Sweet Sprint
Chapter 1
I’d been crushing on Liam for five freaking
years, and the moment I realized he was
head–over–heels for freaking Brittany Miller,
the head cheerleader, I knew I was done.
I switched seats in class, ditched our lunch
dates, skipped our study sessions, and
walked home alone.
Before my mom and I moved out of state, I
shoved the scarf I’d knitted for Liam
–
the
one I never had the guts to give him into
the desk of the girl who sat in front of him.
I think you’re a decent person, here, take it! I
scribbled on a note.
I never imagined I’d see Liam freaking
Reynolds again.
But when we did, the scarf that was
supposed to go to some random girl was
wrapped around his neck.
And the second he saw the man standing
next to me, his eyes went all bloodshot.
“Are you dumping me, Riley freaking Jones?”
1
The day of the freaking track meet, a bomb
dropped that shook the entire school.
Liam Reynolds, the ice–cold genius at the top
of our class, and Brittany Miller, the freaking
head cheerleader, were officially a thing.
And me? As the so–called “friend” of these
two freaking campus icons, I was bombarded
the second I stepped back into school.
“You guys are always together, you have to
know the freakin‘ inside scoop, right?”
I stared at their eager, gossipy faces.
Remembering the video I’d seen, a bitter taste
rose in my throat.
If Brittany hadn’t collapsed on the freaking
track during the 800–meter race, Liam
wouldn’t have been the first one to rush over
く
and scoop her up in his arms, carrying her to
the freaking nurse’s office.
The look of pure freaking panic on his face
was captured on freaking camera.
I had been so freaking blind.
Liam had a freaking thing for Brittany.
I probably should have seen it coming.
I’d seen Liam looking at Brittany through the
freaking window of the classroom. His eyes
shining.
How could I have been so freaking stupid?
Liam and Brittany, with their freaking family
connections and freaking perfect faces, were
a freaking match made in freaking heaven.
A freaking star quarterback and a freaking
head cheerleader.
Even if Liam liked someone, it should be
Brittany.
Maybe spending so many years walking
alongside them had made me forget that I
<
was fundamentally different. My mom worked
for his family, so I was in the same circles for
a while.
The truth was, I never truly belonged.
Brittany’s shoes cost more than a month of
my mom’s salary.
Liam never wore shoes that cost less than
four figures…
With that thought, I jammed Liam’s freaking
birthday gift into the bottom of my locker. I
couldn’t even look at it.
My mood turned ice cold: “I don’t know
anything about their crap.”
“How could you not know?”
Someone’s tone was a little too sharp.
Others chimed in: “Don’t freaking hide it from
us! We won’t tell the freaking principal!”
“Yeah, the look on his face when Brittany fell!
No way he doesn’t like her!”
Each question was like a punch in the gut, as
く
they crowded around my desk.
For the first time in two years, I was the
center of attention.
But I hated it.
My control slipped: “I said I don’t know! Are
you freaking deaf?”
It was the first time I’d lost it. Everyone was
freaking stunned.
Someone stepped back, creating a gap.
And that’s when I saw Liam and Brittany
standing beyond the crowd.
They must have just come back from the
freaking nurse’s office.
They stood together, shoulder–to–shoulder, a
beautiful freaking couple.
Every eye in the classroom and hallway was
on them.
Liam’s cold eyes locked on mine: “Come with
me for a freaking second.”
Ignoring the curious, gossipy looks, he
dragged me outside.
He wasn’t worried about what people might
think.
Because, honestly, there was nothing to worry
about.
No one would ever think he and I were a
freaking thing.
