Fallen Crest Forever (Fallen Crest High #7)

“Are you sure?”


She rolled a shoulder again, glancing away for a moment. “Yeah. I mean, I’ve been adding to my mileage since I started dating Logan. I think I can hold my own, or try it.” Her eyes widened. “Unless you don’t want me to. Did you want this to be your own thing? I can go. I mean it. I just thought it’d be nice to have something in common with you that Logan and Mason weren’t a part of. You know what I mean?”

I relaxed. She was doing this for me.

I squeezed her hand. “Thank you, and I’d love it if you ran with me.”

“Oh. Phew.” She laughed, pretending to wipe her brow. “I just thought, if it were me, I’d be nervous to join a team my junior year. I’d want a friend with me.” She leaned closer, lowering her voice. “I’m shitting my pants about trying to catch up, but I really would like to try.”

“No. Thank you. I appreciate it.” I smiled at her. “Carillo said we need to find Coach Langdon’s office.”

More cars were arriving, and soon a few more girls headed our way. As Taylor and I started for the coaching staff building again, some of those girls dropped down on the grassy area just outside the doors. They began stretching, talking, and laughing with each other.

One looked our way, and then her eyes widened. She gasped, hitting her friend on the arm. I saw her say something, and she pointed in our direction.

That’s when I recognized her. It was the drunk, naked chick from the party.

I groaned. “I don’t know if this is good or not.”

Taylor had reached for the door handle. She glanced back. “What?”

I nodded at Nettie, and the other girl looked over too. I recognized Grace. A third girl stretched on the other side of them. I was betting that was Courtney.

“Our best friends from the party this weekend. Look.”

Taylor stiffened. “Oh no. They’re coming over.”

They moved toward us in a group, but Courtney didn’t seem as enthused as the other two.

“Hey!” Grace waved and stopped just short of barreling into us. “Logan Kade’s girlfriend.”

More girls had arrived to stretch, and most looked over after Grace’s exclamation. Even the ones still stretching seemed to be listening.

Taylor shared a look with me. If we’d hoped to remain anonymous, be known only as Taylor and Sam, that was over. It was only a matter of time before my secret was blown too.

“What are you doing here?” Nettie gushed.

She and Grace directed all their attention to Taylor. The only one looking at me was Courtney, and she wore a slight frown. Her eyes narrowed as she tilted her head to the right.

“Bartender girl, right?”

I coughed.

“Strattan!”

A fit-looking guy, strong jaw, older forties, came out the door behind us. The clipboard, whistle, athletic warm-up clothes, and the fact he had the same aura as Coach Carillo indicated immediately who he was.

I turned to him. “Coach Langdon?”

He nodded, looking me over. “Martin says you’re worth my time.” He gave Taylor the same cold appraisal. “He never said anything about an entourage.”

“This is—”

Taylor held out her hand. “Taylor Bruce. I’m not in the same league as Sam, but I was wondering if I could try out too. I can do ten miles on a good day.”

He didn’t move to shake her hand. “Bruce?”

She withdrew her hand. “My dad is Coach Broozer.”

“Whoa!” someone exclaimed.

We heard Nettie whisper behind us. And like a chain reaction, more whispering and conversation followed.

Taylor glanced over her shoulder, a worried look on her face. She was still adjusting, but this had become my norm over the years. People realized who we were connected to. They were excited. They’d give us lots of attention. They’d want to become our best friends. But that was only half of it. The other part was jealousy. Maybe they didn’t like who we slept with, or who we were connected to. Logan. Mason. Coach Broozer. It didn’t matter. If our star shone brighter than theirs, whoever they were, they weren’t happy.

Also, there was usually a small group who was indifferent. They didn’t know Mason, Logan, or now Coach Broozer, in Taylor’s situation. And they didn’t care to know. Those were the girls I usually sought out as class partners, or in this case, just a friend on the team.

I snuck a look over my shoulder too.

Some were scowling at us. Half had lit-up eyes and bright smiles, but there were two girls just doing their own thing.

My eyes skimmed over Courtney. Suspicion lurked in her gaze, mingling with something else I didn’t normally encounter.

“Broozer’s your dad?” Coach Langdon was saying.

He pulled me back to their conversation.

Taylor nodded, folding her hands in front of herself. “Yes, sir.”

He paused, mulling it over. Then he nodded. “Okay. Fine. But if you can’t keep up, you can’t have a spot.” He looked at me. His eyes hardened, like he was assessing me. “Martin told me your times. You do anything like what he says you can, you’re on the team too.”

I nodded. “Yes, sir.”

I hadn’t expected anything less, and I’d turned to go stretch when he called my name again.

I looked back. “Yes?”

“We run with the football team sometimes. Is that going to be a problem?”

My eyes rounded. I shook my head. “No, sir. Why would it?”

“I know about your relationship with Kade.” He gestured to the girls stretching. “Is that going to be a problem?”

Shit. I swallowed a lump in my throat. “No, sir. I’ll handle it.”

“Okay. Finish stretching, and get ready. You guys take off in five minutes.”

He went over to talk to one of the girls who seemed oblivious on the far side of the grassy area. Both took out their earbuds now to listen to him.

Courtney looked over to them. “That’s Faith Shaw and Raelynn Quang. They’re the stars of the team. Both princesses and spoiled by their rich daddies—and our coach too.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

Nettie and Grace were still fawning over Taylor, so they weren’t paying attention, but Courtney lowered her voice anyway. “Because you’re Samantha Strattan, aren’t you?”

“My name means something to you?”

She laughed, rolling her eyes. “I should’ve put two and two together. I was stupid to assume you were staff. You weren’t dressed like someone hired to man the bar. You were just helping out, weren’t you?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “I’d started to wonder just now, but then Coach called you Strattan. In running circles, you’re known. You’re a big deal on the track team. I always wondered why you didn’t join cross-country, but it was because of your boyfriend. Mason Kade, right?”