heading out on the deserted road.
I was a mile in when something up ahead caught my eye.
Brie.
She was running alone with her iPod in an armband and her earbuds in place. Stupid. Out on these deserted roads, anyone could have grabbed her. I shook my head and kept my distance, just far enough away that with her earbuds in, she couldn’t hear my shoes on the pavement behind her. She was heading away from town, through winding roads with no ends. Did she think about that before setting out by herself? I didn’t live in a neighborhood. The roads were confusing, the trees all the same. I’d gotten lost myself a few times when I’d first moved here, but Brie seemed to run without a care in the world.
Until her shoe came untied.
I came up short, at a loss for what to do. If I stopped running and she looked back and saw me, it’d be weirder than if I just kept running. Right? Fuck. Why did I care? I shouldn’t have given two shits about Brie Watson’s opinion, but as I rounded the top of the hill and she came within a few yards, I knew I was lying to myself.
Her head tilted up as she finished tying her laces. Her brows scrunched in confusion and she reached up to pull out her earbuds.
“What are you doing out here?” she asked with a scowl.
I ran past her without answering and I heard her audible groan from behind me as she pushed to her feet and ran to catch up to me.
“You were following me weren’t you? Jesus.”
My fists tightened at the accusation. Is she kidding? “Don’t flatter yourself. I run every morning.”
“Right.”
She still didn’t believe me.
I picked up my pace, leaving her in the dust. Unlike her, I was smart enough not to run with headphones in. If someone pulled over to kidnap her, I’d hear it. There was no sense in slowing down to protect her. She obviously thought she could protect herself.
“Hey wait!” she called, speeding up to catch me. “Now I’m the weirdo following you. Let’s just run together.”
I shook my head. “I run by myself. Ask the Lumineers to keep you company.”
I ran faster.
She caught up, but her breathing was heavy, strained. I glanced over to see her chest rising and falling in her tight tank top. A trickle of sweat slid down her neck and disappeared between her breasts. I whipped my gaze back to the road as my dick stirred in my athletic shorts, not letting me ignore the sight of Brie’s body in tight running clothes.
“I like to run by myself too, but we’re both already out here,” she said. “Jesus, can you just slow down a little bit?”
There was no use in running unless it was a workout. “I only run with people that don’t slow me down.”
“Oh please, you’re practically sprinting to get away from me. Just run like a normal person.”
I slowed down a smidgen, just enough to earn a little smile from her.
“Why do you want to run with your asshole coach anyway?”
To her credit, a slight brush crept up her neck, overtaking her already flushed face. “I believe in second chances,” she said, sliding her gaze to me with a hint of playfulness. “Or in your case, seventh or eighth chances.”
I grunted. “You deserved what you got yesterday.”
She sighed and then slowly, as if the words were torture for her to say, she continued, “You’re right, I’m sorry. Okay? Bring as many girls home as you want. Far be it from me to try to dictate the terms of your booty calls.”
I smirked but turned away before she could see it. Brie was bluffing and unfortunately for her, she had a shit poker face. I saw the way she looked at me, the stolen glances in the gym, the burn of desire behind her gaze. Reading between the lines of her defiance gave away the extent to which my presence had affected her. Around me she was a ticking time bomb, but then again, she had lit my fuse as well. Toying with Brie was quickly becoming my favorite pastime and a part of me wondered why I was doing it. Yes, she was disrespectful and constantly talked back during practice, but she was hardly the first strong-headed girl in my gym to be guilty of that. No, I was enjoying her punishment a little too much. Most coaches would have ignored the insubordination rather than engaging