Chapter 17
“I can see why you were so concerned about being left behind when you decided to come running with me,” Harrison said, pausing every couple of words to suck more air into his lungs. “You’re such a slow poke, after all.”
Jeremy let out a maniacal cackle from beside him. “It serves you right for making assumptions.” His own breathing was laboured, but steady. “I have mad skills.”
They were running along a wide path that followed a creek through the back streets of a suburb not far from Jeremy’s apartment.
The morning had been spent hanging out at Jeremy’s place while Jeremy caught up on a couple of his favourite TV shows on Netflix. He claimed it was research for his store and keeping up with popular entertainment was a necessary part of the job. Harrison had narrowed his eyes sceptically before announcing he’d finally figured out the real reason Jeremy owned a pop culture store in the first place. He’d done it to turn slacking into a tax deduction. Jeremy had laughed but didn’t even try to deny it.
It was the late in the afternoon when Harrison mentioned he needed to go for a run and asked if Jeremy had any suggestions for which direction he should take.
“I know a couple of good routes,” Jeremy had said with a nod. “How far do you want to go?”
“A ten K loop would be good,” Harrison replied as he pulled his running clothes out of his overnight bag. They’d been sleeping together most nights, either at Jeremy’s place or his place, for the past couple of weeks and Harrison had only jerked awake twice in that time. He hadn’t had any dreams he could remember, and not once had he woken Jeremy. So far, so good.
“Ten kilometres. That’s a long way.” Jeremy had screwed his face up for a moment in consideration. “I think I know a way you could go though.” His face had brightened. “If you don’t mind some company, I can show you myself. It’ll be fun.”
Harrison had frowned. Fun? Regular exercise was well proved to be a mood booster during depression as well as a protective factor against relapse. Harrison didn’t run for fun. He ran for the therapeutic double whammy.
“Don’t worry,” Jeremy said as he started to change his clothes. “If I can’t keep up with you, feel free to leave me in your dust. You’ll be able to follow the path easily enough and I’ll catch up with you at the end.”
Harrison gave him a doubtful look. “Like I would ever leave you behind.”
Jeremy had given him a wide grin as he dropped onto the bed to pull on his shoes. “My boyfriend,” he said with a dramatic sigh, “such a romantic.”
They’d headed off soon after and Harrison let Jeremy set the pace. As it turned out, Jeremy’s pace was pretty damn fast. Seven kilometres later, he showed no signs of slowing.
“I should have known you were putting me on the moment you pulled out those shoes,” Harrison said as they crossed a wooden bridge leading to a park on the other side. “Those are not the shoes of an occasional runner. How long have you been at it?”
“Well, I learnt to run around the age of two, and I never stopped. I was cross country champion in high school,” he added proudly. “You?” Harrison opened his mouth to speak but Jeremy interrupted. “No, don’t tell me. Let me guess.” He lifted his hands as if divining the answer. “You started running when you were fourteen because your counsellor told you it was good for your brain.”
“You know me so well.” It felt true, even if it wasn’t.
“I’m getting there,” Jeremy replied, glancing at him. “There’s no need to rush. We have all the time in the world.”
Harrison grinned. “I certainly hope so.”
The squeals of playing children came from a nearby playground. A little further down a handful of teenagers played rugby on a wide grassy area. The sky was a rich shade of blue as the sun dipped toward the horizon and, while the heat of the day lingered, it wasn’t oppressive. It was the perfect Sunday afternoon and Harrison breathed the fresh air in as deeply as he could. He was glad Jeremy had joined him for his run. With Jeremy by his side, runningwasfun.
The simple pleasure of the moment expanded to fill his chest, before coursing down into his limbs. A smile hovered around his lips—for no reason. It was just there, an outward expression of his inner… happiness. Was that what this was? Was this what it felt like to be happy?
He was still distracted by the idea when Jeremy tapped him on the shoulder. “By the way,” he said as he changed direction, “you’re it.” Twisting his body around, he took off across the grass, heading toward a clump of trees on the far side.
A weird sound burst from Harrison’s mouth, catching him by surprise. The moment’s delay put Jeremy well in front and Harrison chased after him, his legs eating up the distance between them in long strides. Jeremy was fast, damn he was fast, but he also suffered from a disadvantage that was destined to be his downfall. Ultimately, he wanted to be caught.
Jeremy glanced back over his shoulder and gave a shout of laughter when he saw Harrison hot on his heels. Both actions cost him in terms of speed. Harrison was about to catch his prey. As he reached out to tag the other man’s back, Jeremy dodged sideways and took cover behind the thick trunk of a nearby tree. “Missed me,” he panted as he kept the tree between them.
Harrison waggled his eyebrows. “Not for long.” He feinted to the right of the tree trunk before lunging to the left as Jeremy moved in that direction. “Gotcha,” he yelled as his hand clipped Jeremy’s arm.
Jeremy spun on the spot, intent on reasserting dominance before Harrison had a chance to escape. His hand shot out, but Harrison jumped backward, curving his body so he stayed out of reach.
“Is your reach a little short there, babe?” he teased.
Narrowing his eyes, Jeremy prepared for another attack. “I’ll show you short.”
This time it was Harrison who ducked behind a tree, using it to block Jeremy.
“I’m going to tag your arse, Harrison,” Jeremy drawled between panting breaths. “Then it will be mine.”
