Page 112 of The Thorne at My Side
AUSTIN: Right?
I laugh despite myself and reply.
MAGGIE:Right. And sure, meet at 7?
AUSTIN:I'll be there.
I'm about to move back over to my messages with Liz when my SMS Connect phone pings again.
DCFox:Tell you what, I'll be waiting for you next to Stumpy the Cherry Tree at the basin at 6:00pm tomorrow evening. The sun should just be setting and it'll be beautiful. Meet me if you want to, or don't, but I'll stay until 7:00.
CHAPTER 35
Run It By Me
MAGGIE
By the time Austin shows up in the morning for our run I've already logged two thousand steps from pacing my studio apartment. The nervous energy is coursing through my veins.
Should I bring up the podcast?
Should I pretend I haven't heard it if he brings it up?
What would I even say if we started talking about it?
I yelp when the soft knock comes at the door.
"Nervous MC?" Austin asks as he pushes off the doorframe and steps into my apartment.
"No." Yes.
"You shouldn't be, you're the one who runs all the time, I just rock climb and do yoga."
"Well, then, I should challenge you to a race." I joke as I grab my phone and keys. I slip the gift card for Sunrise into my leggings pocket, maybe I can treat him to breakfast, on him, after our run.
He holds the door on our way out and when we reach the corner he turns to me and says, "so do we just start?"
"Yes!" I grin and take off at a sprint. I hear him grunt behind me and I start to laugh.I'm so nervous that even atfull stride I can feel the jitters coursing through me.
"Hold up!" He yells and I slow my pace a bit to let him catch up. When he reaches me we fall in step next to each other and run quietly for a few blocks. I listen to the way our breaths match each other's. It is a true struggle to keep my thoughts focused on the run or even in a category appropriate for a public location.
When we stop at a light he props his hands on his hips and turns to me.
"Good thing I didn't want to talk to you today," he huffs out between breaths.
"We do fine when we're not talking," I tell him and I start off again when the light changes leaving him standing on the corner. I didn’t wait to see if he understood my meaning. I’m not sure I did. I did not plan to spend this morning flirting with Austin Thorne but now that I’ve started, I don’t want to stop.
He catches up and our feet pound into the pavement in sync. His legs are longer than mine so he's adjusting his pace to match me but I think it's a challenge for him anyways.
"Was that an offer to add benefits to our friendship?" He asks as we turn a corner.
"Honestly, I don't know."
"Are you seeing someone?"
"No, but I'm still talking to that SMS Connect guy."
"That's right, Foxy Boy."
