I slept twelve hours. When I woke, my mouth had a dry, gummy feel like I’d been chewing rubber bands all night. A steady, thudding echo ran through me, and it took me a moment to realize that the sound wasn’t coming from inside me. Someone was knocking at my door.
Grabbing a pair of shorts, I managed to get both legs into place and make myself semi-decent before I opened the door. Kaden stood there, wearing a long-sleeve running tee and shorts. Very short shorts that showed a lot of well-muscled leg covered with thin, straight dark hairs. In spite of myself, I crossed my arms over my chest.
“Let’s go,” Kaden said.
“What time is it?”
“Almost nine. You’re not going to school today. I’m not going to school today. And we both missed practice. So let’s go.”
“Where?”
With that thousand-watt grin that made him look like the old Kaden, he slapped my belly. “Nice abs.”
“What do you want? Quickly, before I throw you down the stairs.”
“We’re going running, dude. You’re on track. You run. And now that we’re on the same team—”
I groaned. “I thought you were kidding.”
“—you never run alone,” Kaden finished as though I hadn’t spoken.
“How’d you get inside?”
“Uh.” Austin poked his head around the bottom of the stairs. “Hi.”
I stifled another groan and rubbed my hair, and then I yelped when Kaden slapped my stomach again.
“He’s got rockin’ abs, Austin,” Kaden shouted down the stairs. “You’re a lucky man.”
I didn’t give Kaden a second warning. I put my best effort into hurling him down the steps, but mostly he just laughed and told me to hurry.
When I got downstairs, changed into the running tights and the long tee that Sara had bought me, I paused. Austin was dressed in matching gear, his knees spread as he sat on the sofa. On the table in front of him was a wrapped box. Behind him, Kaden leaned on his elbows and watched.
“What is this?”
“It looks like a present,” Austin said.
“You’re the one who had a birthday. I’m supposed to be getting you something.”
“It’s not from me.”
Kaden shifted his weight forward. “I owe you, man. Big time. And I know I screwed up. It’s just my way of saying sorry.”
“Open it,” Austin said.
So I dropped onto the sofa next to Austin and slid my hand under the wrapping seam. Tape popped loose, and the paper fell away.
“No way,” I said, flipping the lid and pulling out the shoes. Gleaming white Adidas Supernovas. They had that perfect new shoe smell, rubber and synthetic fabric, and they flexed just right in my hands. With an almost physical pang, I dropped the shoe back into the box and said again, “No way.”
“What?” Austin said.
“Are they the wrong size?” Kaden asked, squeezing between us to tilt the box towards him. “I double checked what you wear, man. Try them on.”
“You double checked what I wear?”
“Yeah. I asked Austin and then I asked Miss Miller. Double checked. Bust those babies out of the box and slip them on.”
“Kaden, I’m not taking shoes from you because we both managed to survive being kidnapped and imprisoned. These have to be like, what, a hundred and forty, a hundred and fifty? Like I said: no way.”
“Dude,” Kaden said, visibly perplexed and glancing from Austin to me and back to Austin. “I want you to have them.”
I can’t—” I began.
“Kaden, can we have minute?”
Throwing his hands up in the air, Kaden slunk towards the door. “It’s cold out here, Austin. Don’t leave me to freeze my junk off.”
As soon as he’d left, Austin opened the shoebox. He pulled out the Adidas, set them on the table, and grabbed my ankle. With a quick twist of his wrist, he plucked my ratty old sneaker off my foot and tossed it towards the stairs.
“Uh—”
“This is important to him.” Austin slipped the Adidas on and began lacing it up. It was hard to tell without standing, but I was pretty sure the shoe was going to fit like a glove.
“It’s a lot of money, and I didn’t do anything to deserve it.”
Grunting, Austin jerked the laces tight and switched feet. “Ok. Say that’s true. Say you didn’t rescue him from a brothel-drug den-secret occult hideout. He still feels like he did something shitty, and this is his way of trying to apologize.” With another grunt, Austin tightened the laces on the second shoe. “So, you’re going to do the right thing: you’re going to take the shoes not because you want them but because you know it will help him feel better. You’re going to do it because you want to be nice.”
I got to my feet and took a few steps. The shoes fit well. Really well. Compared to my old sneakers, these were like a pair of clouds. I might be able to afford a pair on my own, now that I was living with Sara, but not for a while. And if it really would help Kaden feel better—oh, Christ. I was actually considering it.
“Shouldn’t he get you something?” I said, searching for some final escape. “You were there too. Hell, you carried him out of that place.”
Wrapping a handful of my shirt in his fist, Austin kissed me as he tugged me towards the door. “Come on. I’ve been waiting to go running with you for a long time.”
It wasn’t an answer to my question, but I had other things on my mind by then. I slid a hand under Austin’s shirt and kissed him back. With what I hoped was a tantalizing smile, I said, “I’ve been waiting for the shower after.”
Judging by how fast Austin sprinted after me, I guess that smile was pretty tantalizing.
We took it easy, the three of us. It felt good to run. I wished Becca were with us. I wished, if I’m honest, that Emmett were too. But this was good: just the Wyoming wind kicking dust behind us, and the frigid October morning, and the sky white rimmed with blue like an old porcelain plate.
At the end of the race, Austin trotted up the stairs to Sara’s house. The message was clear: he was still thinking about that shower. I held back for a moment.
“Thanks for the shoes.”
“Yeah. Doesn’t really come close to paying you back.”
“No. It doesn’t.”
A mixture of shock and hurt crossed Kaden’s face.
“You want to help me? You want to cancel that out? Come tonight, about nine. Climb up the back and knock on my window. Bring your laptop. And if you breathe a word about this to Austin, you’re dead.”
Confusion showed in Kaden’s expression, but he gave a single, resolute nod.
I sprinted up the stairs. I wanted that shower too.