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“Coffee is terrible for you. Running is good. Natural endorphins are where it’s at, Little Demon.”
“How am I the demon when you’re the one in here before six and bouncing around like you just took an upper?” I narrowed my eyes at him. “Did you? ’Cause if you want me to run, you might have to share.”
He laughed. “I don’t even drink coffee. You really think I put drugs in my body?”
I groaned. “Oh shit, I live with a ‘my body is a temple’ person. Tell Vaughn I changed my mind about living here. Sleeping in my car might be preferable.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You want your revenge on Caleb or what?”
There was probably nothing else that would have got me motivated to work out at this time of the morning. Nothing except for that.
He grinned, knowing he had me. “You aren’t a bad fighter. But the sort of training we’re going to be doing? You’re going to need the fitness. And from what I can see, your current lifestyle is not exactly what I call athletic.”
I tossed a sock at him from my drawer. “Insulting. I run. If bears are chasing me.”
“You don’t eat.”
I glanced at him sharply. “Haven’t had much appetite with everything going on.”
“That has to change. I’m not the only one who noticed. Fang sent me a text last night, asking me to watch you.”
Anger poured through me. “He better not have. He’s not my mother.” Not that my mother had ever really paid attention to my calorie consumption.
“Don’t get pissed. He’s scared. And frankly, so am I. You need the fitness, which means you need the calories, or you’ll have nothing to build muscle with. What’s your favorite foods? I’m a good cook. I’ll make whatever you want, whenever you want.”
“Coffee is my favorite food.”
“Not a food, Little Demon.”
I sighed. “The omelets you made the other morning smelled really good.”
He nodded. “Run first. Then omelets. Promise you won’t run off somewhere before you can eat them?”
My stomach was churning at the thought of food, but I knew he was right. I’d lost weight since the attack, and it wasn’t healthy. I needed to be stronger to take on Caleb.
“Fine. Let’s go ruh…ruhhhh… Kian, I can’t even say the word at this time of the morning. It’s dirty.”
Kian sniggered from the other side of the closet. “Get dressed or I’m coming in there and doing it for you.”
I stuck my head out of the doors, being careful to cover up my half-naked state. “Pervert.”
“That sounds like more procrastination. I’m not joking. I will come in there and put a sports bra on you myself if I have to. Can’t say I have any practice in that. Plenty of practice in taking them off though, if you ever require such a service…”
I grinned at him but decided enough men had seen me naked in the past two days so dressing myself was the preferred option. I rummaged through all my clothes and came up with a cutoff pair of shorts and an old Rolling Stones shirt. I didn’t even own a sports bra, but there wasn’t much bounce to my barely-there boobs anyway. A regular old crop top would have to do.
I found a pair of beat-up old Converse in a box I hadn’t unpacked yet, put them on, then presented myself to Kian.
His gaze swept over me. “You look like you’re going to an emo punk rock concert.”
“If that were true, I’d have more eyeliner on.”
“Where are your sneakers?”
“These are sneakers. If you don’t like my outfit choice, we could go shopping instead? That sounds like way more fun than running.”
He shook his head. “I will take you shopping and get you some decent sneakers, but after running, and after food.”
I grumbled at him but followed him down the stairs and out the door anyway. The cold morning air hit me in the face, and I turned back around. “Nope. It’s freezing. There’s a reason bears hibernate in winter. I now identify as a bear. Bye.”