He hesitates. “We were down there for a car race.”
My brows rise. “What? Like an illegal one.”
He bobs his head up and down. “Yeah, and it got busted.”
I want to ask so many more questions, but I promised I wouldn’t.
“This no-questions thing might have been a dumb idea,” I state with a smile.
He smiles back. “A deal’s a deal.”
“Oh, fine.” I resist a sigh. “Where are we even running to? And what’s the plan? Or are we just jogging for today?”
“I want to go far today and run a bit slower,” he tells me as the clouds grow thicker. “Just to see where your endurance is. Then, when we get back to the track, we’ll do some strides.”
“My endurance is fabulous, so be prepared to be impressed.” I dazzle him with a cheeky grin.
He sinks his teeth into his bottom lip. “All right, Maddison, impress me.”
He quickens his pace, and I accelerate with him, both of us taking off down the hill. We continue to run for miles, all the way to where the road meets the city’s border.
Traffic starts to thicken, and lavish houses and towering, sparkling buildings line the street. Each step makes more adrenaline rush through my body, and I hit this zone where my mind is in tune with nothing else but pushing forward—harder. I feel great. Better than I have in a long time.
Eventually, River slows to a stop near a café located on the corner street of a series of old but nicely remodeled buildings. People are roaming around on the sidewalks, shopping or heading to work—it’s hard to tell.
He places his hands on his hips as he works to calm down his breathing. “How are you feeling?”
I put my hands on the back of my head to avoid hunching over. “Fantastic.” I’m a bit breathless, and my legs have a dull ache in them, but I still feel like I could run for miles.
“Good.” He glances at his watch. “That was about three point five miles. Do you think you can make it back? Your records online showed you can handle long distances, but I’m not sure where you’re at right now. I know with me, my endurance varies depending on where I’m at with my training.”
“I can make it back. Honestly, it’ll be good for me, because I’m going to have to run to that bus stop at the end of Royal Road every weekend.”
Thunder booms in the distance, causing my gaze to lift to the sky.
“Wait—what?” he asks, drawing my attention to him.
“I have to go to work. I work at this café located on the farthest edge of northside. Although, I’ve been looking for a new job, one that’s closer to the academy, but I haven’t had any luck.”
“What job do you do there?” he asks as he reclines against the side of the café.
It starts to rain then, but just a light drizzle.
“I’m a waitress.” I wipe a raindrop off my head. “It’s not really a bad job, but like I said, it’s far. Plus, there’s some other complications that have come up that makes it kind of necessary for me to look for other employment.”
His brows knit. “Like what?”
I shake my head as I press my hands against the side of the building and stretch one of my legs back. “That is a question related to why I was in jail, and we promised not to ask questions about that.” I can feel his eyes on me, but I don’t look at him.
Yeah, River is nice and everything, but I’m not about to give him all the shitty details about my life in northside.
“I think I can help you get a job close to the academy,” he tells me. “It might take a few days, but let me look into a few things.”
I laugh, thinking he’s joking. When I glance at him, though, I realize he’s absolutely serious.
My laughter fades into perplexity. “How would you do that? My resume literally consists of employment as a waitress on northside, so—and please don’t take this the wrong way—but I feel like any connections you have are to companies and people who wouldn’t want to hire someone like me.”
“What do you mean, someone like you?” He rotates so he’s facing me with his shoulder propped against the side of the building. “You’re attending the academy on a scholarship, yougraduated with a four-point-oh, and you broke a ton of track and cross country records at your school. That’s pretty impressive.”
