Hannah quickly wiped her tears, standing up to greet her smiling friends, her legs and pretty much everything else already completely stiff. She hugged Summer first, who congratulated her.

“Thank you so much for doing this, again,” Hannah said, holding her tight, more tears in her eyes. “You’re the coolest friend I could ask for.”

“I’m so happy for you,” Summer said, her eyes shining. “You’re such an inspiration to me.”

“Well, I owe you, Summer. I owe you big time. And I take that seriously.”

Summer gave her a dismissive wave. She glanced behind her and saw Diana and Asher waiting, so she moved aside. Hannah took one look at the happy couple with their proud faces and adorable baby, and a fresh wave of tears streamed down her face. She hugged them, apologizing for her stench and her tears, telling them she loved them.

“I’m such a fucking mess,” she laughed. “I’m too tired to shut off my emotions, apparently.”

“Don’t apologize, sweetie,” Diana said.

“Yeah,” Asher added. “You should be emotional. You rocked it out there and never gave up, even when it got grim for a while. Cry all you want, because there will never be another moment like this.”

Hannah nodded as Asher’s words sank in. She glanced at Cain, who stood aside, his face unreadable, but his eyes showing a glint of pride.

“Did you see your time?” Asher asked her.

She shook her head. “Believe it or not, I stopped caring. As long as I finished under thirty.”

“Just over twenty-eight hours,” Cain said. “Well ahead of the goal.”

“Oh my God,” she said, a new wave of happiness washing over her. Twenty-eight hours! Suddenly, she felt her stomach rumble. “I’m starving. Anyone want breakfast? My treat.”

“Oh, now you want to eat,” Cain said. “Last night, I had to practically force-feed you and you got an attitude with me.”

Hannah pressed her lips together, knowing she was guilty. “I’m sorry.”

Cain laughed and put his arm around her, and the others laughed too.

Over brunch, everyone talked about the race, about Hannah’s ups and downs, about what it was like for them, waiting for hours in the rain and estimating when she would show, and how exciting it was when they saw her coming. Soon, Hannah began to feel self-conscious about everything still being all about her, so she steered them to other topics.

Like Asher’s races when he rode professionally. Summer’s rock climbing adventures. And Diana and Asher’s trip abroad with the baby. Hannah listened to it all, basking in her triumph and getting to share it with the man next to her, who’d made it ten times better than it ever would’ve been.

Cain listened too, taking interest in her friends’ stories but saying little himself. She knew he wasn’t a person who liked crowds, who preferred solitude or the company of one trusted person. She didn’t know how much of that was Cain’s nature, and how much was due to his difficult experiences in the military. Whatever it was, she was just grateful he was here, that he was willing to be part of all this.

She was grateful for all of them—that they could share her race and that they were in her life. Teagan couldn’t be there, but she was there in spirit, monitoring Hannah’s splits on her phone while at her Special Guest table at Denver Comic Con. Then, as if Teagan could read her mind, she called, her pink hair lighting up Hannah’s phone for a video chat.

Hannah smiled into the phone. “Hey.”

“It’s been thirty hours but they haven’t reported your finish…” Teagan said cautiously, not knowing whether to cheer or show compassion.

“I made it.”

“Yay!” came the shout through the phone, and everyone smiled.

“Is that Teagan?” Diana cried.

“Is D with you?” Teagan cried.

“Everyone say hi to Teagan,” Hannah said, rotating the phone so the others could wave and say hello. After Summer greeted Teagan and Diana and Asher had Jesse wave to her, Hannah rotated the phone back to herself. “And this guy right here is my hero.” She aimed her phone at Cain, who said hello to Teagan before she took the phone back. “I’ll call you later, or tomorrow. Whenever I wake up.”

“Sounds good. Congrats, Hannah.”

After they hung up, Hannah managed to get down half of her breakfast but no more. As they left, she hugged her friends goodbye and thanked them one last time. Summer went to crash in her hotel room and Diana and her family went to go play for the day. Suddenly, a fatigue the size of Colorado hit her. It was time to crash.

