My mouth twitches—almost a smile, almost a sob.
“Now where are your shoes?”
He hops off the bed and heads to my closet, leaving me sitting here in stunned disbelief.
Is he…is this…
“Ah, no worries. Found them.” He bounds back out, with two mismatched running shoes.
I stare at the hand he stretches toward me.
The air stalls in my lungs as he sighs and swoops me off the bed. My body freezes in his arms, unable to move, to react, anything.
My heart thunders in my chest as he walks us out of my back door and panic stampedes through my blood.
“Riven, put me down.” I breathe.
There’s no way he hears me over his singing, and my skin twitches from the pins and needles shooting through my body.
The tree line approaches fast. My fear gets to me faster.
“Put me down.”
Everything falls deadly silent around us as he allows me to throw myself out of his hold. My hands go to my hips as I bend over to breathe and shake myself out.
Then I pace.
Valories…I need to go back inside.
He takes a step to his right, blocking me from getting around him.
Then to the left. Right again. Left again.
He repeatedly gets in my way until I’m snatching at my roots.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I fall still, eyes widening. “I didn’t mean to yell.”
His lips curl into a mischievous smirk that I don’t know if I want to kiss or punch.
Neither.
You can’t do either.
“Yeah, you one hundred percent did.”
“I’m going back inside now.”
I grit my teeth as he gets in my way once again.
“We’re going for a run.”
Chill bumps break out across my skin and my head’s shaking before I completely process his words.
“Absolutely not.”
“Absolutely yes.”
“I’m not—”
