Wing Jones(84)
“You came!” I say, but my words tumble out all breathless.
Marcus grins at me, and it still isn’t his full megawatt smile, the smile that could get anyone and everyone to follow him anywhere, but it’s a smile and I’ll take it.
“Of course I came, Wing! I said I would, didn’t I? You were…” He pauses. “You were something else out there. Like nothing I’ve ever seen. I couldn’t miss this.”
A pause, and I know we’re both thinking of all the things he missed while he was in the hospital. All the things he might have missed if he’d never woken up at all and how lucky we both are that he didn’t miss today.
I crouch down in front of him so we’re at eye level, wincing because my legs are still shaking and my left thigh has started to spasm, and I hold his hands.
“I did it for you,” I manage to say, and he closes his eyes and for a minute I think he’s gonna cry, and then he says, “I hope you did it for you too.”
I hug him as tight as I can and straighten up, aware that a crowd is gathering around us. The Riveo corporate team want me to start acting like the Riveo Running Girl right away.
Someone taps me on the shoulder. I turn, expecting it to be a journalist or Coach Kerry or a Riveo rep, and instead…
I’m staring at the most beautiful face in the world.
“You did it,” says Aaron. “I knew you would.”
“I didn’t,” I say, because I didn’t know.
“Can I run with you now?” he says, and I know what he’s asking. He’s asking if, now that I’ve won, I can go back to running the way I used to, the way I love to. The way I want to.
There’s only one way to answer him. I lean forward, putting my weight on him because my body is still trembling, and press my lips to his.
And it’s like kissing and running belong in the same alternate dimension where time slows down and speeds up all at the same time, because our kiss lasts an instant and for ever.
But everyone else is still in this world, and I can hear the clicks of the cameras and I can hear my brother going, “Christ, calm down, you two, everyone is watching,” and I reluctantly pull back but keep my arms around Aaron.
“Sorry I’m so sweaty,” I say.
“I like you like this,” he says, and I hear a journalist wolf-whistle and write it down on his notepad.
“I like you all the time,” I say, not caring who hears.
“You know what we need?” Marcus has wheeled up right next to us. “We need to go out and celebrate.”
As we leave the stadium, after I take about a million pictures and answer about a million questions, I look up at the sky, hoping for one last glimpse of my dragon. I keep waiting to feel the familiar weight of my lioness’s tail against my legs.
Nothing.
They’re really gone now. And I don’t think they’re coming back.
“Come on, Wing!”
“Yeah! Hurry up, slowpoke!”
“We thought you were supposed to be fast!”
I take one last look at the track over my shoulder, just in case.
“Goodbye,” I whisper.
And then I turn and head toward my family.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Becoming a published author has been such an amazing adventure, and I’m so lucky to have had so many wonderful people behind Wing Jones.
To my superstar agent, the incomparable and incredible Claire Wilson at Rogers, Coleridge and White, thank you for being my fairy godmother and making all my author dreams come true. Thank you for believing in Wing, and believing in me. There is no one else I would want in my corner.
Thank you to the rest of the team at RCW, especially Rosie Price, Lexie Hamblin, and Rebecca Jones. And to Emily Hayward Whitlock at the Artists Partnership.
I am tremendously lucky and so grateful to have not just one but two phenomenal editors who worked on Wing Jones and made it the very best book it could be. Thank you to Annalie Grainger at Walker Books in the UK and Kate Sullivan at Delacorte Press in the US. Thank you both for your brilliant, insightful, and thoughtful edits and for making the editorial process so wonderful. I’ve had so much fun working with you. I really do have the dream team!
Thank you to everyone at Walker Books, especially Rosi Crawley for her enthusiasm, Mara Bergman for her kindness and Gill Evans for her support and good cheer. And to the team at Delacorte, with special thanks to Beverly Horowitz.
A big thank-you to my cover designers on both sides of the pond, Maria Soler Cantón at Walker Books and Ray Shappell at Delacorte, for creating such stunning covers.
One of the best things about being a writer and a book lover is the amazing community. To the entire UKYA community, thank you for being so welcoming and so much fun. And a huge shout-out and thank-you to Claire’s Coven for being so awesome. Special thanks and big hugs to Melinda Salisbury, Sara Barnard, Alexia Casale, Lauren James, and Katherine Rundell for making me feel so welcome and cheering for me and Wing from the very start. You ladies are fabulously talented, and I’m so glad I know you.
To all the fantastic people in the YA book community who have supported me in one way or another. Thank you to Maggie Hall for giving me invaluable publishing advice, to Nina Douglas for setting up my first-ever event (with the gracious and glamorous Leigh Bardugo, no less), to Louise Lamont for excellent early feedback, to Anna McKerrow for lunchtime writing sessions, to Jim Dean for shouting about Wing Jones from the rooftops, to Amy Harker for encouraging me in all my bookish endeavors, and to Anna James, for being just as excited about my book deal as I was.