good, when in reality, I’m going to have to leave school. The shoe is going to drop soon, Grant. As soon as P-Day comes.”
“P-Day?”
“Payment day,” she grunts. “That’s what I’m calling it.”
She holds my forearm and turns to me. “Have you brainstormed anything else?”
I shrug. “T-shirt sales of some sort?”
Her eyes narrow, and she smiles. “You’ve actually been thinking?”
“The whole way here. I don’t want to see you leave this school. We’ve got three more years left after this one, and you damn well better be here for those, Maya.”
She clears her throat and I can’t tell if I see her eyes well or not. After she uses the back of her hand to wipe her face, she says, “You mean that?”
“No, I’m just saying it to mess with you. Of course, I mean that, Maya. I missed you during winter term. This place isn’t the same without you.”
She hugs me again, and I feel my skin flush with warmth. Fucking A, what is it about this girl?
“Thanks,” she says in a low voice.
“Final Lap!” an announcer’s voice says on the loud-speaker, and finally the meager crowd starts to cheer again.
The crowd is enough to interrupt the moment Maya and I are having.
At least, I think we’re having a moment. But I also could be imagining it.
“Well, thanks for coming,” she adds. “Even if it was just to cheer on Finn and DJ.”
She turns to go in her baggy track warmups. I grab hold of her wrist before she walks away.
“Hey,” I say, then find her eyes. “I was joking. I came to see you, too. You know that, right?”
“Sure,” she says, but the word doesn’t hold much conviction.
I stand up, and suddenly our height difference is notable. “I did. So, are you going to win your races today?”
“Of course I will win. I’m the fastest girl in Illinois. Well, Iowa, today,” she winks. “Haven’t you heard?”
I give her an up and down. “Those 1970s spandex definitely work on you,” I grin.
She playfully rolls her eyes, then reaches out to grip my arm. “Thanks for coming.”
“The pleasure is all mine.”
She turns and walks back to the athletes’ camp on the other side of the track.
When she comes out a few minutes later, jogging in short shorts and a jacket, my reaction is immediate. I let out a slow inhale as I stare. Thank you, sunglasses, for hiding my eyes.
Right then, I feel a couple of other hands clasp my back from behind me.
Finn and DJ.
“Hey, bro! Thanks for coming. You rock, man,” Finn says.
“Yeah, coming all the way here just to see us?” DJ adds. “We won’t forget this.”
“Aw, don’t mention it,” I wink. “You’re my brothers. Besides, I didn’t just come for you. There are lots of pretty track ladies out here today.”
“Yeah, we saw you talking to Maya! How’s that going?” DJ nudges me.
I scoff. “We’re just friends.”
“Yeah, okay, buddy,” DJ jokes.
Finn shakes his head. “I don’t get it though. Why don’t you make a move on her? You were in love with her fall term.”
“Dude, I wasn’t in love with her. Liked her? Yes. Love? Come on, man. No one falls in love their freshmen year of college. It’s all about lust.”
“Speak for yourself,” DJ retorts.
I look over at Maya, who is jogging with a couple of her teammates. Her hair is done up in a ponytail for her races. There’s something about seeing her in a track singlet that adds to the allure.
“You scared?” DJ wiggles his eyebrows. “Holy shit. Is the Woodsmen Zenmaster actually scared to make a move?”
I snort. “No. Of course not.”
“Makes perfect sense now,” Finn says, stroking a nonexistent goatee. “You’ve never been turned down by a girl. You don’t know what it’s like.”
“It’s not like that. I swear.”
Finn and DJ look at each other, and I’m a little pissed that I moved out and let them be roommates because now they have that roommate look where they furrow their face a little bit, twist their mouth, and call bullshit on me.
“He’s totally getting defensive,” DJ says. “It’s written all over your face, man. Hey, admitting it is the first step to recovery. I tried to pretend I didn’t like Alex for a long time. But do you know what happens when you push down your desire?”
“What?”
“It gets all pent up, and with nowhere to go,” DJ makes a big explosion noise with his mouth. “It explodes.”
I fold my arms. “Maybe I’m covered on the ladies’ front, and I’d like to have