PERCY
I pullon my crop top and a pair of knee-length shorts. According to the weather app, it’ll probably feel a little chilly when I step outside in these, but I’m positive that by mile three or so I’ll be glad I’m not wearing more clothes. I run through a quick mental checklist as I pull my shoes on and stoop to tie the laces.
Blister guards on? Check.
Anti-chafing stick applied to my balls and nipples? Check.
Sanity? Clearly left the building, but that happened months ago, so we’re rolling with it.
“Percy,” Juno shouts, even though they could just as easily walk the few steps to my room and open the door. “Your boyfriend is here.”
“Then let him in, numbnuts,” I shout back.
I can hear their bark of laughter in return, and the heavy sound of Butch’s footsteps a few seconds later. I meet him at mydoor, pulling it open before he’s made it all the way there. Just over seven months since we met, and the way his smile lights up the second he sees me hasn’t changed. Neither has my reaction to it. My stomach flutters, and an answering smile jumps to my lips immediately.
“Hey.” I tilt my chin up expectantly.
Of course, he doesn’t disappoint, leaning down to press a firm, sweet kiss to my lips.
“You ready for this, Rocky?” He looks me up and down, his eyes lingering for a second on my tight six-pack on display. I know he would love me even if I was still the string bean who could barely take a flight of stairs without breathing heavily, but it feels damn good to have him admire this version of my body too. I worked hard for it, and more than anything before, it feels like me.
I swallow nervously at his question though.
“Fuck, I hope so.”
He drags his eyes back up to mine. “It was a rhetorical question, baby. Youareready for this. You’ve trained your ass off, you’ve run sixteen miles twice in the last month, and you’ll have your coach right next to you every step of the way, reminding you to breathe and cheering you on if you need it.”
I let out a breath and nod. He’s right, I’m as prepared as I possibly can be. I think my nerves are coming from an old place, from the person I used to be and not who I am now. If you’d asked me a year ago if I could ever run a half-marathon, I would have pissed myself laughing. But I’ve done a lot of things in the past seven months that seemed impossible before. I’ve gone rock climbing, I’ve deadlifted almost twice my body weight, and I’ve fallen in love with an amazing man who loves me back. When I think about all of that, running a half-marathon sounds like a piece of cake.
“Let’s go. We have to get there in time to register and get our numbers.”
Butch offers me his hand. “Let’s go.”
“Jun—oh.” I sputter a laugh as we step into the living room and I spot Juno. “What the hell are you wearing?”
They have a pompom in one hand and a foam finger on the other, and their face is painted blue on one side and purple on the other—my two favorite colors. And they’ve paired that with a baseball jersey that they turn around to show off with the number one and my name above it. By the time I reach the cheerleading skirt, I’m not even surprised. It somehow makes perfect sense that it’s the only proper way to finish an outfit this wildly insane.
“My fan gear, obviously.” They roll their eyes like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “I can’t very well cheer you on from the sidelines without the proper attire.”
My throat tightens and I drop Butch’s hand to pull my crazy-ass best friend into a bone crushing hug.
“I love you, you big freak.”
Juno kisses the top of my head, and I can feel the wet smear of paint they leave behind.
“Love you too, Perce. Now let’s fucking go. I want to find a good spot near one of the water stations.”
The starting and finishing line is conveniently only a couple of blocks away, so we walk it. Butch holds my hand and a light spring breeze ruffles my shirt and my hair, sunshine warming my bare skin as we make our way down the block at an unhurried pace.
“Oh, hey, I forgot to ask you, how’s your thesis presentation coming?” Butch asks as we walk.
My stomach swoops and I chuckle. “Good. My adviser approved it, and he seems enthusiastic about it. I have a lot of work ahead of me still, but it’ll come together. Let’s focus on oneterrifying accomplishment at a time. If I survive running a half-marathon, then I can start having anxiety sweats over my thesis, and my future, and whether or not Juno and I want to renew our lease when the landlord is telling us rent is going up by three hundred dollars.”
I groan at the sheer weight of all the things I need to worry about.
Butch squeezes my hand reassuringly.
“Sorry, didn’t know that would be such a can of worms. Head in the game for today, and we can tackle the rest of it tomorrow.”
