Page 25 of Starting Over in Cedarwood

“They might, but I’m not answering.” Shaun stopped outside at the bench in front of the building. “I need to stretch, to run and to not think about how the fucking advertisements were screwed up between my final approval and the paper printing.”

“Ouch.” Kevin ran through his battery of stretches. If Shaun wanted to talk, he’d listen, but he wouldn’t push him to divulge the details.

“It wouldn’t have been so bad if so much hadn’t gone haywire. The printer put page five in the lifestyle section twice, so that had to be re-run because, of course, we did the early edition run before it was checked. We started a longer run after it got caught, but I’ve had to scour the remaining pages to be sure they’re not messed up. I already scoured them and now I’ll end up doing it again. It’s maddening.”

“I bet.” He didn’t know there were multiple editions of the paper. “Is it finally sorted out?”

“For now.” Shaun double-knotted his shoes, then sat on the concrete. “It wouldn’t have been so bad, but I had to field phone calls from the baseball team reps.”

Kevin frowned. “Why?”

“We decided to do a special mini-paper that features the team. It’ll be at the stadium and free for everyone, but will include advertising for the services at the facility, spotlights on the team members and so forth. It was approved on our end and by the team, but I got static from their ad people. They seemed to think we’re overstepping.” He grabbed his toes as he stretched. “It’s not overstepping if it’s essentially free promo and eighty percent about the damn team.”

“The promo department is touchy,” Kevin said. “They get funny when I try to promote the food deals.” He finished his stretches. “I don’t know, but don’t let it bother you. They love static and to be a pain in the ass. It’s not personal.”

“But we’re helping them.”

“I know.” He bowed his head. Kyle ran the promo department with the team and probably wanted to piss Shaun off. “You’re dealing with a somewhat unreasonable person. That’s why he’s giving you trouble—that and it’s Kyle.”

Shaun sat up. “Really? He’s that petty?”

“Maybe more.” Kevin tucked his car key into his zipped pocket and ensured he’d locked his vehicle. “I’m ready when you are. I forgot to bring my tunes, so I’m ready.”

“I’m ready.” Shaun stood. “And I’m tired of thinking about the paper. I need to get this frustration out.”

“We could have sex,” Kevin said. The words tumbled out before he could stop them, but he didn’t regret it.

Shaun stared at him. His smile returned. “I would love that, but we don’t have time.”

At least he hadn’t balked. “We’ll put it on the list.” He wouldn’t mind a good masturbation session or oral sex right now, even if he did want to run. All three would be a great stress relief.

“Let’s go before I change my mind and drag you into my office for a quickie.” Shaun swatted Kevin’s ass. “We’ll discuss the terms of my surrender to you when we’re done.”

“Surrender?”

“Yes.” Shaun inched closer. “The moment I give you my ass and let you do every naughty thing you want to do.”

Kevin shivered. He liked the sound of that. “Shaun.”

“I know. It’s the wrong time.” Shaun laughed. “Wednesday?”

“Yes.” Kevin allowed himself to breathe. “Ready?” He tapped his watch, setting the timepiece and GPS. “Let’s go.”

Shaun darted off first, leaving Kevin in the dust.

“Brat.” Kevin hurried to catch up to him, then fell into the steady cadence of Shaun’s steps. He wasn’t much of a talker when he ran. He preferred to focus on the run and how his body reacted. Chatting just got in the way.

“Do you have a distance you want to go?” Shaun asked. “I sort of have a course for five miles.”

“Good,” Kevin said and measured his breaths. “I’m following you.” He didn’t care where they ran as long as they got the miles in. He liked Shaun’s pace—not too fast, but steady. As they continued along, perspiration sprouted on his body and his shirt stuck to his chest. He wanted to strip his shirt off, but hesitated.Too soon?

Shaun grabbed the hem of his own shirt and wrangled the garment over his head. He tucked part of the shirt into the waistband of his shorts and continued on.

Kevin nearly swallowed his tongue. He’d thought Shaun was sexy with his clothes in place, but sans shirt?Holy hell.Kevin held back a couple steps to admire Shaun’s body. He spied a bit of ink on Shaun’s shoulder blade. “You have a tattoo.”

“I do.”

Kevin caught up to him. “Did it hurt?”

---