Page 16 of When Love Is Unexpected

She tilts her head back and looks at me.

"I better go," she says.

"Yeah, I need to get some sleep," I say.

"Did you still want to go for a run in the morning?"

"Absolutely," I say.

***

We meet at our usual spot. It's a little past seven when Laila shows up wearing black running tights and a blue half-marathon T-shirt she got a couple of years ago when we ran the race together. Her hair is tied in a ponytail. When the sunlight hits her face, I can see all the colors in her eyes. There are golds, browns, blues, and turquoise, all working together like a chorus to create the beautiful green that is her unique eye color.

For the next thirty minutes, we discuss strategy and go over more family names. My large extended family will be there for Emma's wedding.

"Where are we staying?" asks Laila.

"My parents still live in the house where I grew up," I say. "They turned my bedroom into a guest room, so you can stay there?"

"What about you?" Laila asks.

"I'll stay in one of the other rooms."

"Won't they be expecting us to stay in the same room?" she asks.

"I doubt they would ask about our sleeping arrangements," I say. "But if they do, we'll just say, I don't know. We'll lie and say you're still a virgin or something.

When I'm met with silence, I look over at her.

"What?" I ask.

"Nothing," she says. "Have you ever brought home someone you're dating and not sleeping with? Will they believe you?"

Now, I'm the one who's silent.

"I'm not a saint, Laila. I'm almost thirty years old, and I've been in committed relationships. Just not recently".

Since I met you to be exact, I think, but don't share.

"You said your relationships in Greece were serious," Laila says. "So, would you have shared your room with them?"

"Well, aren't you inquisitive?" I ask.

"Another way to say I'm being nosey," she corrects me.

"Ok," I say. "Tell me this. When was the last time you slept with Eric? Months ago, weeks ago, or was it the night before you broke up with him?"

She stops dead in her tracks and crosses her arms before glaring at me.

"Exactly," I say. "We don't talk about our sex lives."

"You're being insulting," she says. "You don't—."

"Speak of the devil," I say when I look up and spot Eric jogging this way.

Laila glances over her shoulder and then looks back at me.

"Let me deal with this," she says before walking away to meet Eric, putting some distance between us.

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