Page 30 of Hard Hitter

From the direction of the finish line, Mac let out a shout and zipped past us going the opposite direction with his shirt tied around his head. He’d take any excuse to show off his abs. RJ followed him at a slightly slower pace, waving at us as she passed.

I turned to Shaw. “Seems normal to me.”

He shrugged again and picked up the pace, apparently trying to kill me in front of all the people waiting at the end of the damn race, including a smirking Chloe. A tight band across my chest attempted to steal all my air. Maybe I couldn’t run this in my sleep, but I wasn’t going to finish in a huffing mess.

My phone vibrated in my pocket, but I ignored it. No way could I find extra oxygen to answer it now. I pushed past the weakness, and matched Shaw step for step, valiantly keeping my eyes straight ahead instead of watching a certain dark-haired beauty guard her ducks.

10

Ismelled like duck shit, which I quickly learned was both pungent and unpleasant. Luckily, all I had to do was lower my nose to Noah’s shirt and his scent took over my brain. On the third or fourth sniff, Eva caught me and shook her head.

“You don’t have to try to be sneaky about it. If you want to sniff the man, just do it.”

The teenage girl waiting for the duck in Eva’s hands swallowed hard and very pointedly didn’t look at the lanky kid next to her who wanted Henry.

Eva smiled at her and handed over her charge. “Not you. Though if you want to sniff a guy, definitely go for it. Maybe ask first. Consent is key.”

The girl’s eyes widened, and she slowly backed away cuddling one of the nice ducks—in the opposite direction of the kid next to her. He blushed, confirming my suspicion they’d showed up together. I gave Henry a stern look and set him in lover boy’s open palms.

“Don’t put him down,” I reminded the kid, who followed the girl.

Eva wiped her hands on the back of her jeans and turned to me, completely ignoring the rest of the line. “You and Noah would be good together. He needs someone to pull him out of his head.”

My brows drew together. “That’s all you have to say? You’re not going to interfere?”

“I don’t think this is a situation where you need a kick in the ass, but let me know if I’m wrong. I love doing the pushy best friend thing.”

A warm little ball glowed in my chest at her off-hand designation of best friend. I had friends from my previous school, but none of them had reached out at all since I’d left. Not exactly a deep connection there.

I’d known Eva for years, but she’d always been in the casual acquaintance category of D’s friends. Guess she’d been promoted. Nothing would make me discuss my emotions with my old group of friends, but Eva barely needed me to speak to suss out my issues. She’d helped D with Nadia, maybe she could help new me navigate the foreign land of good decisions.

“I appreciate your restraint, but the situation with Noah is complicated. Maybe after the race we could grab coffee and over analyze everything.”

“Sounds good.” She nudged me toward the next person in line. “Ducks before dicks.”

Our booth was popular, which kept us busy until the guys and Riley approached the end of the race where we were stationed. I was cuddling the smallest duckling and scolding Henry for nipping at one of his nestmates, when I caught my first glimpse of Noah. He came around the bend jogging at an easy lope and smiling.

I almost dropped the sweet duck. Happy Noah was a sight to behold. Maybe the early morning had been worth it after all.

Mac and Riley finished first, and they took off in the opposite direction for a reverse lap passing Shaw in a neon pink blur. I spared them a glance, but they couldn’t hold my attention. My gaze returned to Noah, locked on, and refused to go anywhere else.

He didn’t look my direction, but the heat building in my belly made me hyper aware of him. Sweat glistened on his bare chest, and I followed the arrow of dark hair down to where it disappeared into his gray shorts.

Most of the O-line guys my brother had played with were big and hefty, built to use their weight to stop forward momentum. Noah broke the mold. Hell, he might breakmeif we ever gave in to my dirtier urges.

Eva bumped my shoulder, and I tore my gaze away from his crotch, hoping the heat on my cheeks could be blamed on the sun. She sent me a knowing look and exchanged the nearly sleeping duck I was holding for Henry.

“It’s your turn to keep him occupied.”

The little duck smacked my hand with a wing trying to get back to Eva and let out the saddest quack I’d ever heard. For a fleeting second, I commiserated with him. It was hard to be denied when all you wanted was to be close to the person you… I blew out a breath and purposely changed my train of thought.

Noah veered off from Shaw to come our way. The crowd parted to let him through as he slowed to a walk with his arms crossed over his head. Henry squeaked at me, and I realized I’d been squeezing him a little too hard.

I stooped to put him back in the enclosure, not convinced it was a good idea to be holding a live animal at the moment. My head bent to take a whiff of Noah’s shirt, and I caught myself at the last second.

Definitely wouldn’t be able to blame my flaming face on the sun now. At least he wouldn’t knowwhyI was blushing.

“Hey, Trouble. Keeping Henry contained?”

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