1. Racing From Love Ch. 07-09

He knew it was a personal best when he hit the wall. He looked around, he was so far ahead of the rest of the field it was a joke. He looked at the board, holy shit, he'd taken over a second off his personal best, it was a NCAA national record. He couldn't believe it, the crowd was going crazy. He scanned it looking for her. She was jumping up and down waving with both hands, the same way she used to greet their grandparents when they were little kids. He laughed and waved back to her, his giant chest still sucking in and out the air rapidly. It was an excellent moment.

He had to stick around for the rest of the day for the relays, but that night they went out to dinner. He wished his parents would go away, he wanted to talk to Emma alone. He wanted to tell her that none of this would have been possible without her, to tell her that he wanted to be with her, to make plans with her. But his parents were there the whole time, he had to settle for sitting across the table from her. She was excited and animated, her big eyes sparkling with enthusiasm. She kept on smiling at him, it was excruciating.

When they said their goodbyes he hugged her close, he wanted to touch her face, to kiss her on her big soft lips, but his damn parents wouldn't go away. It felt so good to hold her close to him again, she smelled like Emma, a smell that reminded him of his childhood, happy memories. He kissed her on the forehead. Did she just sigh? He leant down to her ear 'I love you Em.' He let go of her and smiled. She had a confused look on her face, their family wasn't really the 'I love you' type. He couldn't explain now, 'I'll see you in six weeks.' He turned and walked into the team's hotel, waving back to them all as he stepped into the lobby.