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“Sure,” Aria whispered.
“Thanks.” I didn’t say anything else as I moved back, pushed my earbuds into my ears, and headed down the stairs and out the front door.
I’d run until all the thoughts had evaporated, and then I’d go a little longer to make sure they stayed away, if only for one night.
Chapter Three
ARIA
The first week back had gone by at a snail's pace, but it was finally Friday. Only one day left until I could spend two days to myself without anyone else around to bug me or want to talk to me. I could run for hours with my music blasting in my ears, and not one person would disturb me. It would be pure bliss. But that soon evaporated when I realized Cade would be teaching my last class of the day: PE.
The school had been abuzz with his arrival and students telling people who he was and who his dad was. People knew of Uncle Brody, but none of them really knew him. They had heard the rumors of him leaving his wife nearly a decade ago for someone nearly half his age, but they didn’t understand who they were, or how you could feel their love for each other when you were in a room with them. They didn’t understand how fate worked, and neither did I, but I understood that love didn’t care about boundaries and rules because love was love, no matter how you viewed it.
“So you grew up with him?” Hope asked as we walked around the track to warm up.
“Not exactly.” I’d finally given in and told Hope I knew Cade—Mr. Easton, I kept reminding myself. I’d nearly slipped up several times this week when I’d seen him around school. Hope had done her best impression of a blowfish when I hit her with that fact this morning.
I couldn’t get the look on his face out of my mind when he’d stood in Belle’s doorway. The pain shining in his eyes was obvious for everyone to see. Or maybe it was just me. Maybe I could recognize it because I felt it too.
“I met him when I was eight.” I huffed out a breath, my legs begging me to go faster, but I had to keep pace with Hope, if only for a little while. “My mom worked with Lola—Brody’s wife—and Sal is good friends with his dad.”
“Wow.” Hope blinked and halted halfway on the track, trying to catch her breath. We’d barely moved, and she was already tired. “And he was a teenager at the time?”
“Yep.” I swiped my arm over my face to wipe some of the sweat away and to keep myself busy. “He was maybe fifteen, sixteen, at the time.” I shrugged and stretched my arms over my chest to get ready to take off. We had a routine we’d gained over the years. I’d do one lap at Hope’s pace, and then I could take off and lose myself in the rhythm of my feet hitting the ground. “He left for college a couple of years after that, and I barely saw him.”
“Wait…” Hope stepped forward, her eyes narrowing as she stared at me. “Did you have a crush on him?”
I opened my mouth, about to deny it, but she gasped, seeing the truth written all over my face. Instead of answering her, I took off, running away from her exactly like I did with everything else. I could feel the burning of my cheeks as I ran around the track, but the burn in my thighs was a welcome one. All I wanted was to lose myself—tire my muscles out the best I possibly could. This was only meant to be a warm-up, but running was never that for me. It was an escape, something that could never be taken away from me.
I was so inside my own head that I hadn’t realized I was on the fourth lap when a whistle blew and Cade’s booming voice shouted, “Everyone in the middle to pick teams.”
Great. Team sports. Just what I loved the most.
I was a solo athlete, and the old PE teacher knew this, which was why she would let me run track for most of the class. But from the way Cade was staring at me and waving me toward him, I didn’t think I’d get away with it this time.
He wasn’t wearing his usual shirt and dress pants, but instead a full-sleeved training top and sweatpants. You could see every outline of muscle on his top half, and I knew, for a fact, every other girl in class noticed.
I made it to the middle of the field, huffing and puffing as I tried to regulate my breathing. Cade chose the captains: Jasmine and one of her friends. They went through every person in the senior class, leaving Hope and me until last, which meant we’d be on opposing teams.
I stood awkwardly at the edge of the team, not wanting to get involved as Cade told us the rules to lacrosse. I’d never played in my life, and I wasn’t sure any of the other girls had either. We’d had a lacrosse team when I first started as a freshman, but it ended that year when our team came in last in the championship.
Sticks were handed out, but thank god only ten people were on a team because it meant another five girls and I could sit and watch.
Hope was placed in the goalie position, and I grinned at her. She stuck her tongue out in response and completely missed a goal being shot toward her. It flew by her head, and she stumbled to the side, mouthing, “What the fuck,” at me. I couldn’t help but laugh at her, but all too soon, Cade was telling me to get on the field.
I didn’t have a problem sprinting down the pitch, but what I did have a problem with was actually catching the ball with my stick and net thing, and if I did catch it, it was knocked out of it more or less right away. This was the exact reason I only relied on my feet to do the moving because, as soon as another object was added to the mix, I lost all sense of equilibrium.
“Good job today, girls!” Cade shouted and clapped his hands. “Next week, we’ll work on some techniques. Have a good weekend.”
All the girls headed for the locker rooms, but Hope and I stayed back, not wanting to be in a confined space with them all. The last time we’d done that in sophomore year, we’d ended up “losing” half of our clothes and having to wear some weird lost-and-found stuff for the rest of the day. Never again.
“You girls heading in to get changed?” Cade asked as he put the sticks in the two barrels he’d had out here when we first warmed up.
Hope and I looked at each other then back to him. I may have known him as Cade, but here he was Mr. Easton, and there was no way I was going to tell him why we hung back and waited until everyone was finished.
“Do you need help packing away?” I asked instead of answering his question.
“I…” Cade frowned as he watched me and then flicked his gaze to the goals. “You can take those down if you want?”
