Page 55 of Love Redesigned
I raised an eyebrow and he gave me a sheepish grin.
“I bought her some furniture. They’re going to deliver it tomorrow morning while she’s out on her run. Help me set it up?”
Chapter Nineteen
Dani
Steven was waiting for me in the garden when I went out for my run. The newness of his sneakers and the headband he wore across his forehead both screamed beginner, but I was hardly in a position to judge. I was much less an athlete than I was someone who appreciated the head-clearing therapy running proved to be.
“Good morning,” Steven said, pulling one ankle up behind him in a quad stretch.
“Hi,” I said. I pulled out my headphones but then hesitated. Steven didn’t have any. Would it be rude for me to wear mine? It’s not like we’d be taking a leisurely stroll around the battery. We were going to be running. No way I could talk and breathe and run all at the same time. Not without hyperventilating. “I hope you don’t mind,” I said, holding up the earbuds. “I figure we won’t be able to talk much anyway, right?”
“Oh, yeah, sure,” Steven said. “I totally get it.”
Still, I could see the hesitation in his eyes. So hedidwant to talk. The realization made me nervous. I hadn’t known Steven very long and had spent very little time with him one-on-one, but the energy around him buzzed with a certainsomethingthat made me fairly certain he wanted to ask me out.
I walked up the narrow path that led around the house and to the sidewalk, wondering if there was a way I could head him off. Earbuds would only protect me for so long. We hit the sidewalk and turned toward the water. A cool breeze blew off the Ashley and Cooper rivers that wrapped around the city before converging in the bay and flowing out to the open ocean. The air held a slight chill, but it was still pleasant, even for the early hour. Could I claim I was still on the rebound? Nursing wounds from my last break up? It occurred to me that I didn’t even know if the other guys knew that Alex and I had ever been a thing. Isaac might have told them, but knowing Isaac, I doubted it had ever come up. For all his faults, Isaac was maybe the least prone to gossip of anyone I knew. Celebrity news held zero appeal. Even stuff pertaining to people he actually knew personally didn’t interest him. He was much more a live-and-let-live kind of guy. I’d always admired that about him.
Either way, it felt weird to tell Steven I was still getting over my ex when my ex was one of his roommates. I picked up my pace. Maybe I was wrong, and Steven really did just want the exercise?
Four blocks in, it didn’t matter either way. I’d almost forgotten Steven was behind me. With the breeze on my face and the music in my ears and the endorphins pumping through my veins, the weight of everything I’d been feeling lifted, even just temporarily, and I felt like I was going to be okay.
We followed Church Street past St. Phillips Anglican Church and the Dock Street Theatre. We took a left on Broad, staying straight until we hit East Bay. We ran by the old tavern across from Rainbow Row, the one with the hatch in the floor that led down to the underground tunnels beneath the city, then carefully cut across South Adger's Wharf—the cobblestones were pretty to look at but had broken ankle written all over them—to the path that would lead up to Waterfront Park.
With only an occasional glance to make sure Steven hadn’t fallen too far behind, my mind mostly stayed on Alex. To his credit, he was obviously doing a lot to make me more comfortable. But there was still so much we weren’t saying to each other.
Except, something had happened the night before when he’d insisted that I sit down with my food instead of serving everyone else. He’d stayed true to his word and remained in the kitchen long enough to make sure all the guys had helped clean up, making it clear it was their responsibility,notmine. A couple of times throughout the night, I’d caught Alex looking at me, something in his eyes reminding me of when there was awe.
If I let myself forget how much he’d hurt me when he’d left New York, it was easy to remember how much I’d loved himbeforehe left. And that felt dangerous. Treacherous. But also, a littlethrilling.And that was the scariest realization of all.
I slowed to a stop in front of the massive pineapple fountain in the center of the park. In the spring or summer, I might have skipped Waterfront to avoid all the tourists. But in early-November, the place was nearly deserted. I glanced over my shoulder. Steven was a few paces back and he stopped as soon as he saw me, leaning over to prop his hands on his knees. Poor guy. We weren’t running that fast, but we’d maybe gone a little far without a break for someone who wasn’t in running shape.
I motioned to a bench to the right of the fountain and he hobbled over, dropping down beside me. “You okay?” I asked.
He nodded but didn’t speak, holding up a finger while he caught his breath. Finally, he managed a smile. “And to think, we still have to run back to the house.”
“We can take a break for a few minutes if you want,” I said.
He leaned forward, dropping his head between his knees. “Ugh. You might have to bring the car back for me.”
I laughed. “Come on. Sit up. Enjoy the view. You’ll be fine.”
Itwasa view. The morning sun was low on the horizon, reflecting off the still water of the bay. Seagulls flew overhead, black dots against a spread of fluffy clouds in the deep blue sky. I breathed in, letting the serene setting calm my nerves and whisper peace into my soul. The water always did that for me, the beach, especially. I’d already made the trip out to Sullivan’s Island multiple times since arriving home. Luckily, Isaac had been pretty easy about loaning me his car.
Steven sucked in another deep breath. “Okay. I think I’m maybe okay now.”
I chuckled. “You don’t run much, do you?”
“Not unless I’m running to the fridge for another drink, no.”
Just then, a group of cadets from the Citadel ran by, their breathing labored and heavy, their pace probably double what ours had been.
“It could be worse,” I said to Steven. “You could have been trying to keep up with those guys.”
Steven shook his head. “No joke.”
He stared at the cadets as they ran away, the silence stretching long between us.
