll take you out from Uncle David, and I’m fairly certain I’m reading a You can’t stop me from seeing her from Xander. I huff out an internal laugh at that. I was definitely the one calling the shots last night.

“I’m actually going to see a movie with Daphne and Max now. I’ll be home later this afternoon, in plenty of time for pasta … and hopefully garlic bread?” I grin big, batting my eyes at him. It always works.

“I can manage that. We’ll see you at home later, then. Be safe.” His eyes flick back to Xander one last time.

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