AllFreeNovel
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“Got any sweats I can borrow? I could use a run.”
“Uhh.” I’d dumped all of Tristan’s clothes. “Oh, wait. Yeah. I have a pair of my dad’s old sweats. They’ve got dried paint on them, but if you don’t mind, they’re free of holes.” I dug them out of my “old clothes” drawer, along with one of my dad’s burgundy Harvard Law School tee shirts and a gray hoodie. “Here.”
He crossed the room, naked as a jaybird and completely unselfconscious. The view was damn nice. His tattoos were amazing. A rocket ship launched on his right forearm and soared over the back of his hand. A paint bucket spilled a starry sky down his chest, sending planets and galaxies across his skin. A black-and-gray scrollworkMrested over his heart. A triquetra nestled inside a chrysanthemum on his ribs. So many tats covered his whole torso, front and back. I could stare at Drew’s skin for hours and not learn the whole story written upon him.
I touched his arm. “Are all your tats somehow related to your books?”
“Most. Science fiction on my chest,” he turned and added, “fantasy on my back. Both on my arms.”
I cupped his ass where a grizzly roared. “You’ve got a bear behind.”
He flexed his cheek. “That’s a new one. RH bear shifters. Don’t have a title for the novel yet. I’m thinking maybeGrisly.”
“Female MC?”
“Aurelia. She’s a badass warrior who cuts down her enemies and boinks three brothers.”
“The three bears?”
“Exactly.”
“Nice.” I grabbed socks. “Oh, wait. What about running shoes?”
“I run barefoot.”
“Really? Doesn’t that hurt?”
Drew shrugged. “Eh, not anymore. I’ve got wicked calluses on my feet. Just gotta watch for glass and dog shit.”
“Goose poop, in this case. Canadian geese forage all around Green Lake.”
He pulled a face. “Oh, fun.”
I laughed. “Why no shoes?”
He shrugged. “It’s therapeutic, being able to feel the ground under my feet.”
We dressed and ran, discussing his bear book as we circled the lake. It was colder than the day before, but the sky was clear and the air smelled fresh and clean. Another beautiful Seattle fall morning. After returning and showering, I trotted downstairs, toweling my hair dry, and found Drew at the dining table with two cups of tea and his computer open.
He tapped my phone. “You should say yes.”
“Huh?”
“To Aithan Mazur.”
I blinked, a little taken aback. “You read my messages?”
“Just one. It popped up when I moved your phone. He wants to take you out for coffee. Say yes.”
That just added to my confusion. “Why?”
“Why not?”
“No, I mean why do you care?”
“Because you like him and he likes you.”
“Uhh, how do you know that?” I picked up the phone and opened the messages app.
