AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It was definitely dark as fuck in my room, and I didn’t even have a nightlight on. Groaning, I sat up. What time was it? The knock came again.
Then again.
Fuck, whoever it was, wasn’t going away. I shoved back the blankets and glanced around the room—I needed a baseball bat. After yanking the door of my room open, I headed to the suite door with my phone in hand. I nearly jumped when there was another knock right as I got there.
“Who is it?” I demanded.
“It’s me, Ace.”
Lachlan.
I stared at the door. “What?”
A soft chuckle carried right through the wood. It was a luscious, dark sound that teased right over me. “It’s Lachlan, Ace…open the door.”
I debated it. Seriously.
But he didn’t knock again or say another word. Finally, curiosity won out over wariness, so I unlocked the door and opened it. Sure enough, Lachlan stood there, dressed in running gear, with his coat and gaiter in hand.
“Morning, Ace,” Lachlan said with a smile as he looked me over. I probably had dried drool on my face and a pillow impression on my cheek. I wasn’t awake enough to care about that right at the moment. “I figured you’d be up. It’s time to run…”
“It’s—” I finally looked at my phone. “Five in the morning.”
“You always run early,” he said, the corner of his mouth curving. “It’s been a while, and I thought we could enjoy the run together—there’s fresh snow and it’s still snowing…”
I twisted to look at our window before glancing back at him. “I gotta get dressed.” Then I closed the door, locking him on the other side.
Fuck, I didn’t even look at my phone when I crashed. I stumbled back to the bedroom. It didn’t take me long to drag on my running clothes and brush my teeth. Fully dressed, I opened the door to Lachlan again. He was leaning against the wall and straightened.
“I’m making espresso ‘cause it’s too early to be uncaffeinated. Do you want one?” Look, words worked when you got the blood pumping. Thinking could come online as soon as I soaked enough coffee into my brain.
“Sure,” he said, another smile flirting with his lips. “Do I stay out here like the abandoned stray or can I come in out of the cold, Ace?”
I snorted. “You are so not a stray.” But I waved him inside. I dropped my jacket on the sofa on my way to the kitchen. It didn’t surprise me that he followed.
“Thank you,” he said with another chuckle. “I think.” Instead of looming over me, he settled against the counter while I pulled the shots. I did a quad for me. Dealing with Lachlan was not for the weak.
“You’re welcome,” I said after I knocked back half of my quad while waiting for his to brew. I could work the machine in my sleep. It gave life and I thrilled to it.
When I handed him the cup, his fingers brushed mine. But he didn’t grab my hand or yank me forward. Progress.
“I guess I should thank you, too,” I said, after a moment, glancing down at my cup before I knocked the rest of it back.
Closing my eyes, I waited for the coffee to work its magic. Not that it was going to be any kind of instantaneous.
“For what?”
“For knocking,” I told him when I opened my eyes and met his gaze. Goddamn he had the greenest eyes. So not fair.
He opened his mouth, and I half-expected him to rattle off something smarmy, but all he said was, “You’re welcome. I do know how to listen. And I was raised with manners.”
“So, when you’re being an insufferable dick, it’s a choice?”
The slow grin curving his lips was too damn attractive. “Guilty?”
I rolled my eyes. “Uh huh. Okay… running.” I pulled a water bottle out and handed him one before I took a long drink myself. Then I got my stuff and dragged on my jacket before I tucked in an earbud and glanced at him. “Am I going to regret this?”
Honestly, I wasn’t even sure what I wanted him to say.
