Without thinking, I leaned closer, mouth next to his ear. “You have firsthand experience with my stamina. Some things just get better with age, and I’m one of them.” When I pulled back, he was scowling again, his breathing faster and the tips of his ears pink. “This always gives you away.” I ran my finger over the shell of his left one, dropped my hand, and began to run.
It was Zander’s choice if he wanted to go with me, and he did, seconds later, his shoes pounding the sidewalk in unison with mine.
I’d feel him glance my way from time to time, his arm accidentally brushing against mine. We didn’t look each other in the eyes, didn’t speak, both of us probably wondering what in the fuck we were doing. I wanted to figure him out—how the man who’d so blatantly propositioned me that first night, who’d been such a passionate and vocal lover, fit in with the man who clearly kept his heart close to his chest. Who didn’t allow and maybe feared letting people in, and who fervently wanted to be a teacher and struggled to accept help.
We didn’t discuss how long we would run; we just went. I didn’t plan on backing down first, that was for sure, even if it made me late for work.
I think he knew it because when we finally slowed toward the end of another lap, he rolled his eyes.
“What?” I asked, hoping he didn’t hear my breathlessness. I kept in good shape, but we had gone longer than I usually did.
“Nothing, nothing at all,” he replied dramatically before walking away. He waved and added, “See you tomorrow, Mr. McCoy.”
A tingling feeling hit me deep in my gut as I held back my laugh. “Mr. McCoy?” It was the first time he’d used my surname.
Zander turned so he was walking backward, slowly. “My mama taught me to respect my elders. Just using good manners.”
That little shit. I crossed my arms. “I would prefer sir,” I teased back.
“Good luck with that, Mr. McCoy!” This time, when he whirled around, he picked up speed and jogged away.
I stood there dumbly and watched him go.
* * *
Ross had to transfer one of the cars from his dealership to mine for someone to test drive. It went that way sometimes. A person would see a vehicle online and drive to the wrong location. We always made sure to get the cars cleaned, prepped, and brought over to make things easier on the customer.
It was around lunchtime, so once he dropped the keys off with the salesman working with the potential buyer, I asked, “Do you wanna have lunch?”
“Such a slacker,” Ross joked. While it hadn’t been long since he’d been home and running his own dealership, it was clear how serious he took it. I wouldn’t have given him this responsibility if he didn’t. Ross was good at thinking outside the box in a way that I had yet to master.
“Be nice and eat with your old man.” As soon as I said it, I wished I hadn’t because it reminded me that Zander was his friend, that they were close to the same age, and I…wasn’t.
“What’s that look for?”
“What look?”
“The one that says constipation.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m not making a face.” But I was sure I did.
There was a sushi place across the street that we both liked, so we walked over there. While we were waiting for our food to arrive, Ross said, “Listen…I want to do something special. I know it’s expensive, and we likely won’t reap any benefits from it monetarily, but…I think it’s important to give back.”
Warmth spread through my chest. If there was one thing I did right in this world, I knew it was him. No matter how difficult it had been at the time, I would always be glad I had him. “Go on.”
“There’s so many people struggling right now. And we’re sitting here in this place where you basically gave me a car dealership—”
“Still mine,” I teased.
“For now,” he countered. “But I live in this apartment for free, and I know you give back—a lot—but…I don’t know. I think we should give some cars away. Like…people could write in or something and share their stories, and we can choose some who are really in need of a vehicle and donate them.”
I was quiet for a second, my thoughts spinning.
“You hate it?” he asked, brows drawn.
I shook my head. “I love it. Just proud of you, is all. We can do that. Do you want to head it up? Since this is your baby?”
“Hell yeah. I think it’ll be really fun. I wish we could get Zander to enter.” He frowned.
“Does he not have a car?” It wasn’t something we’d ever discussed, but then, why would we? And why would Ross have brought it up to me?
“No, he does, but it’s a piece of crap. It’s not going to last long. He’s had some work done on it, but really, it’s time to say goodbye. I’m worried about when the school year starts. He’ll be teaching in Willowbrook, so he’ll have a bit of a drive. It’s not like Midtown where he could walk. There are buses, but…”
But it would add to an already long day. Plus, how did he expect to work two jobs? “He would be insulted if we offered to help. He wants to do things on his own, and he has that right.”
“Um…kinda know that,” Ross replied.
“Shit. Sorry. Listen, I did want to tell you I ran into him at the coffeehouse yesterday. I walked to your place with him, and this morning we jogged together. I—”
“Lalalalalala.” He held his hands over his ears. “I don’t want to know. Nope. I can’t hear you. Stop talking.”
I chuckled. “Nothing happened.”
“Dad…I do not want to know. I don’t want to know if something does or doesn’t happen. You’re my best friend. He’s my best friend. Can’t we just all act normal and not like we have to have all these conversations about it? That’s what makes it weird. I know you’re worried I’m upset, but I promise you, I’m not. As long as there’s no drama, I’m good. If drama happens, I’m kicking both your asses.” He winked.
“So violent,” I joked, then, “Aww, I’m your best friend?”
“You know you are. There’s no one in this world I respect more than you, and I feel similarly about Zander, so ya know, blah, blah, blah, can we go back to my brilliant idea about helping the community?”
The waiter approached then, setting a large platter between us. When we ate sushi, we always ordered a bunch of different things and shared.
“Yes, we can get back to your brilliant idea.” We hammered out the details over our meal, but my thoughts kept going back to Zander…again.
I was losing my damn mind.
* * *
The next morning when I showed up at the same time and place to jog, Zander was there waiting. We chatted while we ran—nothing too extravagant or in depth—then went our separate ways. We followed the same pattern a third morning and a fourth, when he said, “I should, um…probably do some stretching.”
I fought to hold back a grin, which was absolutely ridiculous. It was like he’d turned me into a kid again, where everything was new and exciting, and a giddy feeling tumbled around in my stomach when someone I was attracted to hinted they wanted to spend more time with me. At least, that’s what I was assuming he was doing. “Want some company?”