Page 11 of Won't Let Go
He hums. “Yeah. I had a lot of downtime in the hospital.” Reaching across the table, Josh takes my hand into his. It’s warm, firm, and my heart gives a strange little thump when his thumb caresses the top of my fingers. “We’re gonna do this, Jade. Together.”
Tears well in my eyes, and for a silly moment, I believe him.
Maybe, just maybe, I can get through this. Maybe Hunter doesn’t have to lose his mom.
Fuck.
Hope is a nasty bitch. She’s never liked me before, so how’s it gonna be any different this time?
5
JADE
“Only half a mile to go,”the sadistic bastard encourages, as he jogs backward, barely breaking a sweat. He smiles. It’s wide and charming and makes me want to scratch his too-pretty eyes out.
Me?
I’m wheezing. My lungs burn and ribs ache. My legs are overcooked noodles. Everything hurts, and my boobs are screaming for a better exercise bra to keep them from almost giving me a black eye.
It’s been four days of this torture.
Four days of three healthy meals a day.
Four days of working out.
Yesterday, we lifted weights. I can handle that. But cardio? Lordy. It should be outlawed.
“Hasn’t it already been ten miles?” I huff, jogging a little faster to keep up with Mr. Fitness over here.
He snickers at my dramatics. “We’re running a mile, Jade.”
“It feels like a hundred.”
“It won’t feel that bad in two weeks.”
“Why? Because it’ll already kill me by then?”
The sadist chuckles. “You’re doing great.”
“Says the hot twenty-three-year-old,” I grouse, wiping sweat from my brow.
Josh pats his heart like he’s flattered. “Oh. You think I’m hot, huh?”
My knees damn near give out. I stumble a step, then two, before my feet get their shit together. “Shut up and let me die over here. In peace.”
Josh barks a gruff laugh and pulls his t-shirt out of the waistband of his shorts to wipe his forehead and chest. “No can do, bestie. We’re gonna go home, shower, eat, and watch a movie.”
That sounds perfect. Anything is better than this.
“Am I allowed to shower as long as I want? Or is that against the new rules?”
“These aren’t rules, Jade.”
“They sure seem like it.”
“We played it your way for a year. Now we’re doin’ it mine.”
“Remind me why I keep you around again?” I grumble, shuffling right along.
