“I need a shower,” he responds, smelling his armpits. Bay holds up another duffel bag with clothes for Seb. “Thanks. I’ll hang here for a bit if Summer and Z are good with that?” He asks.
“That’s okay with me,” Zander says as I nod.
“Let’s get you showered then,” E says as he helps Seb stand, and they head for the bathroom.
“I’ll start breakfast,” I offer, heading to the kitchen. Bay and Zander help me make eggs, bacon, and biscuits. The food is ready by the time Seb joins us after showering, so we sit at the table and eat. No one is really talkative this morning. We’re all lost in our own heads.
“So, what are you guys going to do today?” Zander asks.
“I wanna do something today. Keep occupied,” Seb says.
“That sounds good,” I agree. “I need to run sometime today. Oh crap,” I exclaim, “Alex, we were supposed to do the labs this morning. I completely forgot.”
“I contacted the teacher. We can reschedule at a later date,” he promises.
“We can work in the garden, Summer?” Bay offers.
“Yes,” Seb points at Bay. “That’s good. Then we can go for a run afterwards and just hang out tonight. A swim or a movie, maybe?”
All the guys nod at those ideas, so we clean up breakfast and head out to the backyard. It takes a few hours to get the beds looking nice, and I make Seb sit through most of it. He quickly takes advantage, pretending to be a dictator sitting on his throne. It lightens the mood and keeps us laughing.
When we head back inside, Zander is just getting back from grocery shopping. We help him put everything away, then drive over to the park to go for a run, and all the guys join me.
They’re all excellent runners. I set the pace, needing a long run today to shake off last night. E and Seb soon fall back, telling us to keep going. The remaining guys keep up for about an hour, then it’s just me and Nick until I stop. Nick and I are both out of breath by the time I finish the run. “Thanks for keeping me company,” I tellhim.
Nick nods as tears start falling down my cheeks. “Fuck”, Nick swears. He wraps his arms under my butt and lifts me up to give me a sweaty hug.
“I’m okay. Just releasing my emotions from last night,” I explain. He pulls back to look at me. With his brows drawn down, he examines my face. “Really. That’s all this is. I promise.”
He nods and sets me down. Once I’m calm, I look back up at him. “You must run a lot to do a two-hour run,” I state.
I get another nod in reply. “Let’s head back,” he says. We’re not that far from the starting point, luckily, because the trail loops around the park. The rest of the guys are sitting on the grass, waiting for us when we get back.
“Damn, you’re fast, Summer,” Bay exclaims. “You should be a distance runner.”
I smile at him. “I get bored running long distances. That’s why I stick to the longer track races.” I check in with Seb, but he says he’s fine, just more tired than usual, so we drive back to my house. The guys decide to split up to go home and get showers. We’re going to meet up for dinner and a movie later.
When I get into the house, I see Zander sitting on the back deck. I open the patio door to tell him I’m getting a shower, but he looks off. “Everything okay?”
“Last night scared me, Summer. When you came in here with Seb barely conscious and you had been crying,” he shakes his head.
“It was scary,” I reply, squeezing his hand. “But I’m okay. The guys got to me, and I was able to get away from Ben. I’m going to call Sarah after my shower and soak. Do you want to make the call with me?”
“Yes. Thanks. Give a shout when you’re ready?”
“Will do,” I smile. I grab a quick shower to get rid of the sweat, then take a scalding hot soak in the tub. I apply my cream andstretch, then take my laptop to the couch. Zander is already there watching tv.
I set up on the coffee table as Zander turns off the volume. We sit beside each other as I dial Sarah. “Hello Summer,” she smiles. “Oh, nice to see you, Zander,” she nods. “Did something happen?”
“Yeah, it did last night,” I nod.
“I think I’m more unsettled than Summer at this point,” Zander tells her.
“Okay. Can you tell me what happened?” She already knows about Cara and Ben from our weekly sessions, so I go through everything that happened last night. “I’m sorry that happened to you and your friend Summer. How are you feeling about it?”
“I wasn’t numb last night, but I couldn’t really work through it either. I had two nightmares. My friend E woke me from both, and he suggested I try sleeping beside Seb. It worked, and I got some sleep.”
“I didn’t hear you, darling. I’m sorry.” Zander looks guilty with his shoulders slumped inward.
