Page 142 of Running
“That was so hot,” he says, kissing me on my forehead. “I made a mess of us. Those snaps did me in.”
“Let me grab some of the towels over there,” I offer. There’s a few smaller workout-sized towels sitting on a table in his gym.
I climb off him, grab the towels, andwe clean up. After that, we put our clothes back on to sneak over to his room so we can properly change.
Once we make it to the bedroom, we collapse onto the bed, and Johnson starts playing with my hair.
“It feels good to be back to normal again, with us, I mean,” he shares.
“I didn’t mind waiting,” I reassure him. “You needed to get healthy again.”
“Yeah. I’m ready tobe all the way normal.” I hear the frustration leaking into his voice. “With everything.”
“Almost, honey. Soon.”
CHAPTER 45
Grace
Waking up the next morning, we know that Johnson’s recovery will get pressure tested today.
He’s meeting with the team medical staff, and now that he has clearance for moderate workouts, they’ll make a plan for next steps.
“Missing these games is frustrating as hell,” he says as he’s trimming his beard in the bathroom while I wash my face.
The team has held it together alright at least, with only two losses on the season still.
Once he puts his electric trimmer down, he looks down at the bathroom counter.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
“I’m trying to decide whether I should track Landon down at the facility and force a conversation.” He still won’t return Johnson’s texts, and I’m close to going back to Landon myself and insisting he talk to him. Enough is enough.
“Feel out how the day goes, what they ask you to do,” I reply. “You’ll probably get a vibe if it seems right.”
He nods. “Yeah. I just hate not havinga plan at this point. I’d love to host a big group dinner together for you, in honor of your new job…”
“The celebratory dinner you took me to was perfect.” We’d gone out this weekend to a trendy new restaurant, no longer needing to hide our relationship.
“I loved it, but it would be nice to have Landon and me cohost something, instead of making you keep it all separate. Anyway, I’ll see how it goes.”
As we both leave the house, I start mulling over my own point of uncertainty at the moment—why Coach Shelley asked for the meeting with me, which we ultimately set for ten this morning. But at least I don’t have to wait too long to find out.
When I walk into Coach Shelley’s office a short while later, she looks up from her desk and smiles. “Hi, Grace. Take any chair.”
Her expression is reassuring, which helps ease my mind a bit.
She has a couple of faux leather chairs, and I sit in the one closest to me.
“Do you have any sense of why I wanted to chat with you today?”
Nope. “It doesn’t seem like you’re mad, but no, I’m not entirely sure.”
She shoots me a knowing look. “No, I’m not upset at all. The opposite, really. Grace, do you know exactly what you did the other day? I mean, I’m sure you do, but maybe you need to hear it from an outside voice.”
“I…well, maybe tell me what you mean?”
“Without any recent formal training, you kept up with a near championship qualifying time for the 5000 meters, and then after slowing down in the middle for a cool down lap, reached a qualifying time for the 10000 meters.”
