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He frowned.
“I was going to eat, give it an hour, then go. But if you want, I’ll go with you,” he offered, sounding like he’d rather do anything but.
Not only was I running farther than he was, but he didn’t believe in fasted runs.
I, on the other hand, needed to learn to train with an empty stomach because there was no way in hell that something light would last me throughout an entire marathon. I had experience with that.
That, and I had a nervous stomach.
Meaning, no matter how I ate, I always—always—had to go to the bathroom before a race. I would much rather it not be in the middle of a race if I could help it.
I’d learned what worked well with me. He’d learned that running on an empty stomach didn’t work for him.
“If you can promise me that those coyotes from last night aren’t going to follow me down that back road, I don’t need you.” I blinked innocently at him.
He pulled back with a laugh. “Coyotes are nocturnal. You’ll never see one during the day unless it’s rabid.”
My eyes widened, and he rolled his eyes. “That doesn’t happen too often.”
I grunted out a ‘whatever’ and rolled out of bed, heading for the bathroom and cleaning up from our nocturnal activities before brushing my teeth and getting dressed for my run.
When I arrived in the bedroom once again, Zach was nowhere to be seen, but the door was wide open, and I could hear laughter from what I assumed was the kitchen tinkling down the hallway.
Picking up my socks and running shoes, I headed out to the kitchen to find Zach standing at the stove stirring bacon, and Cleo and Rue nowhere to be found.
I frowned. “Where’d everyone go?”
“There was a big box delivered by the UPS guy before he even started his shift. My dad’s going out to get it, and my mom is directing him on where to put it. Apparently it’s a Christmas present, so she had to make sure that he wasn’t opening it… which is something we both do. We’re curious by nature.”
I snorted.
“Your mother is delightful,” I whispered. “I can’t believe that she only had one kid. She’s a great mother.”
Zach sighed. “My mother was pregnant with another baby not long after they had me, but she lost it at about sixteen weeks. The baby had a congenital heart defect. Something that would’ve made the fetus incompatible with life.” He paused. “It crushed my parents, and they decided that they didn’t want any more children after that. Their heartache was too great. So that only left me.”
I deflated. “That’s awful.”
“It wasn’t all bad news,” Rue said softly, coming up behind me and placing her hand on my shoulder. “It made my baby want to be a baby doctor. He loved the doctor that took care of me. Even years later, he’d speak about him as if he was his best friend. That changed all of our lives.”
I smiled, feeling a renewed sense of happiness flow through me at her words.
That was really sweet.
“Do you miss it?”
That came from Rue.
Zach sighed, placing his hands in his sweatpants pockets—and oh my God, when had he put on sweatpants?—before saying, “I don’t know. At times, yes. Other times, not so much. I’m still getting to do the medical part, which is what I was kind of transitioning to after the failed practice attempt.”
“Failed practice attempt?” I asked curiously. “What?”
Zach grimaced. “My ex-partner was arrested for indecency with a few patients. After that happened, I decided to fold the practice and sell it off before I had anything associated with him affect me. It was enlightening and made me realize that even the people that I thought I knew well could hide things from me.”
I shook my head. “As much as I want to talk to you more about this, I have to go run. That food is making my stomach growl, and I want to eat it.”
Zach tossed me something, and I caught it, frowning at it.
“What is this?” I asked.
He walked to me and opened up the slim box, revealing a brand new Garmin watch. The one that I’d been looking at for a week now but hadn’t actually pulled the trigger on buying.
“Oh my God!” I said excitedly. “I love the color!”
It was baby pink, and the cutest thing I’d ever seen in my life.
“You’ll love it,” Cleo said. “Though, I wouldn’t have gone with pink. Such a girl color. You want to go run?”
I put the watch on my wrist and got it ready to go, then looked at the older version of my man standing next to me. “Considering I’m a girl, I think it’s great.” I stuck out my tongue at him, causing him to grin. “How far are you going?”
