Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
MAGNOLIA
Shirtless, Bowen’s hands were laced behind his head, running shorts low enough to make my cheeks flame. His hair was knotted in a bun at the back of his head.
“Look.” He nudged a stick off the trail. “I’m not trying to be a pain in the butt. We should just run right now, or we’re going to lose our chance. The sun doesn’t care if Griffin can’t show up on time.”
I sighed. “I promised I would wait for him.”
I could see him fighting back a frustrated response. His look said it all anyway. You’re my partner. You should be running with me.
Anna and Christy jogged past.
“Hey, guys,” Anna called.
“Better get your laps in,” Christy sang. “The sunset won’t stop for Griffin.”
Bowen thrust his hands at his aunt, like see.
“Go without me,” I said.
He stared at me for a moment before his shoulders fell in resignation. “No. I’ll wait with you.”
Maybe he was as excited to see me every day as I was to see him, and he didn’t want to give up a single minute. That was normal, right? Friends could feel that way about each other?
“You should put your shirt on,” I suggested. Griffin hated that Bowen ran shirtless all the time.
“No,” he grumbled. “I take care of my clothes, unlike Griff, who treats his floor like a laundry basket. So if I can keep from drenching them in sweat, I’m going to.
” He wasn’t wrong. Griff was a slob while Bowen folded his T-shirts like origami.
I’d caught him using one of those folding boards the other night when I came over for dinner.
He smacked a mosquito on his calf and flicked it to the ground.
“Besides, why would I add layers when I’m trying not to pass out from heatstroke? ”
“Must be nice,” I mumbled. It was roasting out here. Even at eight p.m., the end of July in Virginia was sweltering.
“Feel free to take your shirt off. It’s just a sports bra. I’ve seen you in a bikini. We all have,” he said breezy and unaffected, like I was one of the guys.
I hated how that stung. “Yes, I’m sure Griffin would be thrilled to walk up and catch me in my sports bra, you shirtless. I’m not trying to start World War III.” I fanned my tank top in and out. “I just want to get through this race and win that money.”
“We’re not winning jack-crap if we don’t start running.” His tone was tight but soft, making it clear he wasn’t frustrated with me.
A text notification hit my watch. From Griffin.
“Oh, he just pulled into Dupree Ranch,” I said. “He’ll be here in two minutes.”
“About time. Did you read the article on Group Identity Theory?”
I fought back a smile. When Bowen committed to being my friend, he committed.
Every day, all day, he sent me memes and articles.
From info on performance diets, to race tips, to mental health videos, to dog reels.
They always made me smile. Over the past couple of weeks, I felt my heart healing. We were becoming a team.
“Yes.” I nodded. “I read the article. But anything we do will just make Griffin feel more left out.”
“It’s a simple fact,” he said, a hint of irritation in his tone. “We’re race partners. I had nothing to do with it. Blame the cosmos, Magnolia.”
I tilted my head. “You have to stop calling me that.”
He smirked. “Oh, the shame, calling you by your given name?”
I chewed the insides of my cheeks, determined not to smile. “You know it bugs Griffin.”
“I’m not trying to bug him.” He frowned as if he were genuinely puzzled.
“I just don’t get it. Why would anyone take a name like Magnolia and cut it down to Maggie?
” He said my nickname like he’d just coughed up a slimy green loogie.
“One of them is a flower. The other sounds like a lunch lady with inch-long chin hairs. And you are a flower.” He blew out his breath, not the least bit clued in to what he’d just done to my heart.
“But, you know, whatever.” He waved his hand lazily.
“Anyway, according to the article, a shared identity builds trust and unity, which will only enhance our performance. We could wear matching shirts but that’s generic.
Everyone does that. And Cash and Charlie already ordered matching compression socks, so that idea’s taken.
We need to do something different. Something original.
” He shot me with finger pistols. “Ideas, Mags?”
My heart fluttered at the new nickname and I hated myself a little. You’re with Griffin. Griffin, Griffin, Griffin. “I think I can’t do anything that’s going to make Griff angry. Not even to throw him off his game and give us an advantage.”
“Yeah.” Bowen glanced over my shoulder and his face fell. Think about it, he mouthed. Then he took off running.
I turned to see Griff jogging up, his eyes burning into Bowen’s disappearing backside.
“I’m here,” he growled.
