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Laughing, I started after her. I was a fast enough runner to catch her easily, but showing her up wasn't the point. I wanted to let her win. Besides, I had a feeling that if I reached any bench before her, it would be the wrong bench.
I was okay with that. I liked that she was playful. Us Rapids were good at razzing each other, but any time things got too lively, there was usually a prank at the end of it. Especially if Bam or Chase were around. Like the time one of them put garlic in my locker. I grimaced at the memory. It stank for weeks afterward.
Rubie reached the bench at the end of the park and tapped it with her hand. "I win!"
I trotted to a stop a couple of metres from the bench. "I guess you did. What did you win?"
I was hoping she'd ask for a date or a kiss, but that might be moving too fast. I was content to take this at exactly the pace she was comfortable with. The last thing I wanted was to scare her away.
She gave me a speculative look. "I don't know, I'll think of something. Let's call it an IOU for now."
"Deal," I said. I didn’t mind owing her. I was sure she’d come up with something fun. "Now, can you use a skipping rope?"
A shadow passed across her face. "Only if I use it alone," she said, her voice tight. "I didn’t spend much time skipping rope with the other girls at school."
I wanted to reach out to her, to wipe her pain away. "Me either," I said awkwardly. "Little girls can be so mean."
She snorted, but only with a hint of humour. "Yeah, they can." She frowned. "You meant alone, right? Unless someone else is coming to join us?"
"Just us." I crouched and unzipped my bag. From inside, I drew two skipping ropes. I tossed one to her and gripped the handles of mine in each hand.
"I remember the silly songs they sing when they skip," I said. "Something about counting potatoes and boyfriends with sixty-nine toes."
"That sounds familiar," she said. She started to skip slowly.
After a moment, I joined her. "Let me guess, you were the kid in the corner with a book?"
"I might have been," she said. "Dad’s PT says if you can talk while working out, you’re not working hard enough."
"Touché," I said. "My coach says the same thing. I mean, said. From, you know, high school." I looked over to see her giving me a funny look.
"From high school. Right. You were a jock?" She spoke without missing a beat.
"You could say that, yes." Once I grew out of the gangly, pimply phase. For a while there, I thought that was my life. Then one growth spurt and a bunch of hard work on the track before and after school and everything changed. I went from awkward Ollie to pro-ball player Ollie all the girls stared at. And the guys too.
Looking back, maybe nerdy me wasn’t so bad. I bet Rubie never had a nerdy phase, not really. She would have been queen of her class. Cheerleader, class president, the works.
Only, I had a feeling that wasn’t how it was. Hopefully some day she’d feel comfortable with me and open up about it. And everything else in her life. I wanted to know all of it.
"Yeah, I thought that when I first saw you," she said. "But there’s more to you too."
I chuckled. "I hope so." I was getting breathless from exertion, or maybe from being near her.
"I know what I’d like to have as my prize," she said. "Take me dinner."
Fuck yes, of course I would. I’d happily take her anywhere she wanted to go. Anywhere, any time.
"Okay, it’s a deal," I replied, as cool as I could manage, given my heart was racing out of control.
CHAPTER 5
RUBIE
Ollie showed up ten minutes before the time we agreed on. He wore pants that showed off his tight little ass, a dark blue button-down shirt and a tie. Not a Rapids tie I noticed, but a blue one with white stripes. If I didn't know better, I'd think it was silk.
It was probably polyester. Either way, it looked hot on him. I wanted to pull it off and use it to tie his hands to my bed. Then I could lick my way up his abs…
I gave him a long slow smile. "I see you turned up on time," I teased.
