Free Winning Love by Abby Niles Page A

going senile, too.
    Mac snatched up the jump rope. “Man, I think I need a nap.”
    “Zumba wear you out? Did Gayle make you wiggle those hips just a little too much yesterday?”
    At the mention of her name, he stiffened. “I don’t want to talk about Gayle,” shot out of his mouth before he could stop it.
    His friend’s eyes narrowed. “What happened?”
    Well, goddamn. He’d just handed that to Lance on a silver platter, hadn’t he? The last thing Mac needed to do was flip the fuck out like he had the other day. He pinned his friend with a warning glare. “ Nothing happened.”
    “Bullshit.” He fisted his hands on his hips. “What did she do?”
    “She didn’t do anything,” Mac bit out between clenched teeth. Anger roiled in his gut at his friend’s persistence. Why the hell wouldn’t he just drop it?
    “Holy shit,” Lance muttered, realization dawning on his face as his arms fell slack to his sides. “She’s done it. She’s gotten under your skin.”
    “What the fuck, Lance? I’ve known the woman for a few days.”
    He didn’t want to think about how very deeply Gayle had gotten under his skin in that short span of time.
    His friend stared at him, then made a sucking noise with his teeth and gave a sharp nod. “Ally would be happy for you.”
    Fucking hell! He didn’t want to talk about Ally either.
    “Jesus H. Christ, I don’t even know her,” Mac roared, fury erupting and completely taking control of him.
    Bellowing between fused teeth, he tossed over the bench, sending it crashing to the ground.
    “Yeah, and that’s why you’re going ape-shit.” Lance braced his fists on his hips again. “Be honest with yourself, for fuck’s sake. You like her.”
    Mac pointed a trembling finger at Lance. “I’m getting ready to knock the shit out of you.” He stormed toward the door. “Leave me the fuck alone, Lance.”
    “It’s okay to move on, Mac.” Lance’s words reached him just as his hand closed around the knob. “Ally wouldn’t want you to hold onto her like you have.”
    His hand reflexively tightened around the knob, then he spun back around. “You don’t think I know that? You don’t think Ally and I didn’t have late night morbid conversations about moving on if we lost the other?” He took a step forward. “Well, we fucking did. I know exactly what Ally wanted for me.” But nowhere in any of those talks had there been a scenario of how to move past the guilt of failing her. The thought hit him suddenly and hard. He backed up and yanked the door open. Resentment churned in his gut and he blasted every bit of it at Lance. “So back the fuck off.”

Chapter Four
    W hat the hell?
    As Mac followed Gayle through the gates of the Kansas Coliseum, he surveyed the line of black and orange tents set up around the perimeter of the stadium selling wares and food. Music blasted from two enormous speakers positioned outside a larger pavilion that housed a local radio station. Men, women, and children of all ages milled about, some in crazy costumes, others in regular running clothes. Everyone was laughing and having a great time. Mac, however, was having to take a moment to adjust. Gayle had definitely not been forthright about where she was taking him. This wasn’t a race—not any ordinary race, anyway.
    He could pinpoint every single person who had already completed the run. How?
    A layer of dried mud was crusted on their skin.
    The insane woman had brought him to a mud race.
    Shaking his head, he stifled a laugh. Gayle never stopped shocking him. How in the hell would she top this? She couldn’t. There was absolutely nothing she could do or say that would be able to dethrone an obstacle course over a pit of sludge. Nothing.
    But he felt no resentment or anger at being misled. The lightness he’d known she’d bring filled his chest. Yeah. Agreeing to join Gayle had been the right decision.
    After slamming himself into his room yesterday, the only person he’d thought of