The Last Gift by Chrissy Munder

Author:Chrissy Munder [Munder, Chrissy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: gay romance
ISBN: 978-1-64080-306-0
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Published: 2017-12-21T05:00:00+00:00

V

ANY FURTHER argument was cut off by the blare of a bullhorn. The actual words were barely decipherable, but the surge of the crowd to the orange starting line spray-painted across the snowy roadway was easy enough to understand. The race moderators used a standard format: walkers to the back, runners to the front with staggered start times depending on their ability.

Nick shook hands with Matt again. He wished him a good run and joined Aaron at the appropriate marker.

“I’m sorry to have chased away your friend.”

Aaron brushed off Nick’s apology with a surprisingly competitive grin. “Matt’s a big boy, and he’s right. I run him into the ground most days.” He tugged his ear-band more snuggly over his ears and kicked his feet against the pavement with a jingle. “I like your antlers.”

The last of Nick’s tension drained away. “Yeah? You ain’t seen nothing yet.” He pressed the button on the side of the headband and the lights flickered on. “If you can keep up, I’ll buy you a pair of your own.”

“What if I beat you?” Aaron’s grin grew even wider.

“Like that’ll happen.” Nick scoffed. He checked the safety pins fixing his number to the front of his hoodie.

“You’re on.”

The horn went off, and they ran in place for a few seconds, letting the runners ahead of them take off and leave a pocket for them to stride into. Dusk had turned to night, and the luminaries glowed along either side of the street, outlining each twist and turn of the course.

Nick inhaled, warming the air before it hit his lungs. He glanced over at Aaron, pleased to see he was matching Nick’s easy starting pace. No reason to crank up their speed until the crowds had thinned. A couple of obviously newer runners pushed past them, darting through the clumps of people ahead.

“They’ll be sorry,” Aaron pointed out.

Nick nodded. “I made the same mistake my first race.” He grimaced. “You can call me the king of regrets.”

“Me too,” Aaron said. “I ended up with the hamstring pull from hell and didn’t finish.”

“Oh man. That’s rough.” Nick had experienced a severe calf injury only once. He included his rehab stretches in his prerun warm-up and kept his fingers crossed he wouldn’t have another.

“Took me three weeks to recover.” Aaron had settled into his stride, and Nick stayed to his left, their footfalls crunching through the snow in matching rhythm, the bells on their shoes jangling. “It was the only time Matt and I trained together and he didn’t complain.”

Nick hiccupped a laugh, picturing an injured Aaron hobbling along next to a smug Matt. “Have you known him long?”

Aaron nodded. “Met him in law school but didn’t exactly get along. We competed for a couple of internships. Then we ended up in the same firm.” He glanced at Nick. “He thinks you’re smart.”

“How do you figure?” Nick snorted. They had only had a few minutes’ conversation.

“He talked to you.” Aaron wiped his forehead, the huff of his exhalation visible in the cold air.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.