“Hi,” I said, keeping the frustration out of my voice. Because his hair was smashed flat in a one-inch strip across the top of his head—which could only mean one thing. “You’re forty-five minutes late because you were gaming?”
His brows furrowed, eyes darkening. “I was decompressing, okay?”
Bowen doesn’t play video games. He gets stuff done. Just like you.
I blew my breath out in an O. “We’re running out of daylight, and we won’t get all of our laps in because you insisted I run with you. Mario Kart couldn’t wait?”
“It was League of Legends with Theo,” he said, as if it made all the difference. “We were bonding.”
I breathed out through my nose. I could’ve been done by now. Could’ve been halfway home. But I’d stood here, waiting for him, while he was playing video games? He gave me crap every day about training with Bowen, but he couldn’t bother to show up when he said he was going to?
His arms slid around my waist, pulling me against him. “Hey, let’s not fight.”
He came in for a kiss, but I dodged it and tipped my head toward the trail. “We gotta run.” I pointed at the sun, cut in half by the horizon. “As it is, we’ll be lucky to get two laps in.”
His nose pressed into my cheek. “In a minute. I haven’t seen you all day.” His mouth found mine and I tried to let myself relax. But I hadn’t been able to relax with Griffin since I found out he was the reason Bowen had been so mean.
“Did you think about it?” Griff murmured.
My stomach knotted.
Had I thought about whether I wanted to blow off all my plans and move out west with him? Yeah, I thought about it. “You know I can’t. I’m about to start med school. Being a doctor is my dream.”
He dropped the hug, lips quirked in frustration. “What about my dreams? Shouldn’t we support each other? Both of us?”
I scuffed a the toes of my tennis shoe in the dirt. “You have your dream job. You just barely started. Why do you want to leave?”
He waved my words away with his hand. “It’ll be fun. You can go to med school out there. Pick the place. Utah? Arizona? Nevada?”
I blew a stray hair out of my face. “Why would I do that when I already got into UVA? I have residency here. Going to school in another state would almost double the cost. Leaving now makes no logical sense.”
“Maggie,” he said, like I was being uptight. “It doesn’t have to make —”
“Griff,” my voice shook. I exhaled and finally said the words he didn’t want to hear. “You know I can’t. Even after med school. I’m not leaving my dad behind.”
“He can come with us. It’ll be a blast.”
I tipped my head back, eyes to the sky, chest heaving in frustration. Why couldn’t it ever be easy with him? “Griffin,” I exhaled. “I don’t want to leave the East Coast.”
The air between us crackled uncomfortably.
His eyes glinted, looking betrayed.
I hurried to explain. “I spent the first eighteen years of my life moving from place to place. It sucked. I’d be happy if I never saw another U-Haul as long as I lived.
This is where my dad’s from.” Griffin knew that.
I lived in the house my dad had grown up in.
His parents left it to him when they passed.
“Your dad’s never even home,” Griffin grumbled.
“But he will be. As soon as he retires after this tour.”
His chest heaved like I’d just rocked his world. But he’d rocked mine when he brought this up last week. This summer was supposed to be our chance to finally grow closer, and not just in distance. Instead, it felt like we were growing apart in every way possible.
His expression turned cold. “I can’t accept that.” He held his hands up. “I won’t.”
“Griff—”
“I can’t stay here, Maggie,” he said in a tone of finality. “I can’t. It’s not negotiable. You come with me or…”
I stared at him, mouth hanging open.
But instead of taking it back, he turned on his heel and kicked into a sprint—running so fast I couldn’t have caught him if I wanted to.
I tried to run, but my lungs felt like they were filled with shards of glass. Every breath hurt. One leg in front of the other, I went, but it was barely better than speed walking.
A couple of minutes later, Bowen came up behind me. “Hey, you.”
“Hey.” I made myself smile. “Where’d you come from?”
“Griff blew past me like he was trying to break the sound barrier. Looked mad enough to punch a tree.” He studied my face. “Figured I’d take a shortcut and run with you.”
He wasn’t even going to ask what the disagreement was about. He’d just shown up, no hesitation.
“Thank you,” I said quietly.
“Of course. But also—” he flashed an adorable crooked grin, “—we forgot to do our thing.” He offered me his fist.
I smiled through the crack in my chest and gave him a bump.
“Wah-hoo-wah,” we said in unison.