Page 36 of In the Long Run

GEN

Does sex count as cardio? Because my training schedule has an easy recovery walk on it, and the plan was to stroll along the river with everyone else from Croissants and Kilometres. Stop and get breakfast somewhere in Bright before we all head back to Melbourne.

But sometimes plans need to change.

At least that’s what I think when I wake up sprawled across Knox’s body, my leg hitched over his hip, my hand splayed over his heart.

His eyes are closed. Slices of sunlight peek through the plantation shutters, casting shadows across his high brows, the full lips that make me feel a bit drunk when they’re against my own.

Last night, after dinner, we’d come back and fallen into bed … and fallen asleep.

But this morning? I have plans.

‘I can feel you watching me,’ Knox mumbles, his voice thick with sleep.

‘You’re pretty cute, you know.’

His chest rumbles underneath me. ‘No man wants to be called cute, Gen, especially not first thing in the morning.’

‘Would you prefer “adorable”?’

‘You looking to start a disagreement, Halliday?’

I bury my smile in his chest. ‘Maybe.’

‘I’m onto you,’ he says, tipping my face towards his. Just-woke-up-Knox should come with a warning: Danger. You will lose the ability to speak. To think. To function.

If I could squeeze my legs together, I would.

‘How are the muscles this morning?’ Knox runs his hand along my thigh, down my calf. It’s like he read my mind.

‘Bit sore. Yours?’

‘Pretty good.’ Knox stretches like a cat in a patch of sun, and the movement shifts our pelvises closer together. The baguette is back, and I’d argue that our muscles are about to feel very, very good.

I walk my fingers up his chest, letting my nails scratch through his chest hair. He makes a sleepy, contented noise that ends in a soft groan I never want to forget.

‘What time’s the walk this morning?’ Knox asks.

‘Not for another hour.’

Knox angles my face towards his, dropping featherlight kisses on my forehead, my cheeks and then finally my lips. The man’s about to get mauled. We’ve waited so long for this, I can’t be held accountable for my actions. How convenient that we’re both nearly naked, too.

‘We should make sure we warm up properly,’ he says.

‘Because we’re serious and dedicated athletes,’ I agree, climbing on top of him. His hands settle on my ass.

‘So serious. So dedicated. Fuck, your body’s perfect, Gen,’ Knox murmurs, kneading my tired glutes before shifting forward, leaving a trail of goosebumps over my hip bones as he slides his hands inside my pyjama pants. I skipped underwear hoping something might happen. ‘So strong and sexy.’

I gasp when he slides a finger through my pussy, teasing my clit.

‘And so ready. You have some good dreams, Halliday?’

‘Mmhmm.’ I rock against his finger, moaning when he pushes it inside me.

‘Want to tell me about them?’

I’m about to answer when his phone rings.

‘I don’t care who it is,’ he says but my gaze snags on the name displayed on the screen.

‘It’s Eugene.’

Knox throws an arm over his face, but it doesn’t hide the apology that I know is coming. ‘Sorry.’

I climb off him. I don’t want to, but it feels weird to basically be sitting on Knox’s cock while he talks to Eugene.

‘Hold on. I don’t understand,’ Knox says into the phone. ‘What’s happened?’

I know it’s bad when he sits up and checks the chunky sports watch he always wears. ‘I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to go down there,’ he says, scratching at his jaw as his gaze shifts to the ceiling. ‘Let me call Celeste.’

There’s an outraged sound from the other end of the phone.

‘No one’s trying to cut you out, Eug. How many times have I tried to get you involved again?

Asked you to come see suppliers? Help redesign the menu as we add things back to it?

I just don’t want you to get hurt.’ Knox pauses, his chest falling as he exhales slowly.

There’s no trace of the lighthearted guy who was just about to rock my world, which makes me sad for both of us, but mostly him.

Knox carries so much of everyone else’s burdens.

‘I get that, but it might not be safe for you to be there,’ he continues. ‘Depending on the damage.’ He mouths another apology to me.

‘Do we need to go?’ I mouth back, relieved when he understands me perfectly.

He nods regretfully and I scoot off the bed, gather up some comfy clothes to drive home in, and go to the toilet to give Knox some privacy when Eugene raises his voice again.

I dress in a rush, forgoing a bra because my back’s still sore.

Hopefully my jumper hides the fact that the girls are unrestrained.

It wouldn’t suck if Knox noticed though.

Might make him smile, and something tells me he’s going to need that today.

Knox is brushing his teeth when I come out. He’s shirtless, a pair of grey sweatpants hanging low on his hips. He spits his toothpaste out and rinses his mouth with water, and I step into the spot next to him.

