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And then, though his legs screamed in protest, Gabriel leapt forward into a sprint.
Damn, it felt good to compete, to do something he could control. He hadn’t realized how much he’d miss the easy camaraderie of a team, the physical strain of working toward one common purpose. On the field or on the course, or hell, here on the trail, the objective was clear. Make a basket. Put the ball in the goal. Win the race.
Pass the test?
Gabriel wondered if that’s why this guy was starting these fires. It was so much easier to send things on a path toward destruction.
At the turnoff for the parking lot at the trailhead, Gabriel didn’t slow. Hunter was right there, not letting up. They veered around a couple with bikes, almost trampled a mother navigating a jogging stroller, and shot onto the parking lot, spraying pea gravel with every step.
He stretched out a hand to slap the tailgate of the SUV.
Right at the same time as Hunter.
“Damn it,” he gasped.
At least Hunter was breathing as hard as he was, his hands braced on his knees. “All right. Another five miles?”
“Shut up.” Gabriel smiled.
They dug for change in the center console and bought bottles of water from the machine at the ranger station by the trailhead.
Then they collapsed in the grass under an oak tree. The sun was starting to break free of the clouds, and Gabriel pushed damp strands of hair off his face.
“Figures,” he said. “Now the sun comes out.”
Hunter took a long pull of water. “Do you usually run with Nick?”
“Nah. He’ll go if I drag him out of the house, but not for any kind of distance. Chris will run in the spring, when baseball starts.”
Hunter peeled at the label on his bottle. “I used to run with my dad.”
“Was he slow, too?”
That earned a smile and a punch in the arm. “No.” A pause.
“We were going to run the Marine Corps marathon this year.”
Gabriel recognized that hollow note in Hunter’s voice. Sometimes he had to fight to keep it out of his own.
Hunter shrugged. “Really, I forgot all about it, what with moving here and all.” He hesitated. “Last night, I got an e-mail with the details, when to pick up the packets, stuff like that. I deleted it I mean, you know.”
Gabriel nodded and kept his eyes on his own water bottle.
“Yeah.”
“Then you texted me this morning and asked if I wanted to run ten miles, and ”
“Shit.” Gabriel straightened. Another day, off to a raring start with a f**kup. “Man, I’m sorry. I didn’t ”
“No!” Hunter looked at him, hard. “I’m glad. It was . . .
good.”
“All right.” Gabriel settled back and stared at the sky. It was almost eight now, and more reasonable runners were starting to pack into the lot. The sun felt heavy on his face, and he let the energy pour into his skin.
“It gets easier,” he said.
“Yeah?” Hunter’s voice was skeptical. “When?”
