Page 29 of In the Long Run
‘Sorry.We don’t have to talk.You should run with Yeti and your other friends.I’m fine on my own.’
‘Those aren’t my friends.I don’t have a lot of friends,’ he says.
‘Neither do I.’I keep my gaze on the track in front of me, because even though it’s concrete, I’m absolutely still in danger of tripping over my own feet.
‘I thought you’d have loads,’ Knox says.
‘Why?’
‘You walked up to two strangers at a pub and asked one to pretend he was dating you.That’s ballsy.’
The key I stuck in the waistband of my running tights rubs against my side.I fish it out and slide it into the side pocket.‘I don’t normally do things like that.’
‘I’m glad you did.’His eyes widen like he’s just realised what he said, and while I’m worrying about tripping over my own feet, Knox stumbles over his words.‘I wanted to apologise for this morning.Showing up unannounced and all.And then taking off.I have a tendency to make things weird.’
Welcome to the club, my friend.It’s right now that I realise how much I’d like us to be friends.And, really, him not being interested in me romantically makes things much easier.‘So do I.’
We share a small smile.
‘I’m sorry if you were surprised by Lawson.He’s Caleb’s boyfriend – well, sort of.’
Knox dips his head.‘I wasn’t surprised.’
‘So you ran away because …’
When he looks up, embarrassment colours his strong features.Oh boy, shy Knox could absolutely test my decision for us to just be friends, if I was open to that sort of thing anymore.Which I’m not.
‘I might’ve made some assumptions.’His smile turns sheepish.
‘Well, they were wrong.’
‘Either way, good for you.That would’ve been one way to send a message to Brand, huh.“Dating” multiple guys.’God, he even does the inverted commas with his fingers and then stares at his hands like he doesn’t understand how that happened, which is bad news for me.Because his awkwardness sets off my awkwardness, which always manifests in the worst form: verbal diarrhoea.
‘I’m not a dating multiple guys kind of girl.My sister gave me a “why choose” romance to read once, and it was super hot, but I’ll be honest, I got distracted sometimes thinking about how many dicks there were to keep track of.And hands.So many hands.I mean, each to their own, and I vote for anything that supports female empowerment and everything, but a girl’s liable to get lockjaw or something.’
Knox’s eyes are comically wide.
So, this is an out of body experience,I think as my heart races and light-headedness sets in.A foreign being has taken control of my faculties and even though my brain is sending ‘stop talking’ commands, I can’t shut my mouth.
‘And Lawson’s not the kind of guy I’d go for.Neither’s Brand.That whole thing was an attempt at trying something new, and we both know how that turned out.I’m usually more attracted to …’ My voice peters out to a whisper.‘… sporty guys,’ I say to thesporty guywho isrunningright next to me.
Welp.Whatever weirdness from this morning that had dissipated returns with full force.
‘You know what,’ I barrel on, because clearly this metaphorical train is headed towards the edge of an erupting volcano, ‘I hear someone calling my name.You go ahead.’
I drop back under the guise of checking on everyone else, and a pretty redhead immediately fills my spot, matching her cadence to Knox’s long steps.
‘What the fuck was that?’I whisper to myself.
I lean into my hamstring stretch and lift my arms over my head, twisting to the side to release some of the tension in my shoulders.
‘Do you know where we could get a coffee?Or something to eat?’a woman in an Army running shirt asks me.
‘I could murder a feed,’ a guy in khaki says.
‘Wish there was a coffee cart,’ the pretty redhead who keeps shooting furtive glances at Knox pipes up.
Knox turns to me, his mouth opening and then closing.Because he’s a gentleman, I’m sure he’s not about to bring up the fact that I gave what can be best described as a spoken word presentation about my thoughts on fictional group sex to his face twenty-five minutes ago.It’s no big deal.I’ll just be blushing for the next five to ten years.‘Are you thinking what I’m thinking?’he asks.
