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I left it there because I felt like this was a poignantimportant had just happened, yet I didn’t knohat

“You haven’t even tried to run?” I questioned

“I’ve run shorter distances,” he said as he reached for his glass of tea

I looked up at hi htly so I could watch his throat muscles work

God, he was sexy

He’d trimmed his beard in the last three days since I’d seen him

Not enough that I thought I would consider hi a beard, but a deep five o’clock shadow, but enough that I could still make out some skin underneath the curly brown hair of his beard

“Maybe when I’ain,” I said as I tilted h, I was only up to about nine miles The fifteen-kilo past that and I couldn’t go as fast as I wanted to go because I had to hold soas back for later…you know?”

His are I see, the longer that it takesseven-minute miles to nine-minute miles by the last one My consistency sucks”

Iin relief

I idly wondered if I should’ve kept ether, and started to o

“It’s okay,” he said softly, reading my mind

I licked my lips “Are you sure? I didn’t mean to overstep”

“I like your hands on me,” he replied “I just don’t usually have anyone touch me like you do”

I stiffened “I can keep my hands to myself…”

“No,” he answered quickly “It’s not that I just…nobody’s touched me like that since the accident”

Experiher up this time, not quite decent, but not quite indecent either

As in, if I moved my hand up six inches, I’d be in indecent territory

“You’re worried?” I asked

I didn’t add on to that question, but I knew he’d knohat I meant

“I’m not worried,” he paused “Per se, but I’m self-conscious My body’s not the same as it was before I’m scarred I have pieces of metal still elier than ly”