I stepped back. "Excuse me, sir?"
"Coach!"
I winced. "Coach. Are you challenging me?"
He folded his clipboard against his chest and tucked his chin down as he gave me a long searching stare. Then he sighed. "Strattan, you came to me. If you want a scholarship, you'll play by my rules. I'm not challenging you, I'm pushing you. You're going to be the best damn runner you can be and if you stick with my rules through the track season and cross country season next fall, you'll be going to a school with a full ride."
"Cross country?"
"Running's a solitary thing for you. It's like that for the best runners, but you better start getting used to not doing everything your way or no way. You're joining both teams whether you like it or not. Make sure to stop at the school sometime this week and fill out all your paperwork. We run at 6 in the morning, every morning."
He didn't wait for my response. As he got inside his car, he hollered back to me, "Run, Strattan! Time and distance, Strattan. Time and distance."
I stood there, not sure what to think so when he tapped his horn once, I got to running. Even though I knew I would be dead for the rest of the day, I did what he ordered. I ran until I had no gas left, and then I ran some more. By the time I was done, I collapsed on the grass and waited until my heart would stop pounding. Then I remembered he said to mark the time and distance. The numbers didn't make sense to me, not much did at that moment, but I knew that I had to stretch and I needed to call for a ride.
Stretching was torture, and by the time Mason arrived, I had fallen asleep.
"Sam." He touched my arm.
I opened my eyes, frowned as he was bent over me. Then I let out a deep groan, "Oh my god."
I couldn't sit up. I tried. I failed.
Mason caught my arm and pulled me to my feet. When I would've fallen back down, he scooped me up and carried me to his car. It wasn't long before he had me buckled in and was in his own seat. Then he pointed to my car. "You want me and Logan to come back and get that?"
I nodded, feeling weak. Why had I run so much? I croaked out, "What time is it?" But my eyes were already closing. I needed sleep, just sleep.
"You have two hours before your shift."
I cursed under my breath. Why the hell had I run so much? But I remembered Coach Grath's barking orders and knew the look on his face would be worth it. His gruff exterior pissed me off. I felt like I had to prove myself to him. No matter what he said, I still felt that he didn't believe in me. I wondered if he was meeting with me as a favor to…I looked sideways. Mason seemed clueless to my thoughts as he drove to Manny's.
Wait, to Manny's? I sat up. "What are you doing?"
He wheeled into the parking lot and turned the engine off. "You're eating. What else would I be doing?"
My mouth fell open. "Mason, I stink! I can't go in there. Everybody will leave because I smell so bad."
He grinned but shook his head. "With Gus as close competition? I doubt it. Come on, Sam. You need to eat and we don't have anything good at the house."
My head fell back with a thump. He went inside. My ass did not. He was nuts if he thought I was going in there. But I did, after he came out and carried me inside. Lily grinned when she saw the state I was in. And after our food orders were taken, I glanced around. I hadn't before, I didn't want to see the reactions to my messy appearance when Mason walked through the diner, but couldn't stop myself now.
The place was full, but Mason chose a corner table for me. There was a fan beside me, so I dried off quickly, and it was pointed out the side door. All my sweaty fumes went that way. Still, while I wanted to be invisible, I knew whom I was with. Mason attracted attention, and with him beside me and how I looked, we were getting a lot of attention. It was unavoidable.
Heather came over with our water, but instead of leaving, she dropped into the chair beside me. "You want to tell me why you look like you ran a marathon?"
Mason grunted but reached for his glass.
I slunk further down my chair. "That bad, huh?"
"Sammy, don't tell me you ran a marathon? You're on shift in two hours."
"I know, I know." I opened my mouth, ready to start explaining how my new coach was a potential ass, when the door opened and more people strolled inside. "Where did all these people come from?"
"Oh." She jerked a thumb towards Mason. "You can thank your boy here."
"Huh?"
He narrowed his eyes, but didn't say a word.
"Mason?"
"Or maybe it's because of you." Heather studied me again.
Mason gave me a strained smile before he stood up. "I'll be back in a few."
I watched him walk over to a table in the back section, close to the bar, before Heather pulled my attention back by saying, "My dad's over the moon."
"Huh?"
She nodded in Mason's direction. "Word got out that Mason and Logan Kade were both here last night, then word got out that their stepsister works here, and everybody put two and two together. Judging from the crowd we had this morning and how it hasn't let up since, I'm figuring my baby is the new hang-out."
Dread formed in my gut. I liked this place because it was small and private. That was gone now. Then my eyes widened again as I saw the section by the front door. "Academy students are here too?"
"Yeah." She turned to look too. "Those some friends of yours?"