Page 17 of Heart Match

We run in silence for a few minutes. His pace is, of course, faster than mine, but he doesn’t seem to mind slowing down a bit so my short legs can keep up with his long ones.

‘I wanted to apologise for the way I left … and well, for falling asleep at your house in the first place,’ he says between his controlled breathing.

I smile to myself, then look at him and say, ‘Don’t worry about it.’

We run together for more than half an hour, and on the way back we stop at Fresh Me Up after he confesses he enjoyed the smoothie from yesterday.

‘Two Sweet … what was it again?’ he turns back to look at me, waiting for me to help him remember the right word.

‘Relief,’ I say.

‘Relief,’ he repeats to Andi, who chuckles after pushing his glasses up on his nose.

‘Sure thing,’ says Andi looking between me and Luc, amused for some reason. Maybe he’s wondering why for two consecutive days I’m here with a guy, the same one. I’m never here with a guy, let alone the same one twice.

Once we’re out of the café, Luc turns his cap backwards, checks his watch and suddenly starts walking faster.

In the elevator we are on opposite sides, sipping our smoothies. The rational part of me honestly wishes we hadn’t bumped into each other today. The irrational part of me is jumping with joy that this gorgeous man who slept beside me just a few hours ago is standing in front of me, sweaty from our run together. If we keep meeting like this for the next few days, I don’t know how much willpower I’ll have to ignore his existence until he leaves.

I watch him. The strong muscles above his knees, how his white shorts make his cock pop, the T-shirt stuck against the sweat of his abs, his hands holding his smoothie cup, and his eyebrows curved as he stares at me, also checking me out with no shame. For a moment it seems like we’re both holding ourselves back with all our strength, fighting the urge to get our hands on the other. I feel sweat dripping from my neck down my back, drops wetting my skin as I try to recover power over my legs, which are now numb, not only from the run.

‘Headed to work?’ I ask him, trying to break the silence and the magnetism between our eyes.

‘Yes. You?’

Our eyes are still locked.

‘Working from home today, but yes, I’ve got loads to catch up on. Yesterday wasn’t my most productive day at work,’ I say.

The lift reaches my floor and I’m glad. I don’t think I can stand one more minute trapped with him and his good, sweaty smell and his looks without things getting physical.

‘See you around, Olivia,’ he says, getting off the elevator with me.

‘See you,’ I say, watching him take the stairs to his flat.

I close the door behind me and try to even my breathing again.

#

I cool off with a long shower, make myself breakfast, and while eating I enjoy Naomi and Lexi’s company on a video call. They’re both getting ready for work. Naomi works for a PR company not far from Secretive, while Lexi is a fashion photographer.

I met Lexi first. It was during my first year at London College of Fashion. I was working on a project that required some good professional photos of my designs. She was also on her first year and was happy to help me as long as she could use the photos for a project of her own as well. It was perfect. And we became so close we shared a flat near LCF. A couple of years later, Lexi met Naomi during one of her own projects and introduced me to her. Since then, the three of us have been friends.

‘Tell us everything,’ says Lexi as she puts her makeup on. I know exactly where her phone is, propped up on her bathroom mirror’s handle so we can still see her as she applies her mascara.

‘We had dinner, we talked … a lot, mostly me, and fell asleep on the balcony couch after having popcorn,’ I say while I’m still chewing on the bread like it’s no big deal. If I had spoken to them today early before my run, I’d have made a big deal of it, but right now, if I do that, things will only aggravate and turn into something that’s not.

‘What? You didn’t have sex?’ Naomi asks as she sprays something on her hair.

I know, it’s a surprise for me too. I don’t remember the last time I had a guy over and didn’t have sex with him.

‘It was a thank you dinner. No secondary intentions, I told you.’

It’s true, I wasn’t planning on having sex with him, even if he took the initiative. Ok, I might have thought about it more times than I should, but truly it wasn’t the initial intention.

‘Course it was,’ says Naomi.

‘When was the last time you slept with a guy and didn’t have sex?’ asks Lexi.

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