‘Someone broke into Alizée’s.’

I drop my toothbrush. ‘What? When?’

‘Not sure. The cops think it was probably right after it closed.’

‘What did they steal?’

He cages me in against the vanity, his head resting on my shoulder, our eyes meeting in the mirror. ‘Nothing. They didn’t touch the safe. Didn’t even check the till.’

My eyebrows creep towards my hairline, and Knox snakes his arm around my middle. ‘They stuffed things down all the sinks and turned on all the taps. Flooded the place. Blocked all the toilets with the leftover pastries that Celeste had packed up to donate today.’

‘Like a prank?’ I ask. But that doesn’t make sense. Toilet papering the place would be a prank.

‘I doubt it. Not considering the complaint the council received the other day.’ He doesn’t say what I bet we’re both thinking. Is Brand responsible for this too?

‘Do you guys have security cameras? An alarm?’

He shook his head. ‘It’s an old system. The cameras only record to an SD card, which was taken. You can’t access them remotely. And Celeste forgot to set the alarm.’

‘Poor Eugene,’ I say.

‘He wants to go down there, start cleaning up, check things out with his own eyes. I’m sorry to do this—’

I spin around and cut him off, not needing the explanation. ‘I’ll be ready to go in two minutes.’

Knox presses his forehead against mine. ‘This isn’t how I wanted this weekend to end.’

‘Life happens. It’s okay. We’ve got plenty of time, right?’

The words slip out and I pause.

Something dark crosses Knox’s face and I know he’s thinking the same thing I am – that our time together has an expiration date – but he shakes it off and kisses me tenderly.

‘Right,’ he answers.

Eugene’s waiting in his front courtyard when we pull up in front of the apartment building. Thankfully, Violet was able to get a lift back with Anneke.

‘Is he going to be mad you let me drive his car?’ It had made more sense for me to get behind the wheel so Knox could field calls from Eugene and Celeste.

‘He won’t care. I’m sure he’s focused on Alizée’s right now.’

I park parallel to where Eugene sits, arms crossed, his expression a heartbreaking mixture of sadness and fatigue. ‘I’ll drop my stuff upstairs and then I’ll come and help.’

Knox pauses, his hand on the door handle. ‘I’m not sure that’s a great idea.’

Oh.

Oh.

‘It’s not that I don’t want you there. But Eugene loves Alizée’s.

Seeing it all trashed and damaged is going to gut him.

He’s a private person. He probably won’t even let me go in with him.

I promise it’s got nothing to do with you.

’ He kisses my cheek, his lips lingering against my skin.

When he pulls back, he smiles shyly. ‘Or us.’

Under different circumstances, this would be the perfect opener for the conversation that’s been running through my mind the whole way home. After everything that’s happened in the last twenty-four hours, where do we stand now?

And even though the timing’s terrible, it turns out I can’t stop myself from asking, ‘Us?’ My voice is all scratchy and unnatural.

Knox swallows, and in my periphery I notice Eugene throw his hands in the air, making a ‘hurry up’ gesture.

‘Maybe we just enjoy “this”, whatever it is until after the run. Maybe part of giving ourselves grace is letting ourselves have fun without pressure. It doesn’t mean that this isn’t special or important.’ There’s his shy smile again, hope curled into the edges of his mouth, his eyes.

‘Knox!’ Eugene calls.

Yep. Now’s definitely not the time for any follow-up questions.

‘Okay,’ I whisper because pressure’s the last thing we need to add to our lives right now.

‘Yeah?’

I nod and Knox steals one last kiss. It’s nothing more than a quick press of his lips against mine, but it’s all the reassurance I need. This is happening and we’re going to figure things out later.

Caleb’s surrounded by meal-prep chaos when I get home. The kitchen counter is covered in Tupperware containers full of pumpkin soup and my favourite: a cold rice salad with currants, almonds and capsicum. ‘What are you doing back so early?’ he asks.

‘Knox had a thing.’ I drop my duffel bag on one of the wooden stools underneath our breakfast bar.

Caleb lifts a big pot of creamy chicken and mushroom pasta off the cooktop.

He even does the fancy twirling thing with the tongs as he adds it to several empty containers.

When I attempt that, food goes everywhere except for where it’s supposed to.

‘Did you see Knox’s thing?’ His tone’s innocent but his eyes are mischievous.

‘Yes,’ I deadpan. ‘Because so often when men run their dicks just fall out of their pants.’

He smirks. ‘So sassy today. I knew he had a big one.’

