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As the opening notes of Pink Floyd’s “Run Like Hell”play, I can’t help but laugh. “Is that a hint?” I give him a teasing smile, my eyes twinkling.
He shrugs, a grin on his face. “All I’m saying is, you better run like hell.” With that, he presses some buttons on the treadmill, taking off. I crane my neck to look at his pace.
I press the buttons on my treadmill, taking off. He cranes his neck, looks over, then increases his speed. He’s barely breaking a sweat.
Pressing the buttons on mine, my ponytail whips behind me as I run, trying to be subtle about wiping the sweat off my brow. When I make eye contact, I can tell he notices from the grin and twinkle in his eyes. Sticking my tongue out at him, I keep running, my arms and legs pushing and straining. I refuse to go down without a fight.
He slows his pace and glances over, my brows knitting in confusion. My eyes search his face, then his lean body as he runs, noticing he hasn’t even broken a sweat yet and doesn’t look the slightest bit tired. Our eyes meet and he gives me a soft smile. I know, in that instant, he’s holding back, not wanting me to hurt myself or overdo it.
I really just want to hug him right now. I’m not supposed to know the things Emma has told me… but it’s hard not to think about it. My heart twists inside my chest as I think about what William has endured. He’s hidden who he really is behind an abundance of narcissism and arrogance, protecting the broken boy that resides inside him.
But I see it all now. Looking deep into those ice-blue eyes, I see him for who he really is. A lost soul who desperately wants someone to love him. And I know, if someone loves him in the right way, he’d give them every piece of himself.
But I’m not her. Maybe if he would have revealed this side of himself in high school, things would be entirely different. But I gave my entire heart to Max Devlin and there’s no taking it back. Even if he’s… dead, I can’t move on with William.
Not now. And maybe not ever.
Pulling myself from my deep thoughts, my smile widens as I wag my finger at him. “I know what you’re doing, Will. But you underestimated me.” I press the button, increasing my speed. “I’m not tired yet.” And I take off sprinting, my legs flying over the treadmill as he laughs, his brow cocked.
“Oh yeah? Bring it, blondie.” He increases his speed, his long legs flying as he takes off at a sprint.
My stare is focused as I continue pushing myself. “First one… to a… mile… right?” I gasp out as I run, my legs trying to keep up with the driving beat of the song, as well as his pace.
He chuckles. “Well, you’ve lost then, blondie.”
I press the button to slow down. “What? You can’t be serious.” Craning my neck, I look over and sure enough, the distance on his machine reads one point two miles.Dammit.
Slowing my pace to cool down, I jump off, walking over to him. I peer at the display again, then at his face, my eyes slowly lowering over his torso, then back. “You’re not even sweating.” My tone comes out more accusatory than I mean, and I shake my head. “I mean...”
He lightly tugs my ponytail. “I know what you mean, Goldilocks.” He’s still running as he talks to me. “Remember, I’ve been running for a while. I’ve built up to this.”
Satisfied, I nod. “I don’t remember you running in high school.”
His face instantly darkens. “I wanted to, but dear old dad didn’t like the idea.” His tone is bitter, full of resentment.
“Why?”
He slowly turns his head, his eyes full of pain. “He wanted me to focus on learning to take over his businesses eventually. There was no time for such trivial nonsense as running track or cross-country.” William imitates him perfectly; despite how little I know Gregory Anderson.
I can’t help but laugh. “I don’t know your father well, but your imitation was spot on.”
He laughs. “It should be. The bastard has tortured me for years.” He waves his hand dismissively, but I see the flash of pain in his eyes.
“Did you run in college? Didn’t you attend Stanford University in California?”
William nods. “Yes, I did. Dear old dad didn’t have nearly as much control over me there.” He gives me a teasing grin, his breathing steady and even. “Were you keeping up with me when I was gone, blondie?”
Rolling my eyes, I cross my arms over my chest. “Yeah, but in the sense that I was making sure you weren’t around to torture me here.” I look over at the distance on his machine. “If we aren’t racing, I’ll get back on mine and keep running.”
William waves his hand at the machine. “We don’t need to race, blondie. Hop on and run as much or as little as you want to.”
Before I step on the treadmill, I give him a sharp look. “You used to torment me in high school by ruining every date I tried to go on.”
William glances over at me. “None of them were good enough for you.” The expression on his face changes, flashing between hurt and concern. “It’s ironic, Mike and you accused me of violating you. I was trying to keep you from getting hurt by those imbeciles you liked.” His face tightens as he runs. “Remember Chad Evans? You bitched at me for humiliating him when I threatened to go to the football coach about his steroid use? I overheard him say he knew you were a virgin, and he was going to pop your cherry and dump you right after.” His jaw clenches and he speeds up slightly, anger bouncing off him in waves. “Damned if I was going to let him do that to you.”
I stand there, shocked by what he’s telling me. I know I was naïve in high school, but I had no idea.
But then again, William is so good at manipulating people.Is what he’s saying true?
