“Yeah, it’s fine.”
Carrying her collection of books, she headed over to set up a new display, leaving me alone with Josie.
“Come on! You should be jumping for joy! You put him in his place!”
“Yeah, but that’s not what I wanted,” I sighed.
“It’s not?”
“No! I hate being mean to people.”
She slumped in the nearest chair, letting out a huge breath. “Oh, thank God. Because honestly, I’m not cut out for trash talk,and that was the one thing I could think of. If it had gone on any longer, I would have been useless.”
“I didn’t want to make him feel bad. I just didn’t like that he told my date I was into BDSM.”
“Because of the whole cheating with Liam thing?”
“Thanks for the reminder.”
“Well, you and I know it’s not true.”
I took a seat in the beanbag chair beside her, wishing I could go to the bar right now and drown my sorrows, but it was eleven in the morning, and that was not acceptable, even if the bar was open.
I plopped my head back on the bean bag, snuggling into the warmth of it. “I should get one of these for at home.”
“To sink further into your sorrow? No, what you need is something positive.”
“Like what?”
She thought about it for a second, then jumped to her feet and held out her hand. “Come on. I’ve got a plan.”
I grudgingly put my hand in hers. “Why do I have a feeling I’m going to hate this?”
I struggledto breathe the fresh mountain air. It shouldn’t be this difficult. After all, the roads were only slightly hilly, and I worked out regularly. Yet, me outside, running in fresh air, most definitely didn’t agree with any part of my body.
I stumbled to a stop on the side of the road, bending over to gulp in loads of air. “Can’t…make it,” I gasped.
“Me neither.” She collapsed on the ground, her legs and arms sprawling in all directions.
“Why…did you think…this was a…good idea,” I gasped around every inhale.
“Fresh air…endorphins…happy.”
I got what she was saying, and I still didn’t agree with a single word of it.
My legs collapsed beneath me. They were absolute jello, and that was interesting since I did yoga and pilates during the week. But running required energy…muscles in places you didn’t know about until you started using them.
Running and I would definitely not become friends.
“I feel sick,” she moaned. “My stomach is churning.”
“Who said running was a good thing?” I asked, staring up at the swirling sky.
“It could be the heat.”
I rolled my head in the grass to look at her. “It’s seventy degrees.”
“Right, but…” She took a deep breath, then blew it out. “Our bodies are used to the cold. Seventy is like…an extreme change of temperature.”
