Page 23 of Play Maker

My eyes narrowed. “Is this going to be a regular thing?”

“Probably.” He lifted the coffee above my head when I reached for it. “Invite me in and you can have your reward.”

“You mean bribe.”

He grinned at my disgruntled tone. “Whatever works.”

I moved back and swung the door open. He wasn’t leaving anyway, might as well get a free drink out of it. Adam stepped inside, examining my sparse furnishings and bare walls. I closed the door and leaned against it as his gaze came to rest on me.

“Do you work out?”

My brows rose at the non-sequitur. “Not really. I run occasionally, when I have time, but it’s not a habit.”

His face lit up. “Yes, girl. Time to get you on a schedule. You and me, we’re going to be the jogging power couple.”

I gestured between us. “We’re not a couple.”

“Couple as in two people doing something together. Like Johnny’s tonight.” He waggled his eyebrows and held out the coffee.

I took my prize, cupping my hands around the warmth to give them something to do. “Doesanyonetell you no?”

“It doesn’t happen often. Want to go running now? I skipped out on training since Shaw used it to ambush me.”

Questions clogged up my mind, but I didn’t have enough caffeine in me to sort through them. “Stay here.”

I didn’t expect to him actually listen, but it was worth a try. To my surprise, he only followed me to the bedroom door, which I promptly closed in his face. Before anything else, I took a long pull from the cup in my hand.

Blessed caffeine and sugar shot into my system, and I let out a happy sigh.

“I heard that.” Adam’s muffled voice came through the thin wood as if he were standing next to me. “You’re welcome, by the way.”

I set the coffee on my dresser to pull out a pair of athletic shorts, a clean tank, and a sports bra. Even if Adam didn’t convince me to go running, I tended to wear athleisure stuff while lazing around the apartment.

It didn’t take long for me to brush my teeth and change, but when I emerged, Adam had abandoned his post to poke through my single bookshelf.

“Lucy Score. Nice choice. Great banter.”

I squinted at him. “You read romance novels?”

He straightened to flip through the brightly colored book in his hands. “I have three older sisters and no respect for personal space. I read everything they tried to hide, then I realized I liked the happy endings. And the smut.”

“How much older are they?”

“One year, three years, and four years. My mom likes to say she kept trying until she had me.” He set the book down and clapped his hands. “Ready to get active?”

I held up my mostly full cup. “I’m not clear on why you think I’d want to go running before I’ve finished my coffee. Actually, I’m not clear why you’re here in the first place.”

“To convince you to go to Johnny’s with me tonight.”

“Again, why did that require an early morning wake-up call?”

Adam rolled onto his toes and bounced a couple of times as if he simply couldn’t stand still. “Because I thought you might ignore my messages and stay in. Also because I finally talked to Shaw and I wanted to tell you.”

A curious warmth filled my belly. Probably the coffee. “Do you feel better?”

“Yeah. Not one hundred percent, but better. Drink your bribe coffee. The day is wasting.”

“The day has barely started. This is a crazy idea, but you could go running with your athlete friends instead.” I regretted the cranky words as soon as they passed my lips.

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