As Cain drove them back to the hotel, the repercussions of the last thirty hours began to catch up with her. She was stiff all over. Her legs were dust. Her feet hurt from a blister or two. Her knees ached. She stank like all get-out and felt like her entire body was covered in dirt, salt, and crust. And she was tired, so tired that she was tempted to skip the shower and just lie down and sleep.

She reached out and put her hand on Cain’s. “Thank you, Grizzly. For all you did for me.”

He nodded. “You’re welcome.”

Hannah jumped when she felt a hand on her. She looked over to find Cain looking at her from the driver’s seat. She looked around, confused.

They were at the hotel. She’d fallen asleep.

She grabbed her bag of gear and her finisher’s medal, and stepped out of Cain’s truck. She grimaced as she did, her body so stiff that moving felt like punishment.

Cain led them to their room, and Hannah dumped off her things and sat down on the bed. A bout of nausea hit her briefly and she lay down on the bed, her shoes still on.

“You’ll feel better if you take a shower and get the slime off you,” Cain said. “You’ll sleep better too.”

Hannah sighed, knowing Cain was right but not wanting to move from the comfort of the bed. She finally sat up and began peeling it all off: her dirty shoes, her damp and disgusting socks with spots of blood on them, her crusty shorts, top, and sports bra. She tossed it all into the corner and put her long hair into a bun before she turned on the shower, letting it get nice and hot.

The water burned the blisters on her feet and the abrasions on her leg and elbow. But other than that, that shower felt like heaven, the hot water melting the grime off her and soothing her aching muscles, and the steam comforting the body that had endured a hundred miles of pounding and twenty-eight hours of sun, rain, wind, and cold at high altitude.

Now, her lack of respect for her body in last year’s race was clearer than ever, and for the first time, she felt glad she hadn’t finished. If she had, she wouldn’t have learned what she did, wouldn’t have had the same experience.

Then she remembered her shower on the morning of the race, just over a day ago. How long ago it seemed. She recalled thinking that she would stand in this same shower again, regardless of how the race went, reflecting on her result one way or the other. Not only was she a triumphant finisher of the High Peaks 100, she’d had an epic experience that she could never have imagined last year. And all because of the big, quiet mountain man who probably lay on the bed right now, waiting for his shower or even resting from his own fatigue, the fatigue of someone who’d run forty miles and spent the last couple of days completely devoted to her. Without Cain, that race would never have been what it was.

Without Cain, she wouldn’t be who she was. Still Hannah, but a better version of her, one who understood what ultrarunning was all about. And who, for the first time, understood what love was.

She loved Cain. She had for a long time, possibly even before he’d redeployed, but she’d never had the guts to admit it. She couldn’t admit it to herself, much less to him. The old her felt too vulnerable admitting that to anyone… but the new her understood that love was a good thing, when you found the right person. Today, she’d told the truth. She’d spoken from her heart, without worrying about the consequences.

She’d never done that before. Not with anyone, not ever.

And it was about time.

Yet, as she stood under that hot stream of water, she couldn’t help but acknowledge that Cain hadn’t responded to what she’d said. Of course, her friends had shown up before he could say anything, and maybe Cain preferred a more appropriate time to return the gesture.

Assuming he felt the same way.

Did he? She had no way of knowing. Cain never talked about love or his past relationships, and he kept his true feelings about many things to himself. Some people wore their heart on their sleeve, but Cain wasn’t one of them.

Neither was she. Until High Peaks, she’d never considered her own feelings about the L word or whether it needed to be said. It had never come up in her previous relationships… not for her, anyway. She’d never let herself love anyone… or, more accurately, never got involved with anyone she could ever love.

Maybe it didn’t matter if Cain responded. He was in her life by choice, even after she’d cut him loose once. He’d been everything she could ask for. Yet, a tiny part of her knew that it did matter.

But she wouldn’t worry. She wouldn’t push. Cain did things in his own time. If he loved her, he would tell her when the time was right for him. She knew he cared about her, and someday he would say the words.

When she got out of the shower, Cain was fast asleep on the bed. She crawled in next to him and fell asleep.