I snatch a snow pea from the chopping board. Knox and I stopped for fuel in Harrietville and grabbed a coffee there, but neither of us were hungry. Now, I’m ravenous. ‘What about what I just said makes you think Knox has a big dick?’

‘You’re looking far too relaxed for someone who spent hours running yesterday. Obviously you got some. So, tell the class. How is he in bed?’

‘You’re bonkers.’

‘And you’re walking funny.’ Caleb points a knife at me and few bits of chopped onion slide off the blade.

‘I ran thirty-five kilometres yesterday. My hips hurt.’ At least my ankle feels fine today.

‘From bouncing around on Knox’s big—’

I throw a snow pea at him. ‘Okay. You’ve made your point.’

‘And you’ve not denied it, either.’

I swipe some of the capsicum this time and chew slowly. Caleb can smell a lie a mile away.

‘And …’ He waggles his brows at me.

‘And?’ I’m being obtuse on purpose.

He cocks his head to the side. ‘Was it bad? No. There’s no way it was bad.’

‘What’s going on with work?’ I ask, trying to distract Caleb with one of his favourite things: talking about himself.

This makes Caleb pause. ‘I’m officially looking for a new job.’

‘Yeah?’

‘I was talking about it with Lawson, and I want a new challenge. He reckons I should find something I can really sink my teeth into. Maybe even buy into something. I’ve got savings.’

‘Seems like he’s a pretty smart guy. And really good for you.’

‘Oh my God, Gen. He’s the best and, super fun bonus: he’s got such a big dick. I’m probably never going to stop smiling.’

‘I see we’re back to talking about dicks.’ I laugh.

‘We can talk about the job stuff later. Gen’—Caleb pauses dramatically—‘I think Lawson’s my boyfriend.’

‘That’s great.’ I really mean it too.

‘He sneak relationshipped me. He’s wily.’

‘You love it.’

Caleb adds oil to the wok on the cooker and adjusts the heat. ‘I do. Now, back to you and Knox. What gives? Why aren’t you floating around in your post-orgasm high?’

I blush. ‘I am feeling a little floaty.’

‘Yeah, you are,’ Caleb teases. He picks up his iPad, unlocks the screen and places it in front of me. It’s a lot to take in all at once. Too much, really. The picture. The headline. The caption.

‘Where did you get this?’ I ask.

‘Gen, c’mon. You’ve been tagged about a gazillion times. You haven’t looked at social media?’

‘I was driving.’

It’s an image of Knox and I at the finish line.

I’m in his arms, his hands are on my hips, our mouths are so close they’re almost touching and he’s looking at me like I’m the only woman in the world.

Like I’m his. Funny how I’d been so busy trying to show Knox how I felt about him in that moment that I’d missed him doing the same thing.

‘There’s no way these two people have bad sex,’ Caleb says, tapping the screen and enlarging the text underneath the picture.

Melbourne run club Croissants and Kilometres will enrich your life – in more ways than one – if these pictures of Genevieve Halliday and Knox Watson are anything to go by.

The loved-up duo, whose flirtation and love story has captivated RunTok (TikTok’s dedicated hashtag for run clubs) for the last couple of months, crossed the finish line of Bright’s Rail Trail Fun Run hand-in-hand before sharing a series of scorching kisses. We’ll have what they’re having, thanks.

‘Would you like to revise your earlier “no comment”?’

‘No.’ I laugh, surprised by how much fun this conversation is.

I’m not fraught with worry about what Knox thinks of me, or wondering what unforeseen drama lurks around the corner waiting to ruin it all.

I’m just a woman, standing in her kitchen with her friend, giggling over the guy I want to know everything about.

The guy who’s doing his best to share the hard stuff with me.

He could’ve just said it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to go to Alizée’s with him and Eugene, but he had explained.

He’d had the emotional awareness to spare me the anxiety that uncertainty would breed. ‘I really like him.’

‘Wow,’ Caleb drawls. ‘Since when do you talk about your feelings? What have you done with my friend?’

‘Shut up.’ I roll my eyes.

‘I knew it!’ Caleb points at my face, which must be broadcasting my thoughts like it always does. ‘This is great. I’m so happy for you.’

‘I hate you,’ I tell Caleb, who laughs at me. ‘But I’m happy for me too.’

‘And …’

I snort. ‘Fine. He’s got a really big dick.’

One I hope to get a lot better acquainted with later tonight.

‘Hey,’ I say to Caleb. ‘Can you help me make something nice for Eugene and Knox for dinner? They’re having a rough day.’

‘I can think of several nice things you could do for Knox’—I throw a tea towel at Caleb—‘but sure, let’s cook for your man.’