Page 25

My dreams leave me hot and sweaty. No amount of jerking off can quench the thirst inside of me. I don’t know what to do with this pent-up energy except run. I wake up earlier than usual and run as hard and as fast as I can before I’m set to meet up with Leah.

Leah.

My cock throbs again so I push myself harder. I’d like to think I’m flying, but I’m relatively slow. It’s my size—I rarely run faster than a six-and-a-half-minute kilometre. When I check my watch, the average time says 5:35.

Holy shit, no wonder I’m exhausted. I slow down, grateful for the cooler weather, though I can tell the sky is about to open any minute.

When I arrive at our usual meeting spot, Leah isn’t there. Worry slams into me hard and fast. First, for her safety, and then a small seed of doubt blooms. Did I scare her off? Fuck, the way I manhandled her.

I rub a hand over my jaw, my beard soaking up the moisture from my face .

“I’m here, I’m here!” Leah calls from behind me, panting. She doesn’t have the stroller with her.

“Where’s Levi?”

“That’s why I was late. Paige came over to watch him and offered to take him to daycare for me, so I had to get all his stuff together.”

My hands are weights at my side. I don’t know what to do with them. I know what I want to do, but we’re in public and that could get us arrested. With no buffer between us, it’s going to be difficult to keep my hands off her, especially now that I know what she feels like.

“Leah—”

“Julien—”

We say each other’s names at the same time. When I gesture for her to set the pace for us to start our run, she gives me a small smile. There’s so much vulnerability in one look, I want to wrap her in my arms and never let her go.

“Why are you so sweaty?” she asks after a minute.

“I was running,” I say.

She huffs. “Obviously. I mean, I know you run here but you’re not usually this tired.”

“I had extra energy this morning.”

Her head whips towards me, but I can’t meet her eyes. Under no circumstance can I get this woman arrested for public indecency. We’re quiet as we run for the next few minutes, my mind wandering to the scene around me.

The last of the red and orange leaves are falling, which, coupled with the overcast sky, gives the morning an eerie mood. I love it .

Grey clouds shelter us from the sun, swallowing the light and blanketing the world in a comfortable darkness.

With the cooler weather comes clearer paths, fewer people, and the space I so desperately crave. I can breathe freely and openly as my ribs expand and I relish the freedom to just be.

But it’s not solely because there are fewer people to bump into or intimidate—it’s the woman running beside me.

The thought pulls me up short. I haven’t felt the need to make myself smaller in a while. When was the last time I felt like I needed more space?

When I’m with Leah, I’m so focused on the space she takes up in my head that I forget to feel self-conscious. And when she’s not with me, I’m wishing she was.

Her presence creates a bubble around us until it’s just me and her.

“I want to run a 5k today,” she says out of the blue. “Without stopping.”

“What?”

“Yeah. I, uh, have extra energy as well.”

I’m a weak man. She makes me weak. When I sneak a glance at her, she’s staring straight ahead but her cheeks are flushed. It could be from running or the cold wind, but it could also be from last night.

Holy fuck, even the thought of it has me blushing as well. And hard. So fucking hard.

“Oh?” It’s the only word I can manage .

“Yeah. Do you think I can do it?” She finally turns and our gazes collide. My body tingles with the memory of her wrapped around me, almost coming undone. If I’m not mistaken, she’s remembering too.

“I think you can do anything.”

She looks away, a smile on her lips. They’re still a little swollen, her neck marked where my beard scratched her.

How the hell am I supposed to do this? I blow out a breath.

“Okay then.”

I check my watch. We’ve only done about half a kilometre. We typically run and walk in intervals for about three kilometres. But she wants to do five without stopping, so that’s what we’re going to do.

“You’re probably going to call me a jackass,” I warn her.

“I’m fine with that.” She shoots me a smile that takes my breath away.

“Alright, we’re half a kilometre in,” I tell her.

She stops running.

“What’s wrong, is it your shins?” Worry rushes through me as I look her over. But she seems fine. Better than fine. She’s shapely in her running gear, black leggings that show the flare of her hips and strong legs. Her jacket is bright pink, matching her shoes.

“What’s wrong?! We’re only half a kilometre in, that’s what’s wrong!” Her eyes go wide, the light catching on the emerald green of her eyes .

I don’t know what to say. She never asks how far we go, typically just how long we have left in our intervals. So I shrug. Her anger flares, and I have to hold in my smile.

“Here I was thinking we were at least a kilometre and a half, maybe even a mile.”

“Nope.” I make the p sound pop, drawing her attention to my lips. Hunger crosses her face, exactly like last night. I know because I’m thinking the same. I haven’t stopped thinking about it.

“Don’t,” I warn her.

“Don’t what?”

I give her a look telling her I know exactly what she’s thinking. She shakes her head and breaks the tension, focusing instead on the path in front of us.

“I can do this?” It comes out as a question.

“Yes.” There’s not a doubt in my mind. She’s standing in her own way, and if she won’t remove herself, I will.

“Okay, I want to do it right. Restart your watch.”

“Really? You just complained about the distance.”

“Yes, do you have a problem with that?”

With spending more time with her? No. With running a full 5k after I’ve already done about ten this morning? Maybe.

“Alright, Harrison, let’s see what you’ve got.” I reset my watch and away we go.